Monthly Archives: January 2011

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CAR not ready for autonomy

January 30, 2011 in Cordillera, Featured

By ADELA DEYAEN WAYAS
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — According to the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), the region is not yet ready for an autonomous set-up especially that traditional politicians are the ones pushing for it.

In an interview, CPA Chairperson Windel Bolinget said the Cordillera will never benefit from a “bogus autonomy”.

He said the 3rd Organic Act being pushed by the government is not recognizing the rights of the people to self-determination. He emphasized that the said organic act will just fulfill the personal interests of the traditional politicians pushing for it and will not serve the Cordillerans.

Bolinget said the region has many problems that should be addressed before it could establish a genuine autonomous region. These problems would include injustices and national oppression.

He added that the millions of pesos allocated for the education and information campaign for autonomy should instead be used for social services.

He pointed out that majority of the indigenous peoples of the Cordillera have long been denied basic government services while their lands and resources are offered to multinational companies and foreign investors.

CPA, the first group to campaign for a Cordillera autonomous region asserts that the genuine autonomy could only be attained if the right to self-determination is recognized.

According to Bolinget, the recognition of the IP’s right to self determination would correct the injustices and oppression perpetrated against them. He also said, a genuine regional autonomy should embody the process and principles for self-governance and full control by the people of their land and resources.

“These two components ensure the material base of autonomy and the political power to exercise self-governance,” he stressed.

Bolinget said government should learn from the rejection of the people to the 1st and 2nd Organic Act.

Furthermore, he said, aspirations for regional autonomy should not be timebound. Given the present situation of the society, Bolinget said regional autonomy as the political expression of self-determination is a long term goal and can not be achieved in a government set up where corrupt and traditional politicians hold power.

IPs of Mountain Province in recently concluded consultation on the proposed organic act expressed fear of devolution in all aspects and functions of the society in the region.

The Mountain Province folk are worried that there is no assurance that after the 10 years of being subsidized by the national government the region would be able to raise funds on its own.

They also fear additional taxes as a logical source of income for the autonomous government.

Moreover, they also said that the mode of sharing of the subsidy from the national government should be properly discussed on the 3rd organic act. # nordis.net

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Land claimant laments IPRA implementation

January 30, 2011 in Baguio City, Featured, land rights

By ALMA B. SINUMLAG
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — The administrator of the Sioco Carino estate in an interview here on January 27 lamented on how the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) is being implemented and that government agencies and units are being used to facilitate large scale development projects which is contradictory to their mandate.

Ruby Dolores Giron, an administrator of the above mentioned estate has been sending protest letters to the National Commision on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) CAR against the approval of the ancestral domain application of Itogon due to the still unsettled boundary disputes between the said municipality versus Tuba and Sison, Pangasinan.

She has also filed a protest with NCIP region 1 on the attempted survey in Saped, Ansagan, Tuba, Benguet in behalf of the ancestral domain application of a “Bago-Kankana-ey tribe” in Sison, Pangasinan which according to her are not real claimants indigenous to the place.

She added that they even attempted to plant monuments in the area. However, she said there was no reply from the said agency.

“I have nothing against the IPRA law. It is its implementation I’m questioning,” Giron stressed citing that the NCIP and government units are not doing their mandate to protect the rights of indigenous peoples (IP) and communities to their land and to their rights to life and livelihood.

In her position paper furnished to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) of Benguet, she cited that the boundary disputes between the municipalities of Itogon, Tuba, and Sison, Pangasinan; disputes between IPs; and disputes between communities and mining companies is a cancer that has been festering since the American colonial government.

This cancer according to her should have been cured or mitigated with the advent of the IPRA law and the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 if the government agencies tasked to implement these laws understood their mandates.

She pointed at the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the NCIP, and the local government units (LGU) with respect to their mandate under the local government code.

The communities, she said, should not have been embroiled in protests and legal disputes.

Moreover, she lamented that because of the incapability of government agencies and LGUs concerned to protect the interests of the IP’s and communities over their land, life and livelihood, they are now spending so much for hiring lawyers and surveyors to protest and protect their rights to their lands. They, according to her, have even secured the services of paramilitary groups. She claimed that the above mentioned government agencies and units instead of implementing their mandates, they have protected, promoted and approved the interests of mining companies.

Giron said, what they are doing contradicts provisions in the IPRA that states “…the State shall recognize and promote all the rights of Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs) / IPs”. These according to her are enumerated within the framework of the Constitution. She even cited sections 38, 39 and 40 of the IPRA law wherein it is stated that the NCIP was created mainly to protect the interests of IPs and recognize their rights over their ancestral lands and their domains.

In processing ancestral domain applications, Giron in her position letter asked NCIP if the council of elders were properly identified by the offices concerned and if the applicants were verified to be residing in the localities identified and the conformity of their claims attested to by the Punong barangay in said localties. She admitted during the interview that she has doubts that the processes mentioned were done.

Giron also doubts where the P50 million fund assistance to Benguet for the processing of ancestral domain delineation was spent for. “Was the fund judiciously spent by NCIP and Benguet province to promote the rights of IPs and the communities, and not for the profits of mining companies?,” she asked.

She mentioned of their protests against the mining operations of Philex Mines where in, they in the downstream area are gravely affected. She said the NCIP is silent about it.

She recounted that during typhoon Pepeng, that a mountain being mined by Philex collapsed and the debris reached their community. There was even a person in the area who went missing.

“That mountain collapsed because of the mining operation,” she added. She insisted that they in the outlying impact areas of the mines should also be receiving royalties. # nordis.net

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Media groups ask recall of journalist ban

January 30, 2011 in Cordillera, Featured, media

By ALMA B. SINUMLAG
www.nordis.net

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — Majority of media practitioners here stand firm on their call for La Trinidad municipal council to recall its resolution declaring a journalist persona non grata in the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) halls.

Art Allad-iw, vice chairperson of the National Union of Journalist in the Philippines (NUJP) Baguio-Benguet chapter said in an interview that they condemn the act of the council undermining the constitutional right of Jimmy Laking of Baguio Midland Courier in the exercise of his freedom of expression. “If Laking really committed a violation in the journalist code of ethics, why did they not file a case against him in court?,” he said. He said further that the council did not even conduct a public hearing before the issuance of the said resolution.

Allad-iw even called the council onion skinned. He said it is a normal thing for public officials to hear negative reactions from the people. If the council will not recall the resolution, NUJP he said will bring out the issue to the national and to the international level.

Baguio Correspondents and Braodcasters Club (BCBC) President Jun Villanueva in an interview said the SB resolution is clearly a supression of press freedom. He added that should the media keep quiet about Jimmy Laking’s case, it might set a precedent for other offices to ban media people if they do not like the reportage.

