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

I was able to attend the celebration of the third Ibaloi day at the area between the children’s park and the orchidarium. It was an invitation extended earlier. The celebration of that day was based on city council Resolution 395, series of 2009 which declared February 23 starting 2010 as Ibaloi day. It was a result of the advocacy and lobby for the recognition and respect of indigenous peoples rights and the City’s recognition of the original settlers in the city – the Ibaloi.

February 23 is very significant to the Ibalois of Baguio City and to all indigenous peoples worldwide. During the American colonial period, the colonizers displaced, grabbed or expropriated the land of Mateo Carino known as Ypit and Lubas which is now known as Camp John Hay under Act 636. He brought a case against the colonialists in their legal system to claim back his property until it reached their Supreme Court.

His efforts were fruitful. After he died, the US Supreme Court on February 23, 1909, affirmed that Mateo Carino was indeed the owner of Ypit and Lubas by virtue of the legal concept of native title.

The landmark decision penned by Oliver Wendell Jones. The US Supreme Court ruled that “Whatever may have been the technical position of Spain, it does not follow that in the view of the United States, he had lost all rights and was a mere trespasser when the present government seized his lands. The argument to that effect seems to amount to a denial of native titles, throughout an important part of the island of Luzon.”

The decision concluded that “when as far back as testimony or memory goes, that land has been held by individuals under a claim of private ownership, it will be presumed to have been held in the same way from before the Spanish conquest, and never to have been public land.”

This landmark Cariño decision on native title, which took six years of proceedings in the US, established a legal doctrine that only nearly a century later became the foundation of the Indigenous People’s Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997.

The IPRA now recognizes “ancestral domain,” or ownership of land established through collective memories and custom law, and that for indigenous peoples, land ownership is not given by formal titles, but is claimed by use and inheritance since time immemorial.

However, IPRA applies a special provision for Baguio City itself, with the ironic result that the Cariño doctrine has never been implemented within the city boundaries where the doctrine was first invoked.

And, I believe that among the Ibalois of Baguio and Benguet, they still aspire for the realization of the spirit of the native title over their ancestral lands, despite the celebration this year as simply “more of cultural in nature”.

Ruby Giron, a descendant of Mateo Carino, shared that the celebration this year is “more of cultural in nature”. They featured the use of the bankilay, exhibited the kadaring dance and the horse riding shoe. She explained that the bankilay is a wood and bamboo stand where the offered pig is placed and where the owek, a pointed piece of wood used to stab the pig’s heart for the ritual.

The kadaring dance on the other hand is a dance to invite the spirts to join in the canao.

It is really educational and interesting to attend celebrations dominated by indigenous culture and practices. Aside from understanding their political issues, I try to learn and appreciate their culture. And I love their way of trying to have the young generations learn these practices. Again happy Ibaloi day. # nordis.net

By KATHLEEN T OKUBO
www.nordis.net

At the Ibaloi Day adivay (get together), I was introduced to Auntie Evelyn – whom I may have met in my childhood but could not remember, otherwise this would not feel like the first time I meet my late mother’s childhood friend. She agreed with me when I asked if she had met me before. According to what I remember of mama’s stories, she was one of her closest friends from elementary to high school graduation and during their days in agricultural and teacher’s college. I remember her from stories told in my childhood. I hope to see her again soon in a more amiable situation and not in a crowd where we were both obliged to greet and meet other people or when I have to rush back to work and to the next appointment.

Auntie Evelyn, as my mother said, was warm, more assertive and conversant than my mother. Auntie is already 81 years old and thinks she is on borrowed time but she looked much, much younger and more energetic than my 75 year old cousin. In that brief meeting, she told me she was trying to compile and put together stories that her grandparents and parents told her long, long ago. I believe she should put all those memories (good or bad) in writing especially that a section of the present fractured Ibaloi community here is trying to put together data of their history from the Ibaloi point of view as far back as possible. She and others doing the same shall collectively contribute a great deal to the understanding and evolution of the Ibaloi culture and not just putting memories of the old Baguio together or of other old communities into writing. I asked for one of her stories and she shared some of her notes. (see The Dai-sang – abandoned house on page 1)

In gatherings like this, Ibalois (or even of other tribes) get to share their jokes, anecdotes, and taunts between the different groups of the tribe. Tribesmates from other villages on the outskirts taunt the I-Kafagway (from Baguio central district area) of today as characteristically being exclusive because they say “sikaray e baknang”.

