Bontok women plant rice in their terraces

Kalinga dads blast governor for allegedly mauling board secretary

By: Arthur L. Allad-iw, Northern Dispatch (special to InterAksyon.com)
May 16, 2015 12:37 PM

Kalinga provincial board member Gelacio Bongngat (photo by Gerigie Gacuya)

InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines -- The Sanguniang Panlalawigan of Kalinga has passed a resolution condemning Governor Jocel Collado Baac, who is accused of mauling Matthew Matbagan, the provincial board’s secretary, on May 11.

SP Resolution 2015-059, passed the day after the incident, called for Baac to be sanctioned for grave abuse of authority and accused him of betraying public trust for the incident, which happened inside the governor’s office.

It is not the first time Baac has been accused of physical assault. In 2011, he stormed a local radio station and attacked broadcaster Jerome Tabanganay, for which he was roundly condemned by media and briefly suspended a year after the incident.

The blotter entry on the alleged mauling of Matbagan recorded by the Tabuc City police said Baac had summoned the board secretary to his office at 11:30 a.m. on May 11 to complain about terminology used in SP Resolution 2015-058 declaring the Kalinga Gabriela Mija Kim Medical center an extension of the Kalinga Provincial Hospital.

When Matbagan tried to explain, Baac allegedly grabbed him by the collar and punched him in the face and body.

The resolution said the governor’s police security detail prevented him from further harming Matbagan and that the incident was witnessed by visitors to Baac’s office.

A medico-legal certificate said Matbagan suffered contusions on the face and abrasions on the neck.

The day after the incident, board member Gelacio Bongngat, majority leader and chairman of the committee on rules and ethics, delivered a privilege speech saying the incident “deserves the highest degree of condemnation (in) the strongest sense of the word” as he stressed that Baac “is mandated by law to protect the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights.”

The provincial board pointed out that Matbagan was not responsible for the resolution Baac questioned, only for certifying to the fact that the SP had indeed taken up the matter.

It said Baac could simply have disapproved the resolution since he is empowered to do so by the Local Government Code.

“If no one among us here would not be brave enough to stand for the truth and air our sympathy to our co-employee of the provincial government against the seemingly irked governor, then maybe some or all of us in this institution would also be a potential victim of the same act of the governor if such act would not be corrected in accordance with the rules of law,” Bongngat said in his privilege speech.

Baac is a member of the Liberal Party.

Attempts to reach him on his phone have proved in vain as of this posting.

Aluling Bridge strengthens sisterhood ties between Sagada, Tagudin

By: Arthur L. Allad-iw, Northern Dispatch (special to InterAksyon.com)
May 16, 2015 2:27 PM

Aluling Bridge in Cervantes, Ilocos Sur. Photographed by Arthur Allad-iw.

InterAksyon.com

The online news portal of TV5

BAGUIO CITY – Continuing what their ancestors had started in highland-lowland trade relations prior to colonization, where the highlanders traded their forest products for commodities like salt and woven products of lowland Ilocos, the local governments of Sagada in Mountain Province and Tagudin, a coastal town in Ilocos Sur, strengthened their sisterhood ties with focus on trade and tourism relations.

The two towns recently reaffirmed their continuing past relationships with concrete bilateral trade programs aimed at bringing added mutual benefits.

Local cool-climate vegetable produce from Sagada will now regularly find their way to the Tagudin market, while the latter’s products, including fish and seafood, will become fixtures at the market in Sagada.

In the nippy areas of upland Mountain Province, Sagada farmers produce vegetable crops and fruits, like cabbage, potato, beans and American-sized tomatoes, and citrus fruits.

Tagudin, on the coastal zone of Ilocos Sur, harvests bangus (milk fish) and other marine food to compliment their fishermen’s catch on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) and, likewise, lowland rice and vegetables, notable for their local dishes, like pinakbet.

Sagada has an estimated population of 11,244 while Tagudin has 38,122.

Recently, 37 delegates from Sagada, led by its Mayor Eduardo Latawan Jr., attended the Tagudin town fiesta last week.

"We have strengthened the sisterhood, where heightened trade will be among its realistic outcomes," Latawan explained.

He added that a "bagsakan center" or trading post was established at Bitalag, Tagudin, where the produce from Sagada will be delivered and then retailed to consumers there.