Villanueva shared that the SB wants the reporter to stop writing about the issue in his column for them to recall the resolution. He pointed out that there is a difference between news reportage and column writing. He stressed that unlike news where the reporter merely states the facts, a column contains the opinion of the writer.

“The SB needs to have a seminar to study and learn the different aspects of the media practice so that they will understand our work and that their future actions would be guided,” Villanueva said.

He further said that the media are still open for dialogue and they still hope for the proper solution of the issue.

The Baguio media is contemplating to stage protest actions regarding the matter.

On the other hand, Atty Delmar Carino, chairman of Benguet Press Corps (BPC) feel sad that the SB missed the whole point of their letter. He iterated that declaring Laking persona non grata is not a solution to their allegations of his violations to the code of ethics.

It can be recalled that the municipal council here on January 25 turned down the request of Baguio and Benguet media organizations to lift their resolution declaring Jimmy Laking a persona non grata in the SB office.

A letter from the SB addressed to BCBC and BPC stated that lifting the declaration will be misplaced. This according to them is because of prevailing instances that include the press releases of Laking assailing the action of the council.

Meanwhile, the council clarified that they are not shutting the doors of the SB office to Laking. They were accordingly merely expressing their collective sentiment that the said reporter is not welcome in their office. Also, the council in their letter questioned the media practitioners if they adhere to ethical standards in the exercise of their profession.

It can also be recalled that on December 21 last year, La Trininidad (LT) SB through a resolution unanimously approved by the members of the council declared Laking as persona non grata in their office. The action of the SB was because of several reasons like Laking’s negative tirades against the council in his numerous news and opinions published in the aforementioned newspaper anchored by his personal interests. Laking according to the council has violated journalist ethics. They also requested BCBC and BPC to probe on the council’s allegation and issue sanctions against him.

It can be further recalled that two days before the issuance of the resolution, Laking wrote regarding the controversial P268 million Jarco mall deal in his column. It was stated there that the pro-mall dominated council is wracking its head on how to overcome the obstacles to pave way for the mall’s realization. This and more issues were the reason of the persona non grata according to the council.

BPC and BCBC offered to broker a dialogue between the council and Laking to address the issue which the council accepted. However, there was no reply coming from the reporter if he wanted the said dialogue or not. Thus the media organizations cannot push through with it.

Moreover, the said media organizations on January 24 through a letter addressed to Vice mayor Romeo Salda requested the council to reconsider and recall the above mentioned resolution . The request was anchored by the organizations belief that the declaration was improper and is a violation to press freedom.

“Declaring a journalist persona non grata would pose serious repercussions on the right of access to public information guaranteed by the constitution,” the letter read. It was also stated that the declaration alone will hamper the people’s right to information imbued with public interest. This is because Laking has been declared unwelcome to the coverage of council meetings.

Furthermore, BCBC and BPC added that they believe there are available remedies that the council can avail of in order to address their allegations against Laking and that declaring the reporter persona non grata is not a wise decision. # nordis.net

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Buguias future tapuey masters

January 30, 2011 in Cordillera, education

By ALMA B. SINUMLAG
www.nordis.net

BUGUIAS, Benguet — The National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) representative during the graduation of two schools of living traditions (SLT) here challenged the students to pursue their passion to learn and preserve their cultural crafts because in the future students will be the masters of their craft.

AMATUER TAPUEY BREWER. A student of the school of living traditions on Kankana-ey tapuey making mixes the powdered bubod (yeast) into half-cooked balatinaw (local specie of the glutinous black rice) on a biga-o (winowing basket) lined with banana leaves. Photo courtesy of Cony C. Dangpa Subagan

Two SLTs namely Balili, Sebang Buguias, Benguet SLT on Kankana-ey tapuey making implemented by Balili, Sebang Community Association Inc. (BSCAI); and Dontog, Poblacion, Buguias SLT on kaka-iw binubudan implemented by Dontog Neighborhood Association (DNA) graduated 60 students on their 1st phases.

According to Maria Crisedna Magsumbol, project development officer of NCCA who was monitoring the graduation, she was very happy to see that the purpose of SLT is really implemented in the two specific projects.

She appreciated the fact that most of the students are children. She added that if you are to preserve the tangible and non-tangible aspects of culture, you should teach it to the children.

It was also shared by Cony C. Dangpa Subagan, project consultant of the two SLTs that the students at first did not realize the importance of protecting and preserving their culture until they joined the SLT preparatory phase.

Then during phase 1 of the SLT, the reason of most students to join was their interest to learn more about their culture. Magsumbol then challenged the students to apply their newly earned skill not only in the community but also as livelihood. This according to her will help them introduce in the market that they in Buguias are also producing tapuey.

During the graduation, the students demonstrated the process in making tapuey while the cultural masters were explaining. It was a general observation that although the students were not yet experts, they had produced good tapuey which was served after the demonstration.

Kankanaey Tapuey (rice wine)

Tapuey to the kankanaeys in Buguias is very important. According to Cecilia Ket-eng, one of the cultural masters who is already more than 70 years old, in every celebration or ritual in the community, tapuey is served. She recounted that when she was young, rice is scarce because their land is not suitable for planting rice. Thus, she said when they were lucky enough to harvest rice, it was stored for the purpose of tapuey alone. Unlike other communities in the Cordillera wherein rice is the staple food, theirs is kamote (sweet potato).

On the other hand, it was jokingly told by Bryan Camhit, the Ibaloi, Kankana-ey representative to NCCA after the demonstration that in every community in the Cordillera, nobody has displayed the usual drunken violence with tapuey as compared to gin. He added that a person who is drunk with tapuey will only get drowsy until eventually falls asleep.

Moreover, tapuey is organic. All the ingredients are found in the environment. It does not have any preservatives or chemical content thus according to the cultural masters, it doesn’t have a bad effect on the health. It’s main ingredient is sticky rice which will be half cooked then put in a rattan container called the biga-o to cool down before sprinkling the fermenting agent called bubod.

The bubod is also processed in the community. It’s main ingredient is also sticky rice, pulverized and mixed with inwad, a kind of herb abundant here. The rice with inwad now will be mixed with enough water for it to be molded into a cookie. Then it will be dried for four to five days.

After sprinkling the bubod on top of the half cooked rice, the biga-o will be sealed with banana leaves and left for one and a half day before putting all of it in a jar they call kuli and let it fermented there for three days or more depending on the temperature. The warmer, the faster fermentation.

However, the rice fermented in the biga-o for one and a half day can be eaten by children in the community.

Furthermore Paterno Ata, one of the cultural masters said, as much as they want their students to produce good tapuey, the problem is they do not have enough kuli. “In fact the kuli we are using were borrowed from the community,” he said adding that they cannot afford to buy the said kind of jar because it’s very expensive.

