Its more than an Igorot dance

It was in 1904 when some Igorots of the Bontoc tribe formed part of the 1000 Filipinos who were led to the St Louis Fair of 1904. At Louis, they were displayed in an Igorot Village for seven months and made to butcher and eat dog meat on a daily basis, historical records say.

After St Louis, a veteran of the Filipino-American War named Richard Schneidewind contracted some of the Filipino group and displayed them again in Ghent , Germany in the World’s Fair in 1913.

It was also in 1909 when 50 Igorots were showcased during the Alaska-Yukon- Pacific Exposition in Seattle.

In those early years of the 1900s , World Fairs must have been too exotic a show not to be missed by any curious person who is interested to know how a “ dog –eating naked savage” looks like as pictured in earlier writings in the late 1800s. And so we read of Fr Francisco Antolin’s description of Igorots as “hardly different from wild beasts”.

So it must have been a curiosity to look at an Igorot alive at St Louis or at Ghent and see for one’s self how the Igorot eats a dog. Does he eat it raw? Does he eat it cooked? Does he tear it with his hands? Does he set it apart with his teeth? Such possible questions must have been in the minds of the curious onlooker, the curious researcher.

Seemingly devoid of any humanity, the Igorot must have been an object to be scrutinized of how his arms or eyes or legs look like. Like a piece of figurine which is held from one to hand and felt of its texture. Is it warm? Is it cold? Like a statue, the Igorot was a thing of curiosity which was exhibited for any curious person to satisfy his curiosity. So it may have been in the mind of actress Candy Pangilinan, a century after when what she was supposed to say as she claimed was “statue” and not Igorot.

So less than human is the impact upon the person of the Igorot that, as historians note, American missionary Bishop Charles Henry Brent of the Anglican Church based in Bontoc then in the early 1900s, discouraged Igorots from joining “freak shows’ in the United States, but he was not successful enough.

While Fairs are nobly intended to “educate” the world of an ethnic tribe and his way of life, it is a standing question of a venue legitimizing racial discrimination at the same time. That is, as more and more of bigotry and prejudice have been experienced in the whole stretch of the 19th century to the 20th. We ask now how much of defeating the legitimization of racial discrimination shall be seen in the upcoming 100th anniversary of the AYPE in Seattle this June of 2009.

The event will re- enact history of setting up an Igorot Village. The Igorots of today will perform Igorot dances and songs, rituals, backstrap weaving and show who an Igorot is.

Yet who is an Igorot? Is it changing the dark skinned Igorot to a fair skinned one as she dances the Igorot dance in high heels? Is it to show that he is now educated with an MBA or a PhD degree and that before he was uneducated and illiterate? Is it changing who he is before and presenting a modern Igorot now? Is it showing the same rituals and cultural practices that the Igorot had been doing for years?

The Igorot will dance his dances and play his gongs during the AYPE in Seattle this June the same dances that he played in 1904, 1909, and 1913, the same sound and the spirit of the Kaigorotan. So what difference does it make now?

While he dances with his/her gateng (skirt) or wanes ( G-string) with the tune of the gangsa (gongs), it is an affirmation of who he is, in spirit and in soul. He/She is the noble savage in /her his time and territory. Former mayor of Bontoc and septuagenarian Alfonso Kiat-ong portrayed in spirit, a long-haired proud Igorot who danced in the streets of Bontoc with his dinagta G string as he twirled his gayang (spear) , during the opening Lang-ay Festival in 2005 I couldn’t help being so emotive then, sent shivers down my spine.

The Igorot survived in the jungles of the Cordillera with his spear and his noble savagery. “Hardly different from a beast” as the western and urban man has looked at him, that “savage” (noble savagery to be exact) in him, kept him who he is: a people who trace their roots to the strong and resilient Igorot in each generation.

And now, a conscious part of the organizers of a show, a far cry from the 1904, 1909 and 1913 Fairs where the Igorots were hustled and hassled and God-knows-what if they were promised a dollar or two while the organizers had their tobacco concessions in the deal.