He also said that the arrangement will be set up for Tagudin products in Sagada.

Latawan disclosed that the sisterhood relationship was firmed up with Tagudin Mayor, Atty. Jose V. Bonuan in January this year.

Tagudin Mayor Bunoan (light blue shirt) and Sagada Mayor Latawan (dark blue shirt) inside the Tagudin town hall.
Photo Andelo Umaming 

Shorter route via Aluling Bridge

InterAksyon.com learned that the opening of Aluling Bridge in Cervantes, Ilocos Sur now makes it possible to make the trip from Tagudin to Sagada in just three-to-four hours.

"The quicker route would help preserve the freshness of the products from both sides and shortens the time to destination," explained Robert Pangod, tourism officer of Sagada.

Lowland products, like bangus, used to be bought up by traders from Baguio City, which entailed a trip of more than six hours by bus just to reach Sagada.

There is also the possibility that Rep. Eric Singson would donate a refrigerated van for transporting Tagudin fresh products to Sagada.
 
Promotes tourism
The bilateral tourism potential between the two towns will also get a big boost with the newly opened, easier route.

Tagudin has attractive spots, including the nearby coastal areas, while Sagada is proud of its natural stalactite caves and hiking attractions, complimented by the indigenous upland culture.

Along the way, the historic Tirad Pass can be clearly viewed, while a visit to Bessang Pass (marking the victory in 1945 of Filipino soldiers serving the U.S. Army Forces over Imperial Japanese Army forces) serves to heighten compliment the visitors' sense of patriotism, Pangod said referring to these places in the Ilocos Sur area.

Marker at the Bessang Pass. Photo by Andelo Umaming 

In Tadian, Mountain Province, a neighboring town of Cervantes in Ilocos Sur, a visitor can view Mount Mogao, also dubbed irreverently as Mount Clitoris due to its sharp peak, and rolling hills and rice fields.

Rice fields in Cervantes, Ilocos Sur. Photo by Arthur Allad-iw 

Pangod admitted that the opening of Aluling Bridge at Cervantes expands opportunities for more visitors from Ilocos Sur, like Tagudin and Vigan, to visit Mountain Province. #

Baguio vendors urge government to respect their right to livelihood

By: Arthur L. Allad-iw, Northern Dispatch (special to InterAksyon.com)
May 16, 2015 3:16 PM

Vendors protest inhumane treatment by Baguio City Public Order and Safety Division personnel. Photographed by Arthur Allad-iw.

InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

BAGUIO CITY – "We are not criminals! We are humans. We have the right to livelihood!"

These were the words of the ambulant and sidewalk vendors here as they play cat-and-mouse with the city government's Public Order and Safety Division (POSD) personnel who've come to confiscate their wares.

The vendors claimed that, most of the time, they are treated inhumanely by those they described as "goons" out to harass them.

Daisy Bagni, called for the "decriminalization" of the vendors who, because of lack of employment opportunities, resort to hawking on the streets of Baguio to feed their families.

There are at least 2,000 sidewalk and ambulant vendors in the city.

They should be extended help, instead, by the government, but what's happening is the other way around: their right to livelihood is being trampled on, said Bagni, who is the secretary-general of the Organisasyon Dagiti Nakurapay nga Umili iti Siyudad (ORNUS).

Osang Walitan, a 31 year old ambulant vendor, expressed disgust with the city government: "Even if we are in a private area or inside an enclosed space selling our wares, the POSD men still confiscated and grabbed our wares, with many of us ending physically hurt."

"Kasla kami nakapatay ti tao ti trato da kadakami (They way we are treated, it's as if we had killed someone)," she added.

Another vendor, Mercy Dumpit, 44, narrated how POSD grabbed their wares even these were inside their bag and not displayed for sale: "We need to feed our children. We have to stay up late at night, selling and earning our keep."

The vendors tried to engage the city government in dialogues, and were given IDs but admonished to sell their wares without displaying their wares on the streets.

But the POSD men are said to continuously disregarded their pleas invoking the agreement.

The city tax ordinance prohibits ambulant vending, regarding this as criminal acts under such legislation, but the vendors had been contesting this as inhuman, that they should not be considered as criminals.