He said tapuey is better when it is fermented in the kuli compared to that fermented in plastic containers. “Gapu siguro ta awan ti chemical content na jay kuli,” Ata added.

Problems of sustainability

One of the indicators of an SLT’s success according to Magsumbol is how the community sustains the project even without NCCA’s funding. She revealed that NCCA can only fund in the maximum an SLT until it’s 3rd phase. She added that there are only few SLT’s that were sustained. “We notice that without the fund coming from the commission, the SLT dies naturally,” she said.

She, however gave recommendations on how these SLT’s can be sustained.

She first mentioned close ties with local government units (LGU), non government organizations (NGO) who are interested in said project, and others who can help in the continuity of activities. However, there were comments from the community that the LGU is not putting cultural programs in their priority.

Second, she mentioned of the community’s plan of how to replenish the resources needed for the craft. She said this as she observed that this is a major problem in tapuey making because rice cannot grow here.

Third is for the community to develop a product development and marketing program. She told them that there is no doubt that the tapuey produced by the students is good but how to make the product marketable should be planned.

She stressed the importance of packaging or how to make the product attractive in the eyes of the consumers. She added that there should also be a continuing enhancement of the product.

Finally, she said SLT cannot be sustained without the support of the whole community. # nordis.net

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Imported additives threatens Ilocos salt

January 30, 2011 in Featured, Ilocos

By ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW
www.nordis.net

LAOAG, Ilocos Norte — Asin or salt producers in this province use imported materials in their production as a move away from the traditional labor intensive process and to address the growing public demand for salt.

SALT TABLET. An employee of the Arnulfo Salt Refinery in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte shows to visitors from the Easter College of Baguio City a sample of the Australian salt tablets they use in salt production. Photo by Arthur L. Allad-iw/nordis.net

It is seen however as another move to market imported materials and compete with the local production market for salt.

In the salt producing town of Pasuquin of this province, producers are buying imported salt tablets from Australia to process with sea water for speed-up their production. One of the 22 towns of this province and a fourth class municipality, Pasuquin has been known to the source of the finest salt since time immemorial.

“The sodium tablets, locally called pure salt, are imported from Australia. We buy these imported salt tablets in Manila and bring it here to Ilocos for our production ,” explained Jojo Balmares, an employee of the Arnulfo Salt Refinery.

Process of production

These salt tablets are diluted with the sea water piped from the nearby China sea; then heated in a vat to come up with salt grains. The process lessens the labor intensive and tedious process of traditional salt production, explained Balmares, a 27 year old, in a hut in Pasuquin where they produce the salt grain.

Banares said that 12 sacks of salt tablets are diluted with sea water in a vat. After the heating and production process, they produce more or less 20 sacks of salt granules. Salt here is sold at P50 per pack and P200 per sack at the stalls along the highway of the town with other local products like suka (sugarcane vinegar), basi (sugarcane wine), native bawang (garlic) and lasona (red onion bulbs).

Manila producers do away with the heating and production process that they do in Ilocos, Nordis learned from Balmares. “These companies use machines to refine these salt tablets, a faster production than we do,” he said in Ilocano. Asked why they do not adopt the system that their Manila counterparts do, Balmares claimed that adding water from the China sea flavor their product and seems to make it more salty, a local trademark of the Pasuquin salt granules.

The Ilocos provinces are historically known as producers of salt. Pre-colonial trade show that sea water salt is among the products brought home to the Cordillera villages by the Igorots’ trade with their Ilocano counterpart in the lowland.

A student of Baguio City’s Easter College, Sergei Gomuad, who was among those who visited the salt producing town, observed that their (Balmares) production is still dependent on imported materials. “With such reality, it will slowly kill the salt industry and the historical trade known since our ancestors traded with the Ilocanos,” he said. It is like pitting the cheap Taiwan garlic with the well loved Ilocano bawang, he ended. # nordis.net

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Baguio Chinese shares gifts with indigents

January 30, 2011 in Baguio City

www.nordis.net

By REDJIE MELVIC CAWIS/PIA

BAGUIO CITY — The Baguio Filipino-Chinese Community opened the Year of the Rabbit with the annual gift sharing to indigent families of San Carlos Heights in Barangay Irisan here last Friday, January 21.

SHARING. Peter Ng, of the Baguio Filipino-Chinese community led the distribution of gift packs to more than 100 indigent families in San Carlos Heights last week as part of the Spring Festival Lunar New Year celebration. Photo courtesy of Redjie Melvic Cawis/PIA

More than 100 indigent families identified by the City Social Welfare and Development Office received packages containing basic food items and groceries at the Idogan Village Basketball Court at San Carlos Heights.

According to Peter Ng, Executive Committee Vice Chair, the gift sharing is an annual event being undertaken by the Chinese community to share the blessings received with other people who are in need. This year, Bell Church president Paul Go chairs the committee on humanitarian outreach coordinated with the OCSWADO for the event. 

Ng said that the annual gift sharing is one way of bringing the Chinese people and their culture closer to the Filipinos particularly with Baguio residents. They also want to show that Chinese New Year is for all and not for Chinese only.

During the gift giving, the members of the Chinese community also gave out traditional “tikoy” or rice cake to the family beneficiaries and they even taught them how to cook the Chinese delicacy.

Dr. Charles Cheng added that by the gift giving being done, the Chinese community is being inspired to do more and give more yearly.

Last year the Chinese community shared their gifts with indigent families in San Antonio Village in Aurora Hill. They also helped the family of William Educa, a taxi driver whose son is suffering from a congenital heart disease.

Ng disclosed that the spring festival in coordination with the city government conducted a medical and dental mission sponsored by the SM Foundation at the SM City rotunda on January 27.

The Spring Festival will be highlighted by the Chinese New Year parade on February 4 at 3:00 PM that will start at the top of Session Road down thru the city’s main thoroughfares. # nordis.net

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Fil-Chinese launches books of wisdom, hope

January 30, 2011 in Baguio City, literary

By ADELA DEYAEN WAYAS and KIMBERLIE NGABIT-QUITASOL
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — The Baguio Filipino-Chinese community has made another valuable contribution to the city in the form of two story books of wisdom and hope.

On January 25, author Engr. Richard Cheng launched his books, the Valley of Peace-Ping On and The Day the Cricket Stopped Singing at the Hotel Supreme as part of the Chinese New Year celebration.

In the said book launching, Cheng distributed copies of his book to over 40 public elementary and secondary schools in the city. He said it is very important to share values to children where they can pick up lessons of life.

Cheng shared that his book is a collection of ancient and modern stories touched by Chinese wisdom that bridges the past with the present time. He said with his books, readers are to experience the exiting and complex Chinese culture.

Valley of Peace, as Cheng described connects readers with important values including courage, friendship, faith, gratitude, helpfulness, journeys, joy, kindness, love, nurturing, openness, patience, persistence, plentitude, and quests, dealing with sadness, and separation, temptation, and many more.