The AYPE 2009, for one, is being co-organized by Mia Apolinar-Abeya from Bontoc, one of the descendants of the Igorots who was part of the St Louis Fair in 1904.

And it is only when he/she affirms his consent and be part of the show, and know that he is not discriminating nor exploiting his own humanity, that the Igorot will proudly dance. And that, the Igorot knows he/she is not a show, per se!

And so we have the Igorots dancing to the beat of their gongs during provincial festivals. the Lang-ay of Mountain Province, Adivay of Benguet, Imbayah of Ifugao, Arya Abra of Abra, Mataguan of Kalinga and Wow Philippines. And so during these local contemporary celebrations, while the Igorots congregate and enjoy the fellowship, they profit from tourism while promoting the name of their own localities. This, a far cry from the 1904, 1909 and 1913 fairs where they were left helpless in the streets of Ghent to fend for themselves, the organizer having gone off with the proceeds after the show.

The Igorot is a living person, a race, an ethnicity to be lived with. Much as he hunted with his spear, danced with the rains, prayed under the trees, the Igorot will live the essence of who he was years ago. A race in tune with the harmony of the spirits of the trees and gurgling waters, one with the spirits of his ancestors, protecting his people and rugged territory much as he lived and protected his life from invading and oppressive forces alien to the essence of his soul. One who continues to live amongst many, a distinct ethnicity, a distinct person, a distinct soul , who has a place in this world of diversities.



Pic from Here

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No to Racism

May 16, 2009

To:

Hon. Mauricio G. Domogan
Representative, Lone District of Baguio City
Rm. N-217, House of Representatives, Quezon City
Philippines

Hon. Samuel M. Dangwa
Representative, Lone District of Benguet
Rm. S-517, House of Representatives, Quezon City

Hon. Solomon R. Chungalao
Representative, Lone District of Ifugao
Rm. S-219, House of Representatives, Quezon City

Hon. Cecilia M. Seares-Luna
Representative, Lone District of Abra
Rm. S-608, House of Representatives, Quezon City

Hon. Elias Jr C. Bulut.
Representative, Lone District of Apayao
Rm. N-111, House of Representatives, Quezon City

Hon. Manuel S. Agyao
Representative, Lone District of Kalinga/
Caretaker-Representative for Mountain Province
Rm. N-502, House of Representatives, Quezon City


Respectfully requesting your attention to pass a special law against racism and the accompanying sanctions that go with it with respect to artists, entertainers, movie/TV and station managers, and those in the entertainment industry.

On May 9, 2009 during a show at SM Baguio City, actress Candy Pangilinan said, “Tao po ako. Hindi po ako Igorot” ( I am a human being. I am not an Igorot) =. She said this remark twice. Once, when she walked down the run-way after greeting the audience, and the second time when she appeared on stage.

The ethnic slur happened in Baguio City, homeland of a number of Igorot –Ibalois, Igorot – Kankanaeys, Igorot- i-Montayosa, Igorot –Kalingas, Igorot-Ifugaos, Igorot- Apayaos and Igorot-i-Abra .

Candy Pangilinan’s remark gathered angry and hurt reactions from Igorots and other non-Igorots as well which jammed her blog, http://candiva.multiply.com/, demanding for her public apology.

While Ms Pangilinan issued a personal apology in her blog and also a public apology on national TV, SNN, ABS-CBN, and TV Patrol last May 13, we specially forward that Ms Candy Pangilinan’s act and foregoing consequences, serve as a living reminder for artists to imbibe social responsibility in their chosen career, respect cultural diversities, observe human and collective rights of peoples, sustain the molding of relevant Filipino and sound cultural values while maintaining artistic freedom and expression.

The relatively same incident happened in1999 when actress Lucy Torres- Gomez said to another character in an ABS-CBN show, “Ang pangit mo naman, Igorot siguro parents mo” (You’re so ugly, maybe your parents are Igorots).

Pangilinan’s statement was a manifestation of racism where she strongly implied that Igorots are not human beings and that she is human. Similarly, in Torres’ remark, obviously said that Igorots as a people are ugly- looking, thus implying that non-Igorots are good looking. The attitude of superiority is very evident over a tribe which is made inferior.