In the olden days, baknangs are expected to be able to spend more than the others, conduct themselves in a certain manner during gatherings, carry their clothing in a certain way, etc. But in the present where the city has become a melting pot of different peoples, these are not entirely true because of practicality. Furthermore, abhorred by today’s western lifestyles, they (baknangs) just tease each other about the practices of old. Yet in the traditional tayao in today’s setting, the Ibalois still respect and try hard to apply the traditional heirarchy of pairing and priority to dance (perform in) the tayao.

Though change is the only thing permanent in life, it cannot be used to justify the waning or the loss of good traditions and practices of a community. Instead change for the good of the community must be the lead factor to assert traditional knowledge of good community practices – of progressive (and not backward) ideas, of a healthy environment, of sustainable livelihood, of community education, of solidarity, of conservation and sharing common resources. The Ibaloi of today owes it to their ancestors for the blessings passed on to them and they must relearn the lessons of history, continue their language, their culture as a people and protect the ancestral domain for the next generations. Mahedsang e Ibadoy, et muan esadshak ja akew ni Ibadoy, badeg ja iyaman. Manbiag kitjon emin!

Announcement. Inbitado e ka kait shi sahey a Ibaloy Forum: “Is the Ibaloy endangered?”, niman a Marso 1, Thursday, shi Mt. Province Museum, Gov. Pack Road, 9am – 4pm. # nordis.net

By REV. LUNA DINGAYAN
www.nordis.net

“Then Jesus answered, ‘Go away, Satan! The Scripture says, Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’ ” — Matthew 4:10

Mission and Evangelism Seminar/Workshop

We were quite busy in our seminary these past three days conducting mission and evangelism seminar/workshops attended by more than fifty participants. Our theme was on mass evangelism. When we talk of mass evangelism, we are not simply referring to the evangelistic rallies conducted by evangelical groups in public places calling people to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

Rather, we are referring to the divine task of evangelizing the masses, proclaiming the good news in word and in deed, like what Jesus Christ our Lord and the Early Church had done, whether it be in public places or in private homes, whether it be individually or communally.

Jesus Model of Evangelization

How then should we evangelize the masses? Our model should be that of Jesus Christ our Lord. How did Jesus Christ our Lord evangelize the masses? Matthew 4:1-11 can be of help to us.

As Jesus started his ministry, he was tempted to follow various options of evangelizing the masses prevailing at the time. But he was able to overcome all these temptations. Like Jesus, we may also be tempted to follow various options of evangelizing the masses existing in our society today. And like Jesus, may we also overcome all these temptations. There are several lessons we could learn from Jesus’ discerning experience in the wilderness on how to evangelize the masses.

Turning Stones into Bread

First of all, we should not yield to the temptation to “turn stones into bread” to persuade people.

Jesus received God’s Spirit to fulfill His saving act in the world. And he knew for sure that he had this power with him. At that moment in the wilderness, Jesus was in a period of discerning God’s will. He was making a choice on what strategy to use to fulfill his mission of winning people to God’s Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is not something ready-made; but it is something that must be struggled for. How would Jesus turn the vision of God’s Kingdom into a reality? What kind of approach would he follow?

One sure way to persuade people to follow him was to give them bread, to give them material things. Did not history justify that? For instance, had not God given manna in the wilderness? If Jesus had decided to give people bread, he could have produced enough justifications for it. As a matter of fact, some of the early Protestant missionaries in our country followed this approach by distributing relief goods to prospective converts. Unfortunately, some of our Korean missionaries in our country today are also using this evangelistic strategy.

But to give people bread would have been a serious mistake. It would have been to persuade people to follow Jesus for the sake of what they could get out of it. Jesus Christ our Lord called people to a life of giving, and not a life of getting. To bribe people with material things would have been ultimately to defeat Jesus’ own purpose. Besides, it would have been to remove the symptoms without dealing with the disease itself.

True, people are hungry, especially nowadays, despite reports of a growing economy. But the question is: why are people hungry? Is it because of their indolence, like what our former colonizers said about us? Or, is it because there are some who selfishly possess too much, and greedily desire to have even more, while others possess too little?

The real way to cure poverty and hunger in this world is to remove the causes, which are deeply rooted in people’s hearts and minds, and are concretely expressed in their systems and structures of social relationships. Besides, there is that hunger of the human heart, like the hunger for justice and righteousness, the hunger for love and peace, which material things can never satisfy.

And so, Jesus answered the Tempter, “Man can not live on bread alone, but needs every word that God speaks” (cf. Dt. 8:3). For the word of God is a word of justice; it is a word of love and compassion.

Creating sensations

Moreover, we should not yield to the temptation of creating sensations to attract people and get their support.