He also emphasized the significance of his Chinese roots in producing the book. He said his father used to tell him and his siblings “ your path was carved for you long before your birth, and is accented by the deep and profound symbolism in Chinese history…”

Dr. Elma Dona-al, principal of the Baguio City National High School, said Cheng’s books are an exemplary work with a taste of maternity and technology. She added that the books teaches the wisdom of simple living and the joys and tears called for it.

Dona-al said the books are a good motivation for techers to teach as well. She said the Valley of Peace is hope in written form. She added that it is a value laden book that teaches the values of family, peace and gratitude.

Palanca awardee and National Poet Francis Macansantos said the stories in the books are charming, tasteful, memorable and wise. He added that these stories teaches the readers that life is full of significance and that everything around us is significant.

Macansantos also complained that the books came to late as he would have wanted to read these stories to his only child who is now 23 years old when she was younger. He, however pointed out that the books’ wisdom would still be very true today and that it would still be helpful to his daughter.

The book launching was attended by educators and mentors from variuos schools in the city.

The Books are available at Baguio Chinese Hospital in Trancoville at P350 each. # nordis.net

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March 12 set for Paracelis special election

January 30, 2011 in Cordillera, elections

www.nordis.net

By ANDREW DOGA-ONG/PIA- Mountain Province

BONTOC, Mt. Province — The Commission on Election (Comelec) has approved the conduct of an Automated Special Election in sitio Apalis, Barangay Bunot, Paracelis to determine the number 7 and number 8 members of the Sangguniang Bayan of this eastern municipality.

The approval of the conduct of the automated special elections in Precinct No. 30A, sitio Apalis, in barangay Bunot is contained in a COMELEC Minute Resolution No. 10-1362.

Provincial Election Supervisor Atty. Ricardo Lampac said the special election in Paracelis is scheduled on March 12, 2011.

It can be recalled that on the morning of the May 10, 2010 on the day of the local and national elections in sitio Apalis, Bunot, two armed men barged into the polling place and forcibly took the Precinct Count Optical Scan(PCOS) machine including election paraphernalia and burned the same outside the school building.

This incident prompted Marilyn Wanason, to petition the Comelec to declare a failure of elections in precinct 30A which was granted. The precinct has 148 total registered voters.

Based on the tabulated election results, the first six candidates with the highest votes for the SB were proclaimed as the 148 votes from sitio Apalis will not in anyway affect the result of the election.

However, Comelec did not proclaim the seventh and eight winners in the SB elections considering that only few votes separated them from number 9 and 10 candidates with highest votes. Tabulated election results show rank number 6 garnered a total of 2,820 votes while number 7 got 2,429 votes with a difference of 391 votes.

Comelec officials said the result of the elections at Apalis will definitely alter the positions of the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th highest in the elections for members of the SB of the municipality.

Winning candidates in the national and provincial levels and also the other positions in the municipality of Paracelis were all proclaimed as the votes in Apalis, will not in anyway alter the results of the elections.

The six proclaimed SB members are Ruben Manat, Lorenzo Carpio, Belio Banggot, Majorie Oredina, Toy Tangbawan and Ramon Bucatan. Vying for the last two slots are Cesar Corcha, Mike Asuud, Juan Batoy and Marilyn Wanason.

Atty. Lampac instructed the Acting Election Officer of Paracelis to give copies of the COMELEC Resolution to the affected candidates, political parties and the citizen’s arm of election office for their information and guidance. # nordis.net

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Baguio Roundup: January 23 to 29, 2011

January 30, 2011 in Baguio City

www.nordis.net

ERS ribbon cutting reset
By Adela Deyaen Wayas

BAGUIO CITY — The inauguration of the Environmental Recovery System machines of the city on February 2 was reset for February 9 because Malacanang replied that President Benigno Aquino III is not available on that date.

PNOY was invited by the city Mayor Mauricio Dommogan to cut the ribbon of the two, P128 million worth ERS machines installed at the Irisan dumpsite. Thus, the schedule was reset hoping the PNOY would come. Domogan iterated the city is the first in the country to use such machines from Japan. #

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Commercializing of Session in Bloom
By Adela Deyaen Wayas

BAGUIO CITY — During the past Session Road in Bloom Mayor Mauricio Domogan admitted that flowers in Session Road only occupied a little portion at the middle part of the road when the purpose of the event is to showcase Baguio flowers.

He said that many of the products being sold on every Session Road in Bloom simply answers the demand of costumers. He however, wants the event coordinators of the Flower Fest to consider the matter in this year’s celebration. #

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Baguio journalists win 2010 agri awards
By Joseph B Zambrano

BAGUIO CITY — Three local journalists brought honors anew to the city as they bagged awards in the prestigious 2010  Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism  Award.

Photojournalist Andy Zapata, Baguio correspondent of the Philippine Star,  won the Tobacco Photo of the Year award. The Agriculture Photo of the year was awarded to Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) Northern Luzon Bureau photographer Edgardo Espiritu . Each received a cash prize of  P25,000, an iPod, trophy and an all expense paid trip to one Asian destination.

DZWX Bombo Radio Baguio  anchorman Delfrado ‘Jun’ Villanueva won the Best Radio Segment on Agriculture. #

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SM medical, dental mission
By Redjie Cawis/PIA

BAGUIO CITY — More than 1000 individuals benefited from the joint medical and dental mission of the SM Foundation Inc. the city government of Baguio and the Filipino-Chinese community as part of the Spring Festival Lunar New Year celebration, at the SM City Baguio last Thursday, January 27.

SM PR Manager Karen Padilla said the residents benefited from free medical consultations, chest x-ray, ECG, blood pressure monitoring, urinalysis, and dental services and medicines. The medical dental mission is also in partnership with the Baguio Health Department, Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Baguio General Hospital, BB-PICAG, EMS, CDCC and the Philippine National Red Cross – Baguio Chapter. #

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Cordillera This Week: January 23 to 29, 2011

January 30, 2011 in Cordillera

www.nordis.net

Banaue town bans smoking in public
By Mhars B. Lihgawon /PIA Ifugao

BANAUE, Ifugao — The Local Government Unit (LGU) here passed an ordinance to ban smoking in government offices, public and private schools premises including public utility passenger vehicles as long as the passenger is on board in support to the anti-smoking campaign of the municipality.

According to the ordinance, it would be unlawful for any person to smoke inside the municipal and national offices, private or public school premises and all types of public utility passenger vehicles in the municipality. However, places designated as smoking areas adopted by the schools and offices would be excluded in the implementation of the ordinance. A fine of P100 will be charged against any violator but school policies would be applied for students and pupils. #

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Lagawe mayor urges proper waste management
By Vency D. Bulayungan/ PIA –Ifugao

LAGAWE, Ifugao — Mayor Ceasario Cabbigat issued Executive Order  (EO) no. 1 series of 2011 encouraging the segregation of wastes from the source and the implementation of compulsory compost pit in every household to address waste disposal problem here.

