Home | To bottom

Lampisa: water distribution system among the Pidlisan tribe

Last of two parts
Click here for part one

The history of lampisa is not original among the i-Pidlisan. It traces its history to the village of Tetep-an, another barangay of Sagada located some eight kilometers away in the southeast. Voss wrote that:

“In the early 1930’s, one particularly influential person in the barrio of Tetep-an, who had gained much respect for his successful battle against American mining interests in the area, suggested the. formation of a system of water distributors, or lampisas, as a solution to the frequent dispute and many days of water watching that were part of the traditional system. He discussed the idea with the old men in the dap-ay and they decided to try it. It is said that the term lampisa is derived from the former lampisa or one who maintains or repairs a road.

In the next four years, this system spread to seven other barrios, and has been maintained there ever since. These are all among the northern barrios of Sagada. The number of lampisa in each barrio is proportional to the field area being watered. In 1979, the barrios using this system - Aguid, Pide, Fedilisan, Tanulong, Madongo and Bangaan - had a total of 14 lampisa, ranging from one to three per barrio.”

At present, there are six (6) lampisas in charge of water distribution in three irrigation systems in Pidlisan. The number of lampisa is proportional to the service area of each system as shown by the following: Mabileng (3), Balikwey (2), and Lakchag (1). Each lampisa is responsible for the maintenance of the irrigation canal and the rice fields throughout the dry season. His primary task is to ensure that all rice fields receive a fair share of water at all times and to conduct regular inspection of the entire irrigation system. This will ensure that water flow is maintained, even in times of drought. All lampisa have to work 24 hours a day just to guarantee that every rice paddy gets an equal share of water no matter how low the water discharge is.

The selection of lampisa is vital to the success of the system. Since they are tasked to take absolute control over water regulation, a set of stringent requirements is imposed by both the dap-ay elders and the barangay officials. Accordingly, a lampisa must be industrious, patient, preferably male, dedicated, just, respectably brave and does not easily bow to political and kinship pressures.

Voss documented past events to justify such a tough selection process as shared by the lampisas:

Case 1. “Sometimes I am afraid to enforce a penalty on a guilty person, especially if the offender is some prestigious personality. But this is checked with the help of the other lampisas who gave me moral backing; or if necessary, with the help of the elders and the barrio officials. We lampisas are always being reminded that our duties are in the interest of the whole village as against the interests of one man - no matter who he is.”

Case 2. One of the lampisas reported that he was forced to fine a nephew and a cousin during the past year because they took water out of turn. When he levied the fines both called him dirty names; but when he challenged them to take the cases to the dap-ay, they backed down because they knew they were wrong.

The greatest challenge to this system comes from relatives of the lampisa, or from powerful influential people demanding more than their due on the basis of ties of kinship or patronage. However, the lampisa was able to maintain his fairness through the help of the old guards of the system - the elders of the dap-ay, who used past similar experiences to override such pressures. They cited that the lampisa system had failed in Tetep-an where it originated, when the lampisa had shown favoritism and the people refused to pay their dues.

Given the complexity of their work, the elders advised all lampisas to implement the system based on the guiding principle of equal rights of all farmers to communal water resource. Likewise, the following set of rules and penalties were drafted:

1. All lampisas are given absolute control over water regulation. Anyone who interferes with the duties of a lampisa, or swears at him without due cause will be fined and reprimanded.

2. A lampisa who is found guilty of negligence shall pay a fine to the rice field owner commensurate to the damage. A rice field owner has the right to sue a lampisa for negligence and collect damages. However, he must present strong evidences lest he will be fined in return if the lampisa is found not guilty.

3. A lampisa who is found guilty of favoritism shall be penalized. He shall pay a dear price given his delicate position. He shall also be reprimanded and undergo re-orientation.

4. A lampisa shall receive 5% of the total harvest of each farmer beneficiary as payment for his services.

Payment for services rendered by the lampisa follows the original scheme as conceptualized by the elders during the early years of implementation. Palay is still the medium of payment. When the rice variety Taiwan had dominated the rice landscape, it virtually changed the harvesting method from the traditional inani (harvesting through picking) into ginapas (sickle harvesting). However, the farmers are still obliged to plant the inani varieties in order to have bundles of palay to pay the lampisa.

The regular collection of dues is done in December in time for the winaak, which means “collection”. This is the occasion where all farming households remit their dues not only to the lampisas but also to the dap-ay. According to one lampisa, payments range from 3-60 bundles of palay per farming household. On the average, each lampisa receives 400-450 bundles of palay with a cash equivalent of Php3,300. A lampisa normally works for 45-60 days in one cropping season.

CONCLUSIONS

The successful implementation of the lampisa system is primarily based on the power and dedication of traditional community leaders and the adherence of the people to the laws governing the system. This is the reason why the lampisa is able to overcome the pressures of kinship and patronage.

One significant contribution of the lampisa to the household economy is that it allows men to go out of the community to work elsewhere without worrying that their fields will dry up. This is very significant nowadays considering that the work force seasonally migrate in search of cash to pay educational expenses of children and buy basic household needs.

The lampisa system promotes communal use of water resources at low expense. Although the beneficiaries pay for the services of the lampisa, they do so based on fair value (5% of the total volume of production). This is incomparable to the 40-60% crop loss in areas where competition and unsystematic water distribution prevailed. This strengthened the traditional concepts of natural resources utilization - where water is treated as a people’s resource allocated mainly for the basic needs of the people’s survival and livelihood. In a wider spectrum, the lampisa system could be innovated as a mechanism in promoting equal control and accessibility to water resources by contending tribes to avert inter-tribal conflicts. #

Home | Back to top