In our text, Jesus was again tempted from another angle. In a vision, the Tempter took Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple. The Temple was built on top of Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. And there was one corner of the Temple building at which the Solomon’s Porch and the Royal Porch met. At that corner, there was a sheer drop of about four hundred and fifty feet into the Valley of Kedron down below.

Now, why should not Jesus stand on that pinnacle and leap down below, like Superman, and perhaps land unharmed in the valley beneath? Surely, such things would startle people into following him! As a matter of fact, this was the strategy promised by those who claimed to be messiahs or saviors in those days. For instance, the famous Egyptian Pretender recorded in the Book of Acts (21:38) had promised that with a word he would lay flat the walls of Jerusalem. Simon Magus had promised to fly through the air, and, of course, he died in his attempt to do so.

All these things seem to be no different from today’s Charismatic Phenomenon, the El Shaddai Phenomenon, the Agoo Phenomenon, the Quibuloy Phenomenon, and many others. Thousands upon thousands of people are attracted to religious groups and movements that promise instant healing, instant riches; yes, instant salvation from this world of pain and suffering!

Why should Jesus not follow this strategy? He would have been an instant celebrity. He could have attracted the rich, the famous, and the mighty in the City of Jerusalem, and not merely the blind, the lame, the poor and insignificant people of Galilee. Unlike the Pretenders of his day, Jesus had the power to fulfill his promise. But why, why should Jesus not follow the way of sensationalism?

Jesus knew for sure that a person who seeks to attract people to him by providing them with sensations has adopted a strategy in which there is no future. The reason is simple. To retain his power to attract people, he must produce ever greater and greater sensations. For this year’s sensation may be next year’s commonplace. A Gospel founded on sensationalism is foredoomed to failure. People would come to know the truth and realize that there is more to life than mere sensationalism.

Besides, that is not the way to use God’s gift of power. “You must not put the Lord your God to the test” (Dt. 6:16), said Jesus. For sure, our God expects us to take risks in life in order to be faithful and obedient to him, but God does not expect us to take risks in order to enhance our own prestige.

The faith that is dependent on sensationalism is not really faith; rather it is actually doubt looking for proof in the wrong place. God’s rescuing, healing, and redeeming power is not something to be played with or to be experimented with; but rather it is something to be quietly trusted in our everyday life.

Jesus Christ our Lord refused to follow the way of sensationalism in evangelizing the masses, because he knew for sure that it was the way to failure. And to long for sensations is not really to trust, but to distrust the Almighty God.

Compromising values and principles

Furthermore, we should not yield to the temptation to compromise our values and principles in life just to win people’s approval.

In his moment of discernment, Jesus was again tempted in another way. It was the world that Jesus came to serve and to save, and into his mind there came the picture of the world. The voice of the Tempter said, “Fall down and worship me, and I will give you all the kingdoms of this world” (v.9). The Tempter was in fact saying, “Follow the ways of the world! Do what the rulers of this world have been doing! They conquer nations and kingdoms by force or by manipulations, and lord it over them!”

This is the temptation of following the ways of the world, instead of presenting uncompromisingly God’s demands to the world. It is the temptation to change the world by becoming like the world. This has been a persistent temptation in the history of the Christian church. The church in the Middle Ages, for instance, had scandalously yielded to the temptation to adopt an authoritarian structure patterned after the Roman Empire.

But Jesus answered, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him alone you will serve” (cf. Dt. 6:13). This is the same faith affirmed by our mothers and fathers in the faith in their attempts to reform the church in the Reformation Era. Jesus our Lord knew for sure that we can never defeat evil by compromising with evil. Our world needs a new way of life, a new kind of relationship, based on God’s justice and love.

Serving the Masses

And so finally, we should worship the Lord our God and He alone we shall serve.

To serve God is to serve the people. Service to people happens when we identify ourselves with the genuine hopes and aspirations of the people and serve them truly and wholeheartedly. In serving the people, we take the genuine interests of the people as our own, and not to make our own vested interests as the people’s interests. By serving the people, especially those at the bottom of society, we are offering our concrete service to God Himself.

And so, Jesus made up his mind. He decided that in evangelizing the masses, he must never bribe the masses of people into following the way of God’s Kingdom; he decided that the strategy of sensationalism is not for him; he decided that there is no compromise in the message he proclaims and in the faith he demands. He decided “to worship God and Him alone (he) will serve.” Jesus Christ our Lord believed that this is the will of God. This is what God desires. And he offered his life in obedience to the will of God.

Inevitably, such decision would also mean his crucifixion. However, following the way of the cross would also mean the final victory of his task of evangelizing the masses. It is by genuinely serving the masses that they will find new life, new hope and a new future. # nordis.net