The said order will also support the implementation of the Ecological Solid Waste Ordinances of Barangays, Poblacion West, East, North and South including Barangays Cudog, Burnay Boliwong and Tungngod in providing direction, control and supervision of wastes generated in the municipality.

Cabbigat also disclosed that the garbage truck of the municipal government will only collect residual waste for disposal at the municipal dumpsite. A barangay clearance showing compliance and support will be a compulsory requirement before the payment of garbage fees and issuance of business permits he said.

The mayor called on all barangay officials to revisit, enforce and strengthen their respective ecological solid waste management ordinance to make the municipality clean and orderly with a people environmentally conscious and aware of their social responsibilities. #

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Pneumonia tops cause of death in Bontoc
By Juliet B. Saley /PIA Mt. Province

BONTOC, Mt. Province — Pneumonia ranked first in the ten leading causes of mortality at the Bontoc General Hospital (BoGH) for calendar year 2010.

Alfaretta Yampan, Chief Nurse of the said hospital reported during the recent Provincial Health Board meeting that pneumonia claimed 13 lives last year.

According to BoGH Records Officer Helen Macli-ing, 10 died from diseases of the heart; nine died of cancer; five of hypertension; four patients died of prematurity, neonatal sepsis and trauma; three patients died of renal failure and intestinal obstruction; and two succumbed to dengue fever.

Macli-ing said total admission for CY 2010 is 7,488 including the 48 patients who were confined in 2009. Of the total admissions, 7,441 were discharged. #

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Editorial Cartoon: January 30, 2011

January 30, 2011 in editorials, opinion

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Editorial: Peace from ground level

January 30, 2011 in editorials, opinion

www.nordis.net

“Freedom is not a gift received from a State or a leader but a possession to be won every day by the effort of each and the union of all.” – Camus, Bread and Freedom

President Noynoy Aquino has promised to “revive the peace process that is aimed toward addressing the root causes of the armed conflict and forging a political settlement” (TQ Deles).

So that in October last year, the president designated and appointed the reconstituted government panel for peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army/National Democratic Front of the Philippines (CPP/NPA/NDFP). The government panel is led by Atty. Alex D. Padilla as chief negotiator, and Baguio’s very own, Atty. Pablito V. Sanidad as member .

Even with these known and respected human rights defenders of Luzon on the peace negotiating table, the optimism surrounding the resumption of the peace talks between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the NDFP is not as high as it is projected on the national level by the reconstituted GPH panel as it is down here on the peaks of the Cordillera, the Caraballo and Sierra Madre mountain ranges.

Especially, that recent events of unpeace in these mountain ranges involve government people that feed doubt and continue to erode the people’s trust that government can sincerely represent them at the peace talks or at the negotiating table for peace.

As described by an Ibaloi in a recent church conference for peace, “ natalna kami ta awan ti NPA mi, awan ti military mi, ngem gapu ti minas ada ti imay nga military…” (we are at peace, we have no NPA, we have no military, but because of the mines the military came…)

There isn’t already a mountain range, major river or geothermal site here in the northern Luzon that is not threatened by large scale, multi-national capital development that has in turn also posed mass displacement and disenfranchisement of indigenous peoples’ communities, destruction of traditional sustainable sources of livelihood, destruction of communal forests and ancestral domains. A great threat to the mountain people’s life and way of life.

Under this continuing situation of insecurity, hopes and trust for a true representation of the peoples’ aspirations on that negotiating table can be perceived as absent.

So that Atty. Sanidad found it necessary to repeatedly state to the participants in this peace conference that, “saan nga dakammi ti mangikeddeng ti kappia ditoy pagillian no ketdi ti tao, ti umili laeng ti mangikeddeng ti kappia ditoy pagillian.” (We do not decide peace for the country but it is only for the people to determine peace in the nation.)

And, to which Bishop Alex Wandag as a representative of the Church had to respond, “we have just been given an assignment to invite a popular clamor for Peace.”

Let us voice out our piece; help build and support the progressive popular clamor for justice and peace. # nordis.net

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Daang Tuw’d: Haan lang nga tabbed, nengneng pay

January 30, 2011 in columns, Featured, opinion

By LAYAD EKID
www.nordis.net

The honorable mayor thinks that the i-Kordilyera are “haan lang nga nengneng, tabbed da pay” if they continue to reject Regional Autonomy. “Imagine 23 years (since the creation of CAR), haan tayo latta nga maawatan ti Regional Autonomy,” he said.

Mayor Mauricio Domogan of Baguio City, chair of the Regional Development Council (RDC) Third Autonomy Act Drafting Committee (TAADC), wants a draft by the end of March this year and said the third plebiscite should be scheduled before the election in 2013.

He said the draft should be given to Congress within 2011 as it might take a year for this body to deliberate on the issue. “No maaramid ti plebisito iti nganngani ti election, mapolitika to manen dayta,” the mayor explained.

The mayor, a member of a government group that immediately did an assessment of why the NO vote prevailed in the March 9, 1998 plebiscite, knows there were several more important reasons aside from the proximity of the plebiscite to the May 1998 national and local elections. These concerns, which point to the need for more consultations and consensus building, remain valid up to now. In fact they surfaced again in the RDC December 2007 autonomy survey and in the consultations conducted by Mountain Province.

In the December 2007 survey, the result showed that people will likely reject a third autonomy act (if the plebiscite was done during the time of the survey) even if 73% are in favor of a Cordillera Administrative Region. One of the reasons for the likely NO vote was the feeling that the region needs gradual preparations towards autonomy which could imply lack of confidence on the capacity of their political leaders.

The survey also revealed that 66 percent of respondents did not understand the content of the previous Organic Acts; 28 percent said they did not believe that the Organic Act or autonomy will improve their lives; 27 percent said there were conflicting messages from different leaders; and 24 percent got confused by the arguments/differing opinions on autonomy.

The report on the recent consultation activities in Mountain Province was correctly summed up by a member of the Provincial Management Task Force (PMTF) on Regional Autonomy consultations. He said there is need for patience in discussing Regional Autonomy because the people have plenty of worries that could not be responded to in just one forum.

How about the leaders? Some governors never attended the TAADC. They sent representatives who did not seem to know what was going on.

In a forum with Cordillera Association of Regional Executives (CARE) on Regional Autonomy, participants from the association could be counted by the fingers. Domogan and other RDC officials could not hold expressing their disappointment.

The church was part of the problem in the government assessment in 1998. In this fresh campaign, the RDC has engaged the bishops of the Baguio-Benguet Diocese and the Abra Diocese. The initial engagement was good, except that there were no sustained follow-up activities.