Espousing racial slurs breed hostile and/or uncomfortable environment where one is made to feel inferior while the other is superior. And with this, such would not be a healthy community to live in as it eats away the sense and the right of equality among humans.

And while this continues, propagated by some artists in Philippine cinema, ethnic bias will alarmingly disrupt good community relationships between and among anyone regardless of race, ethnicity and color.

We, signatories to this petition, members of the Igorot ethnolinguistic tribe who come from different parts of the Cordillera region, are one among a number of Philippine ethno-linguistic tribes, who have distinct and diverse culture which commands respect

We invite other non-Cordillerans as well to join this petition.

Considering the above, we seek your appropriate action, especially in the passage of a special law to curb racism, to this petition in your continued role to promote camaraderie among all Filipinos, uphold human rights and people’s cultural rights, promote good Filipino values, preserve cultural heritage, while upholding freedom of expression.

Respectfully,

Please enter your name, email address/street address in the COMMENTS section.

or you may sign in to

PETITION

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/notoracism/

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Candy's rotten taste

Wow! What a way to get noticed.

Seemingly, this Candy Pangilinan knows that Igorots will react and notice her when she says, “Tao po ako. Hindi po ako Igorot” ( I am a human being. I am not an Igorot) during her show here at SM Baguio, May 9.

Cheap shot.

With her obvious intention of sounding ignorant, she nonetheless commits discriminatory acts and violates equality rights by strongly implying that Igorots are not human beings.

Stop it, Ms Pangilinan. Being a UP alumna, you disgrace your alma mater, the University of the Philippines, a prestigious institution which is known for its academic and intellectual excellence and strong positions against injustice. As well, you disgrace noted and distinguished UP graduates and where, among them are a number of Igorots. You may have come across some of them when you were studying Theater Arts in UP. Though, even if not because Igorots are not that much inclined to study theater arts, there is the tendency for you to meet this member of the human species in your college days. And if you haven’t, you must have led a miserable school life not to know the existence of an Igorot. Besides, being in the entertainment industry, you already have come across Igorot actors, one of whom was the late Starstruck winner, Marky Cielo. May he rest in peace.

And you say you’re joking? Ha ha! Making miserable , stupid and ignorant remarks on stage to catch attention? You think you’re being funny?

Making tribal slurs is downright discriminatory where it violates the basic human rights of people to their equality rights, whether such is said jokingly or intentionally. You think you’re human and the Igorot is not? You espouse a hostile and dangerous environment where humans will think ill or be wary of another just because one thinks one is not a human being. So who do you think Igorots are?

Coming here to Baguio which is largely populated by Igorots and saying such an off-hand, careless and stupid remark is a brazen and ill-mannered act to do. And before this piece gets longer, the best thing for you, Ms Candy Panglinan to do, is to give a public apology before some law –abiding Igorots would ever think of suing you to court, or calling on the anitos to give you a piece of their advice.

Write you comments at her blog.

Transferred from Travels and Events ( http://travelprints.blogspot.com) May 12, 2009.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

for what Candy said, I will not vote for Kiko, unless Kiko scolds her in public. I don't care if they are relatives hehehe

nandi ayahao

May 12, 2009 3:34 AM

Gina Dizon said...

Hi Nandi
Elections is just a few months away. A good comment to float Kiko's name ha ha! Anyways, do join the discussion in the komedyante's blog. Click at the bottom of my Rotten Candy post.
Gina

May 12, 2009 5:31 PM

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‘Tao po ako, hindi po ako Igorot’

It was in 1999 when actress Lucy Torres- Gomez said to a character in an ABS-CBN show, “Ang pangit mo naman, Igorot siguro parents mo” (You’re so ugly, maybe your parents are Igorots).

While Lucy Torres’ comment then was not as popularly criticized as what happened to Candy Pangilinan very recently, Lucy Torres was summoned to Congress to give an explanation to her remark, following public reaction from some outraged Igorots. ABS CBN also apologized saying there was no intent to demean.