"We urge the city council to repeal this ordinance and consider our situation," said the vendors. They also urged the mayor to be considerate to them as his POSD men often treated them "inhumanely".

"If vending is prohibited, where then is the government that should extend their help to the less fortunate like us?" Walitan asked.

Indigenous practices in the Cordilleras effective in curbing forest fires

By: Arthur L. Allad-iw, Northern Dispatch (special to InterAksyon.com)

April 18, 2015 8:59 PM

Tending vegetable plots opened up by kaingin in Benguet. Photographed by Arthur Allad-iw

InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

BAGUIO CITY - As summer is at its height, wild fires continuously threaten the Cordillera forests.

Fortunately, the indigenous communities have traditional systems of imposing sanctions on those implicated in forests fires, as a way of preserving these forests, which considered part of their ancestral domain.

The regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has already reported that several hectares of forests in the Mount Santo Tomas area in Tuba and Mount Pulag in Bokod, both towns in Benguet, had been destroyed due to uncontrolled forest fires.

In Mountain Province, the estimated impact of forest fires has yet to be released, according to the Provincial Environmental and Natural resources Office (PENRO).

A forest in Bontoc which was razed by fire lately. Photo Art Allad-iw 

Over the past five years, the DENR-CAR reported that forest fires damaged 308.26 hectares per year.

The blame is typically thrown at villagers engaged in swidden farming or kaingin, who, during rainy season, plant the burned mountain sides with legumes, squash and other climbing vines.

But forest fires do not occur only in relation to kaingin.

Communities claim most of the fires were unintentional, but for intentional burning, indigenous practices are observed to control such fires usually experienced during summer, and this generally is to protect and conserve their forest resources.

If a villager caused the fire, intentionally or otherwise, he will be summoned by the elders to explain in one dap-ay session, lakay (elder) Tigan-o Dugao of Ankileng, Sagada, Mountain Province, said.

Dap-ay is an indigenous socio-political system where elders lead the discussion of community affairs.

The elders decide on the sanction, usually a fine, levied on the culprit, he said.

The punishment ranges from exacting a fine (usually, one pig) and other consequential performance of community service.

In Tigan-o's Ankileng village, the culprit is required to pay with one ogo (a mother pig that has given birth at least twice).

Communal forest in Payag-eo, Sagada, Mountain Province. Photo Art Allad-iw 

In the eastern Sagada barangay of Antadao, the fine is one pig, according to Kapitan Domling, dumap-ay (member) of dap-ay Antadao. 

A pine forest in Antadao, Sagada. Photo Art Allad-iw 

In nearby barangay Kilong, still in Eastern Sagada, the fine of the culprit is an eteng or piglet, said Kapon Gomgom-o, a former member of the Sangguniang Bayan of Sagada town and a member of Kilong dap-ay.

He added that a piglet is also the fine for any member of a community who cut trees with which to make lumber, from their forests.

These leaders claimed that the system is effective. It is done through the communities' initiative and with their collective efforts.

Lakay Tigan-o explained that the fine will be used in a ritual called apoy. The community will declare ubaya (or tengaw in eastern Sagada) where the community members cannot leave during the duration of the ubaya.

"The lalakay in the dap-ay will perform the apoy ritual and pray to their god Kabunian and their ancestors' spirits, who may have been affected by the fire, to pardon the culprit and finally to protect the community from harm," added lakay Tigan-o, who is a member of dap-ay Bokboken in Ankileng.

The fine or other sanctions imposed by the community through the dap-ay is considered grave so that the culprit will not repeat his act.

The elders reiterated that these indigenous practices should continue as it is participatory in nature, just and implementable as part of their traditional practice and community life.

It is their contribution to sustainable environment protection.

With forest are abundant water for ricefields. Photo Art Allad-iw 

Lang-ay street dancing, April 25, 2015

Mountain Province’s Lang-ay festival showcase indigenous culture in month-long revelry

By Arthur L. Allad-iw

BONTOC, Mountain Province – located in the Central Cordillera in northern Philippines, this province celebrated its Lang-ay festival where various indigenous groups showcased their unique and rich culture in the street dancing, a culminating activity for the month-long festival.

   

To the amaze of visitors and locals who had been given the opportunity to deeply understand the indigenous culture from each town, cultural presentations were focused on practices related on birth, marriage and thanksgiving, and indigenous practices on sustainable agriculture and forest preservation.