In Mountain Province, the bishop of the Episcopal Church is a member of the PMTF. But he was accordingly not active during the consultation activities and never did he assign somebody to represent him.

What about leaders in the NGO and PO community? Not the easily coopted ones which do not raise a whimper because while they advocate critical engagement with government the critical is immediately forgotten once they are in.

In one forum, Mayor Domogan asked Manny Loste to bridge TAADC with CPA (Cordillera People’s Alliance). Loste said, “there should be a special forum with the left-of-center group so we would know what is holding them back.”

RDC actually had engaged the CPA. In fact, previous RDC chairman Juan Ngalob spoke in one of the Cordillera Day celebration spearheaded by the group. But the engagement was not also sustained.

Another task force member in Mountain Province came from the left-of- center NGOs. Like the bishop of the Episcopal Church, he was not active in the consultation activities.

These pieces of information indicate reservation despite willingness to come to the table. There must be more bridging work – the Cordillera people need consultations, consultations and consultations. Not a plebiscite that must be done in two years.

Wonder of wonders, the august body that is the RDC, which used to say “slow but sure,” and “all or nothing (meaning aim for YES vote by all the provinces),” does not seem to be debating the proposed Domogan calendar.

What do you call people who do not learn from facts they themselves generate? Listen to how the honorable mayor says it. # nordis.net

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From Under This Hat: No apologists

January 30, 2011 in columns, Featured, opinion

By KATHLEEN T. OKUBO
www.nordis.net

Baguio media cannot be apologists or even describe themselves as such. If they do stand for Press Freedom may they stand straight and courageous without an inch of doubt or bargain to budge. I commend them though, in the same breath, (that for the sake of humanity) for trying to bridge the patch-up of human relations and thereby facilitating the breakdown of communication blocks in the search for Truth.

I condemn in the strongest terms that act of the La Trinidad councilors against the freedom of the press to impart information of public concern thru conveyances as newspapers and broadcast media. Using their positions as elected representatives of the town, to collectively declare one newsman a persona non grata for doing his job of gathering the news and putting it on paper for the public to read and know.

Even if they qualified that it is applicable only in the halls (note: public halls) of the municipal building. As public officials, what they did by any written or unwritten laws respected by good citizens of the land (and even rules of good manners and right conduct or work ethics) was simply wrong.

I also am disappointed that some members of Baguio media still believe this act by any one (specially honorable elected leaders of the town using their power drawn from the people’s mandate to condemn a journalist simply because he tweeked their (imagined) ego in the conduct of his journalist work,) a ‘persona non grata’ as something negotiable. Even if these said officials were “your best friends” that act is wrong and if they were your “best friends” you would tell them at their face it was a mistake and if they respected your friendship they would have rectified the situation immediately instead of what I see as the hardheaded flaunting of (being-in-power?) pride.

More so that the issue was the bringing to light of a proposed mall project on government land with the objective of servicing the consumer or the public, for mainly private profit or the bigger slice of the pie. The question raised was basically on the need for public consultation, remember? And, not the personality or character of any of the players in this fault against that inherent and basic right to freedom of expression or Freedom of the Press.

Was the mayor, Attorney Greg Abalos around to at least give an unsolicited legal view before it was put into action? (Ayu, kababain!)

If it was a matter of Journalist ethics, there are the press clubs, the press council and the letter to the editor to vent the complaint, if it was libelous there are the courts, if it is a smut against human relations there is the tongtongan over a cup of coffee. Even royalty would invite enemies to peace talks like Malacañang offering negotiation on the table against the world’s longest running revolution.

In reaction to the act of refusing an invite for a friendly talk over a cup of coffee with members of media to facilitate, the councilors and the target of the councilors’ ire, I recommend, to be done by members of media, or civil society; an investigative report that would lay all sides and issues behind this project to public scrutiny in the interest of public knowledge, transparency, good governance and a free, prior, informed public opinion.

Make the people win, give them a chance to know and intelligently decide if they need another mall to spend money on or not. This is not a contest of media vs. anyone. It is a responsible press delivering the hard data and facts that would help make a wholesome and educated vote from and by the people. In serving our community, we sure have a lot of growing up to do. # nordis.net

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Statements: Notice of strike

January 30, 2011 in opinion, statements

www.nordis.net

By ANAKBAYAN-METRO BAGUIO

Student Strike – noun. occurs when the administration of a particular country fails to provide affordable and quality education that is nationalistic, scientific and mass oriented.

Thousands from the youth and the students all over the country went to the streets last year to display their disgust on the proposed 2011 education budget cut. Due to the unified efforts of the different sectors, the Aquino government was then forced to give an additional 100 million to State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), and 200 million to the University of the Philippines (research & development).

But this is not enough. Against the rising prices of basic commodities and cost of living, we are not contented. The fact that the Aquino administration chose to place education and social services as his last priority shows a distorted image of his so-called “tuwid na daanan.” The fact that there will be a 1.1 billion cut in the budget for SUCs trashes the right to free education. Unless the current administration stops the commercialization and privatization of education, we will never be contented!

This year, progressive youth organizations such as ANAKBAYAN, League of Filipino Students, College Editors’ Guild of the Philippines, National Union of Students in the Philippine gives a notice of strike against the 1.1 billion budget cut in SUCs.

The youth, students and other sectors involved in Metro-Baguio and Benguet will be affected by this budget cut. The University of the Philippines Baguio, which has already increased its tuition and other fee by 300 % in 2007, and Benguet State University, which on the other hand has complaints of exorbitant fees, are among the state universities that can be affected.

We call on the youth and the students, from public and private universities and colleges, in Metro-Baguio and Benguet to join us in this coming student strike.

Whereas the Aquino administration prioritizes his political allies and public-private partnerships such as the promotion of wide-scale mining in the Cordillera over education shows the failure of the administration to heed the anguish of the people.

We will be educating the youth on this issue. We will be conducting activities and programs that will mobilize the youth, students and other sectors for the student strike. We will be raging in the streets.

This is a declaration of a student strike.

We invite you to our upcoming activity entitled “STRIKE your POSE, POSE your STRIKE!” on February 2, 2011 at Malcolm Square, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. # nordis.net

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Statements: Time for accounting

January 30, 2011 in opinion, statements

www.nordis.net

By NESTOR BURGOS
CHAIRPERSON
NATIONAL UNION OF JOURNALISTS OF THE PHILIPPINES

January 25, 2011

It is no longer enough to condemn the murder of yet another media colleague. It is no longer enough to rail against the government apathy and inaction that has allowed impunity to flourish and continue to embolden those who would silence the independent Philippine media.