They also ensured that it will not happen again in future shows, Blog of the Sagada Igorot reports. But the incident happened again. And worse, the relatively same racial slur happened in Baguio City, homeland of a number of Igorot –Ibalois, Igorot – Kankanaeys, Igorot –Kalingas, Igorot-Ifugaos, Igorot- Apayaos and Igorot- Tingguians.

Actress-comedian Candy Pangilinan uttered twice, “Tao po ako. Hindi po ako Igorot” ( I am a human being. I am not an Igorot) during a May 9 show at SM Baguio City. Once, when she walked down the run-way after greeting the audience, and the second time when she appeared on stage. Surely. Pangilinan’s statement was a manifestation of racism where she strongly implied that Igorots are not human beings and she is human.

Similarly, in Torres’ remark, she obviously said that Igorots as a people are ugly- looking, thus implying that non-Igorots are good looking. The attitude of superiority is very evident over a tribe which is made inferior. Espousing racial slurs breeds hostile and/or uncomfortable environment where one is made to feel inferior while the other is superior.

And with this, such would not be a healthy community to live in as it eats away the sense and the right of equality among humans. That was clearly proven in the two artists’racial slurs when Igorots all over the world were outraged and rammed angry remarks to both Torres and Pangilinan.

Like corruption which has ingrained in Philippine society and has alarmingly spread in the whole stretch of its hierarchy and seemingly got unstoppable , racial slurs go in the same thread. And while this continues, propagated by some artists in Philippine cinema, ethnic bias will alarmingly disrupt good community relationships regardless of tribe, color, or race.

It may happen again. Yet artists or anybody else with a racist mind gets away with it, without being made accountable to his/her actions and getting penalized. As we can see, apologies can happen. And it can happen over and over again. Explanations in Congress can also happen and it can happen over and over again. Heaviersanctions are needed much as it erodes the self- esteem of a people, posesthreat to healthy communities from developing, poses dangerous relationship of ill feelings and distrust to another, and violates equality rights. In furtherance of public welfare, ethnic slurs need to be regulated if not, prevented from happening.

It has to stop somewhere while we recognize one major cause of ethnic bias.

Jerry P8 Abeya, moderator of a Kankanaey tribe Kotim-ya- Eta Yahoo forum says Candy Pangilinan’s remark “is basically a symptom of the mis-education of the mainstream Filipinos about their own brother and sister- Igorots. That she represented at one instance the mis-educated Filipinos who continue to be discriminatory; and that hopefully the apology of Candy for realizing to respect the dignity of any tribe, would be a lesson to learn from.”

I wonder what the Katipunan ng mga Artistang Pilipino Sa Pelikula at Telebisyon
(KAPPT) is doing to discipline their own members. I also wonder what special sanctions are there for TV stations and the entertainment industry have for artists and managers who commit ethnic slurs in their own TV stations and productions.

While people forgive and let live, a special law is needed to control and sanction
racism which is eating healthy relationships from growing. What you say Baguio Congressman Mauricio Domogan and the other Batasan representatives from the Cordillera?

Reprinted from Northern Philippine Times

Candy Pic from Cordillera Virtual Newseum

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Regional autonomy is doing, not academic

Regional autonomy makes me think of Macliing Dulag, the slain, militant Kalinga chieftain who resisted government troopers who tried to ram Chico Dam in his hometown in Bugnay, Kalinga in the 1970s.

Dulag’s act of defiance is a concrete living example of what autonomy means -- a self-determining act of asserting one’s rights for public interest. A principled act to stand up to what one believes in, despite whatever rules there are. He made his rules and the rule is his life. Despite whatever law or policy there was, his land should not be touched by the government because land is his life.

Yet, he was law abiding by being true to what the Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides the right to life. The odds were against him, a threatening military force who bulldozes their way in his own backyard and a government policy dictated by the late President Marcos, to build the Chico River Basin Development Project. Some people were scared, some apathetic, some skeptic.

Yet, with his followers and others who supported him including international friends, Dulag stuck to his scruples and resisted the dam which led to the people of Kalinga and Mountain Province sourcing their food from their precious lands till now. What did he gain in the process?