The presentations were coupled with men in g-strings and women in wrap around skirts; material culture, like shields, centuries-old beads used as necklaces; and, chants and dances, where the movements were done based on the rhythm of the sounds of the gongs and bamboo musical instruments, masterfully played by men.

For Lang-ay is not only the spirit of community sharing, echoed Congressman Max Dalog Sr. in the programs, but the preservation of the resources in order to support the lives of the people in the community and the generations to come. With the participation of the umili (villagers) from its 10 municipalities, this year’s celebration became educational where the final presentations were done at the Eyyeb ground in Poblacion of the capital town of Bontoc.

Street dancing and cultural presentations

The I-Bontoks (the people of Bontoc town) relayed, in the street dancing and cultural presentations, the importance of environmental conservation with the aid of recycled materials used as props. And remembering the death of Macliing Dulag, who led the anti-Chico dam opposition, on April 24, 1980, they reiterated the defense of their ancestral land from destruction.

In downstream or lagod of the Chico River, the I-Sadanga (people of Sadanga town) relayed their agricultural ritual of thanksgiving in their presentation. With bountiful rice harvest, their thanksgiving is coupled with animals, like chicken they carried, to be offered in the rituals. Notable, too, was the participation of children, reiterating good practices must be transferred by the elders to their youth.

In the upstream or aplai of the Chico River, the umili (villagers) of Bauko town presented their indigenous system of forest management, its importance in their life-support system, as they gather products there to compliment their agricultural products from their ricefields. The forests in their town form part of the reservation for the Chico River, where the water starts to flow down Kalinga and joins the Cagayan River then to the China Sea.

Indigenous people in the province are keen on their life cycle, which was manifested by the Sabangan presentation dubbed “awil de e-Sabangan.” In the awil, community folk give gift to the spouses, who were blessed with a newly-born baby. Through the sounds of gongs, the participants carried in their basket un-husked rice as gift for the spouses and their baby.

Still upstream Chico, the Tadian town folk presentations were various dances performed in different community occasions, particularly during marriage and agricultural thanksgiving. They held their head up high as they can play including the takik, or courtship dance with the use of gongs and solibao or indigenous drum, and other dance performed based on rhythm produced from bamboo instruments.

In the western and upstream part of Mountain Province were the towns of Sagada and Besao. The Sagada folk relayed, through cultural presentations, the various ritual practices that the elders determine their schedules in the dap-ay, an indigenous socio-political institution where they decide rituals related on community events, like wedding and agricultural activities. They relayed the role of the elders and community folk, particularly in the realizations of these rituals. It is the only town with a dap-ay as its float in the street dancing and presentation.

In the nearby town of Besao, the folk presented their sustainable practices on agriculture. They were able to maintain the Japanese fish called kaling, where such species already disappeared in some rice fields in the province due to commercial inputs. Also, they reiterated the persistence of the practice due to the role of women, who shoulder most of the burden in rice field works.

In the eastern towns of Barlig, Natonin and Paracelis peopled by the indigenous Balangao, their presentations revolved on indigenous cooperation and distinct practices. The people in these towns can distinctly play the gongs in their eagle dance, though Barlig folk are claimed to best players.  

The Barlig Balangao have abundant products from forests and rivers, which led to masterfully hone their skills in hunting wild games at Mount Amuyao. Among their material culture displayed in the festival was their unique hunters back pack, locally called karupi, which is made from indigenous materials and can’t be wet even during strong rains.

The Balangao in Paracelis town, near Kalinga province, paraded a native hut where they usually build through ug-fhu or community cooperation after their busy field works. Complimenting their community unity are their necklace and bracelets made from centuries-old beads bartered from early Chinese trades by their ancestors and passed from one generation to another.

Unfortunately, the Balangao of Natonin town failed to have a cultural presentation for this year’s Lang-ay’s street dancing.

Governor Mayaen, in a press conference, pointed out that the people’s culture is very important as this is their identity as people. Though not comparable based on measurement in urban development, their systems had been proven to be sustainable, environment-friendly, and pro-people, he said.

The yearly Lang-ay festival has a perspective of strengthening the people’s unity with their theme: One people, one heritage, one direction towards cultural integrity. #