It is now time for an accounting. It is now time for President Benigno Aquino III to make good on his promises of justice and good governance or admit that he, like all presidents before him, is unable or unwilling to go beyond lip service.

The National Union of Journalist of the Philippines demands that President Aquino not only ensure justice for the killing of Palawan radio commentator and environmental activist Dr. Gerardo Ortega, the second journalist murdered under his watch, but for all the 141 media murders that preceded this crime since 1986, including the Ampatuan Massacre.

We challenge President Aquino to acknowledge that the State should be accountable, not only for all media murders, but for all extrajudicial killings and human rights violations committed by its agents, or to admit that the State and his administration cannot or will not fulfill its most basic duty, to protect its citizenry.

Once again, we say, if you, Mr. President, truly wish to make good on your pledge of good governance, order all the media killings solved and the masterminds arrested, prosecuted and convicted. Once again, we assert that an honest-to-goodness effort to solve the murders of journalists in this country will reveal that behind most of the cases are powerful political interests that rule through intimidation or use of assassins’ bullets and corruption money.

Far be it for media to demand recognition as a special sector. Nevertheless, we assert that the murder of a journalist is not a simple crime but a direct assault on the people’s right to know and one of the cornerstones of democracy – the free market of ideas.

Mr. Aquino, the ball is in your hands. # nordis.net

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Weekly Reflections: Living what matters most

January 30, 2011 in columns, opinion

By REV. LUNA DINGAYAN
www.nordis.net

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” — Mark 8:36

4 C’s

In one of his columns, Randy David told a story about a taxi driver named Jaydan whom he and his wife had conversations with as he drove them to the airport in Singapore. As the story goes, Jaydan is now living alone by himself. His wife left him one day and never returned. They have a son, but the last time he saw him was when he was only ten years old. Jaydan is now in his late forties. When Randy asked him if he thought of marrying again, he said that young women in their country nowadays measure a man’s worth by how well he meets the 4 C’s – condo, car, credit card, and cash. Very few bother to get married; everyone is working all the time; there is no time to raise a family, Jaydan added.

And this reminds me of an incident I encountered in Singapore a few years ago. I attended a theological consultation, wherein a Singaporean participant gave thanks to us other Asian participants for sending our women to Singapore to serve as domestic helpers. The Singaporean participant was a psychologist and he had been handling a lot of cases involving family problems. From his point of view, without the domestic helpers from the Philippines and other Asian countries who are serving as shock absorbers of tensions within the family, more Singaporean families would be problematic due to pressures of earning more and more. Obviously, material things are given more priority in their family life.

What Matters Most

Following is a beautiful write up that is worth reflecting e-mailed to me by a friend. It is entitled, “Live a Life that Matters.”

Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things collected whether treasures or bubbles will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.
So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won’t matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived at the end.
It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured? What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success, but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion or sacrifice that enriched,
empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not competence, but your character. What will matter is not how many people you know, but how many people will feel a lasting loss, when you’re gone.
What will matter are not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters most does not happen by accident.
It’s not a matter of circumstance, but of choice.

Gaining the whole world vs. losing one’s soul

Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”(Mark 8:36). While it is true that material things are needed to support family life, without love which is the very soul of family relationship, materials things cannot sustain a lasting family relationship. A strong family life makes a strong nation. A strong family life is founded on love, something that matters most. # nordis.net

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Book Reviews: The Valley of Peace, The Day The Crickett Stopped Singing

January 30, 2011 in Baguio City, Featured, literary, people

www.nordis.net

By FRANCIS MACANSANTOS

The profound and enduring influence of the classical Chinese literature on the modern American and British literature is an established historical reality. British and American literature of the nineteenth century had long suffered from a loss of vitality. To speak the truth, it had become, in the main, flat and dull. Shakespears and Wordsworth had become merely memories.

BOOK LAUNCHING. The Cheng siblings give books to public schools of Baguio City. Photo by Adela Deyaen Wayas/nordis.net

Literature needed a shot in the arm and that vital serum was discovered by American and British writers mainly in Chinese literature, particularly in the poetry of the Tang and Sung era.

From this ancient tradition the West found a new lease on life for their moribund literature. They rediscovered the simple truth already known to Chinese masters, that poetry could be vital only if it expressed feelings, emotions, and insights through the very things we found on the earth and in the sky, that the things we saw around us, the flowers, birds, stones, river and mountains were important to the human heart and mind, and vital to effective literary expression. Through their reading of Chinese literature the writers of the West rediscovered the expressiveness of things, their significance to human life and human destiny.

In short, the West discovered, the symbolical nature of things, and the need to revitalize literary language through symbolic utterance.

It is a matter of great interest to anyone that a writer of stories and of family history such as Engr. Richard Cheng should be someone who has been trained by American writers, who comes from a civilization whose writers have learned most of what they know of literature from Chinese classical literature.

What remain true until the present moment is that, the writers of stories for children from the West still have a lot to learn from the stories written by Richard Cheng, and the stories retold by him from the very rich tradition of his forefathers. One thing they could learn from such a tradition is that, one can make a story interesting to children without making the characters or plots overly fantastic, or making them overly violent in the vain attempt to make the stories interesting. The real things in life are interesting interesting to any child.

Second, writers from the West can learn from the Eastern tradition, that stories for children can help build character by showing them that success and happiness can be achieved only through hard work, generosity and compassion. One cannot be happy by following the path of evil. And that ultimately the human spirit, through virtue and divine guidance triumphs only over the most adverse of circumstances even comes to terms with tragedy.

Lastly, but most importantly, writers can learn from the ancient tradition of stories for children that life is full of significance and that as a whole human existence is meaningful. Everything on earth has significance in the sacramental sense, because everything in the world can connect us to the divine plan. This sense of meaning is what is often lost to those who live in the modern world.

I would like to add that as a father who once read stories his only child, that one way this book came too late for me and my daughter. The stories are charmingly tasteful, memorable and wise. Even as an adult, she can find meaning and spiritual solace in these stories and in her darkest hours from the Cheng family saga that takes the reader to China, the Philippines and America. # nordis.net

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Bamboos still grow in Mindoro

January 30, 2011 in Featured, lifeways

By KIMBERLIE OLMAYA NGABIT QUITASOL
www.nordis.net

Kawayan sa may inwag (Kawayan sa sukalan)
Labong una naragdag (Dahon man ay lagasan)
Puon danga lungalag (Puno, ‘wag pangambahan)
Panggamot di maayad (Ugat mo ay kay tatag)
Sa daga mabanayad (Sa lupaing banayad)

History tells us that the Spaniards, in the name of Christianity destroyed all written documents, idols and everything else they labeled as pagan and marginalized the indigenous peoples in the Philippines who refused to bow before the Spanish crown. The Spanish conquistadores have created a gap between the lowlanders (Christianized) and the highlanders (Unchristianized).

