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National Minority Week opens with IP ritual

BAGUIO CITY (Aug. 11) — In the Cordillera, old men clad in their ba-ag (G-strings), suako (pipe), or mama (betel nut chew) would gather people for traditional gatherings as the cañao. A pig or two usually wailed to signal a big event. Oftentimes, smoke would invite people from far communities.

A pig that wailed today gathered people, including regular park occupants. This time, youth groups, not elders, in the Cordillera spearheaded a ritual to signal the opening of the National Minority Week celebrations here where an elder read a pig’s gall bladder and liver amid pattong (beat of gongs) and sagni (a Cordillera dance) at the People’s Park.

Progressive Igorots for Social Action Baguio-Benguet (PIGSA BB) Spokesperson Elma Awingan said it is the youth who will inherit whatever happens to the land and its resources now.

“Isunga karitek dagiti agtutubo a makipartisipar iti panangsalaknib ti daga, biag ken kinabaknang ti Kordilyera,” (So I challenge the youth to participate in the defense of land, life and resources of the Cordillera) Awingan’s voice reverberated.

ANAKBAYAN–Cordillera, Dap-ayan ti Kultura ti Kordilyera (DKK), Paggawisan Tako Am-in (PAGTA-UP), Tanghalang Bayan ng Kabataan (TABAK), PINATUD, Cordillera Youth Center and the Asia Pacific Indigenous Youth Network co-sponsor several activities spread throughout the week. Among these are a forum on the National Situation of Indigenous Peoples on August 13, 2005 1-4:30 pm, University of Baguio FGB Hall; a cultural march-rally on August 13; Pinikpikan/Rambakan Night, August 13, 6:00 pm at the People’s Park; and a second jamming dubbed as Ballangbang on August 20, 6:00 pm, also at the People’s Park. This year’s National Minority Week will culminate with an Indigenous Peoples’ March on August 23.

Another youth group, Kalinga Students Association (KASA) performed the sagni and pattong while a ritual pig was being prepared for the reading of the gall bladder and liver.

Meanwhile, tribal leaders and elders will gather here on Sunday to discuss common issues. (Please see related story.)

Cordillera NMs in foreign-controlled lands?

Some community leaders presented the situation of Cordillera indigenous peoples in what they described as foreign-controlled territory, referring to the presence of mining companies and applications for mining permits by mining multinationals.

“The wealth of the region has long been plundered by foreign capitalists,” Ignacio Pangket, PIGSA alumnus said in his speech as he challenged the youth to remain steadfast in the Cordillera peoples’ campaign against imperialist plunder of its wealth and resources.

Maura Almoza, an Ibaloy and former teacher from Itogon told the crowd the story of Itogon’s destruction at the hands of Benguet Corporation (BC). Almoza, a resident of Brgy. Loacan, which hosted BC’s Antamok mines, said she witnessed the depletion of Itogon’s mineral resources when BC turned to open pit mining. She recalled how the townsfolk resisted BC’s mining operations and how the government forces favored the company in what she described as violent mass arrests in a picket line at the Camote Vein, also in Loacan.

Almoza also talked on how BC is now deceiving people into accepting its proposal for a bulk water supply project for Baguio City, saying BC has not obtained any social acceptability and that no endorsement has been issued by the local government units concerned. Worst, Almoza revealed, the water resources in Itogon are barely enough to supply its residents at present.

“Agkurkurang kami ti danum,” (We are wanting in water) she repeatedly pleaded for BC not to sell Itogon’s water to Baguio City.

Kilusang Mayo Uno’s Nida Tundagui likewise told of the Lepanto Mining Corporation (Lepanto) mineworkers’ plight. She said the Lepanto workers of which 80% are Igorots, are on the 70th day at the picket lines. They have gone through 40 dispersal operations by the Philippine National Police, Tundagui told the crowd, and six of them have been illegally arrested.

Specifically, Tundagui assailed Lepanto’s resident manager Agosto Villaluna for referring to Igorot workers as “unggoy” and “patay-gutom”. Tundagui said Villaluna has been receiving his salaries out of the minerals the Igorot workers turned into cash from Cordillera’s mineral resources.

Indigenous songs kullitipan and an uggayam, and more pattongs and sagnis attracted old men who usually gather at the Peoples’ Park for early morning chats. The pig wailing in an urban setting was an apt invitation to people to participate in more gatherings where they could talk about their future, their land and culture not only on a rainy August morning. # Lyn V. Ramo for NORDIS

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