Over the years the lowlanders have looked down at the highlanders, now called indigenous people because of the misconceptions of their culture, customs and traditions. The Mangyans are among those indigenous peoples that have been and remained marginalized.

Like the bamboos that survived the ever changing environment of the world, the Mangyans of Mindoro despite the odds were able to keep alive their cultural heritage which include the original form of writing of their forefathers from centuries ago.

The poem above is among the over 20,000 ambahan (an ancient Mangyan poetic form) written in Mangyan Script collected and transcribed by Dr. Antoon Postma. The oldest ambahan in his collection is over 200 years old and the Mangyans of Mindoro particularly the Hinunuo and Northern Buhid are still using their original script until today.

Postma, a Dutch anthropologist spent almost 50 years studying and learning the Mangyan Script and culture.

In a lecture series held at the University of the Philippines Baguio last January 26, Lolita Delgado Fansler from the Mangyan Heritage Center Inc. shared that over 600 hundred years prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, people living in the Philippines had “at the very least a legal culture and were writing it down.”

Fansler said the Laguna Copperplate proves that the peoples living in the Philippines hundreds of years before the Spanish conquest were living well. She further said the copperplate, now displayed at the National Museum that contains a “unique mixture of Sanskrit, Old Java and Old Malay and Old Tagalog” decree of the Chief of Tundo forgiving a man of his debt is dated back to 900AD.

According to Fansler, there are two existing Mangyan Scripts, the Northern and Southern scripts. The Northern Script is used by the Northern Buhid-Mangyans. She said the Southern Script is being used by the Southern Buhid and Hanunuo-Mangyans.

She added that both scripts have 18 basic characters, however the Northern Script are more rounded while the Southern Script are more angular. She explained that the Mangyan Script characters represents a full syllable, consisting of a single vowel and a pair made up of a consonant and vowel. She said Mangyan words often end with vowels. She also said Mangyans do not have commas, periods and capital letters.

Moreover, Fansler pointed out that the Mangayn writing could be read from left to right, right to left, top to bottom and vice versa depending on the material used and the writer.

Unfortunately, Fansler claimed that the Mangyan script faces the threat of extinction as more and more young Mangyans do not use their own writing. She said as Mangyans learn the Roman alphabet in school they tend to forget their own script.

“Why, these Mangyan children ask, should they learn Mangayan script when they have a hard enough time learning Pilipino and English, and when the (Roman) alphabet is more widely used?” she narrated.

Fansler shared that ancient syllabic writing systems of the Philippines were declared National Treasures and inscribe in the World Registers of the UNESCO in 1999. “But these are only pieces of paper unless we help and encourage these indigenous people to continue learning and using their scripts despite the challenges of modernity,” she added.

The Mangyans were able to preserve their culture and writing until today. “For as long as the bamboo is deeply rooted on the ground it shall survive. For as long as the Mangyan continues to write their ambahan on bamboo slabs it shall live on. So let the bamboos grow abundantly and the Mangyan write his ambahan unhampered”. # nordis.net

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Looking into the Ambahan: The undying faith of the Mangyans (1)

January 30, 2011 in Featured, people

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By RESTITUTO R. PITOGO

(Note: This is the 1st part of a series of 5, of a paper by the authour presented during a lecture seies on Mangyan script and poetry at the University of the Philippines Baguio on January 26, 2011.)

We owe a depth of gratitude to those people-IP researches, advocates, scholars, teachers and students of Filipino culture—who have shared a part in the development of a liberating Filipino consciousness. As we discern to respond to a complex network of problems of society, we look for a better way to live our life, articulate our values, practice patriotism, social justice and charity to our neighbors and communities. In some way, we are learners of history; we share with others in dialogue to arrive at a more effective and sustainable effort, while developing an inclusive consciouness against what Pope John Paul II called, “culture of death” in our global and local societies.

I have been Human resource management consultant for 15 years, and an organizational development advocate for 30 years now. I can tell you that, in my emersion to corporate life and realities of employees-managers and staff alike-who trying to make a life out of their profession and skill, I believe that there is a universl anxiety that has been felt in our community. It has been too stressful to earn a living. And the more we try to reflect on our contemporary civilization, as Filipinos and as human persons, we struggle to live our priorities, in an effort to balance values with need, morality with practicality, and so forth. One issue that we have to face is a question on what choices do we have? Is a career built around self fulfilment or family enrichment really the kind of path we should choose? Are we happy to gain the comforts and convinience of today’s technology and global access? Does it matter now to cherish indigenous values where pragmatism and global culture are things that matter to most people? After all the hard work and efforts are done, we can ask: Is this worth working for?

At the turn of the 3rd Millenium, the United Nations made a target of addressing the world’s poverty by reducing it by the half come 2015. Government and international agencies on the world forums have discerned strategies and actions to make progress more beneficial to the poor, more inclusive to the marginal communities and more caring to the environment. The sustainable development inertia has not focused only on the climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, but also on having a better paradigm of development that is not exclusive for a few, not marginalizing to the many, and not dysfunctional to ecology and culture. There are values-driven developments that have proven helpful in addressing these issues. An example is the growth of people’s self-help organizations in the form of cooperatives, social entrepreneurs and informal economies.

In this context of complexities, vulnerabilities and adaptations, we continue to look for internal and external resources, developing competencies that can support us to live in a harsh, often unforgiving social arrangement. I could not imagine how the new generation would try to survive in a world where people compete for resources, power and institutions to held them fulfil their needs. To me, this reflects a major problem of how we structure our life on principles that simply displace us from our indigenous culture and values.

Of the indigenous poetry of the Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines, the ambahan appears to be the most important legacy of the Hanunoo-Mangyans of Mindoro to us. Memorized and scripted in bamboos and slats using their syllabic script, the Hanunoo_Mangyans have preserved the ambahan for centuries in an archaic peotic form. Antoon Postma, a Mangyan ethnologist and expert in ambahan, collected over 20, 000 ambahans to preserve and study them. This led to the publication of his seminal book: Treasure of a Minority (1976) and the Ambahan Mangyan (1989).

Postma in his critical study of the ambahans provides us the formal definition of the ambahan as a literary form of indigenous art. He says that the ambahan is “a set of impressions, with a measured rhyme of seven syllables; having rhyming end-syllables; vocalized as a change without a definite melody or too much melodic variation; without the accompaniment of musical instruments; recited for the purpose of verbalizing in a metaphorical way certain human situations or characteristics with the possible challenge of a matching answer in dialogue-fashion in the presence of an interested audience of various size.”

This definition emphasizes not only the aesthetic character of the ambahan but also the social function of the ambahan. It is this direction that I would like to describe the ambahan, as symbolic expression and articulation of the Hanunoo-Mangyan worldview. # www.nordis.net

End of Part I

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