For sure, he was not promised a Mercedes Benzor a palace, or a trip to the Alps or a load of money from anybody who wanted him to resist. He had a load of a living example he passed on to people of Kalinga and the neighboring provinces of the Kordillera on what is regional autonomy.

Now, we are not saying, you also do ala-Macliing Dulag and be a chieftain, resist the army, and die a hero. In your own backyard, you could have noticed injustice going on like a fishy infrastructure being built which was not built according to budget, or excessive transportation rates, lack of school buildings and teachers, an abusive authority, or a
good for nothing elected official who is not doing his job.

What are you doing to check the situation? I would like to mention Juniper Dominguez who despite threats to his life, consistently attacked engineer Mariano Alquiza, former Cordillera Dept. of Public Works and Highways director, of corruption on SONA projects along the Halsema Highway, where, through the press and the courts, contributed to the eventual replacement of Alquiza.

Now, Natonin native and Bontoc-bred engineer Roy Manao is the Cordillera DPWH Director. The credit goes to other supporters and silent movers who wanted to rid the regional DPWH of corruption. Meantime, most of the public particularly from Mountain Province who regularly cross the Halsema Highway are silent on the sidelights and either pessimistic, apathetic, skeptical, or just too busy with their own lives to care as to what Juniper is raving about.

I also appreciate the people of Guinaang, Bontoc who resisted the excessive transportation rates of their own jeepney drivers a year ago. So to drive home their point, they walked the one hour-ride Bontoc-Guinaang route to spite the drivers that they can walk anyway, and that drivers will not have any money for the day.

And so further on, the Guinaang people wrote CAR-DOT and LTFRB asking them to clear the issue and tell the drivers to lower the rates as diesel has already gone down from P60 to 40 per liter. The people got what they wanted and the jeepney drivers lowered the fare. Juniper and the Guinaang people are but some of the few autonomous individuals who stand up, amidst threats, for what they believe in to try and change ugly situations for a better and fairer place to live in.

This encouragement and admiration include other individuals who, as a group actively petition abusive authorities. Meantime, other neighboring people in Sagada for example, grumble and mumble about excessive fare rates yet did not do what the Guinaang people did. I don’t know if the rate is still P45, and not lower than that, which is supposed to be 27.00 for the 18 kilometer Bontoc-Sagada road, as what it should be according to LTFRB computation. Most people do grumble and mumble about what is wrong.

What am I saying? What had the people done so far in making themselves self-determining and actually exercise what regional autonomy means in their very own places? We have laws which support self- determining rights like freedom of the press, freedom of expression, freedom to assemble, the right to recall officials as provided for in the constitution. Yet, I never heard of a politician who was recalled due to the action of people against one who is corrupt and abusive or good for nothing opisyal who closes his mouth and rarely forwards a resolution during the entire Sangguniang sessions and gets his monthly salary anyway.

Also, the Local Govt Code RA 7160 also provides for Special Bodies and NGOs to be represented in deciding bodies in Development Councils in government. Yet, very few NGOS had themselves accredited in government to be part of local governance. In the provincial LGU of Mt Province for one, there are only six accredited NGOs last year. And the rest?

Either the NGOS are busy with their own interests or fed up with the corruption and inefficiency of government. Even the government is not fully facilitating local governance involving the people. Barangay assemblies are not that observed in most barangays, as noted in a consultation on local governance conducted last year. Ask yourself if you know or were part of a barangay consultation/assembly a year ago or just recently. The law says there should be at least two barangay assemblies in a year.

What more, municipal Sangguniang sessions are nearly closed to the public by the non conduct of public hearings on issues which vitally affect them? The people also care less. What the heck. Life goes on. While this is the case, the drive for regional autonomy is just around the corner. Where people are not that enthusiastic and involve
themselves in political activities in their own backyards, what does regional autonomy mean to their lives? Seems to be only a concoction of dreams and ideals of a few ideologues which got modified by government technocrats and now finding itself offered to the people whether to accept or not.

So the government now through the Regional Development Council conducts these so-called IECs to inform the people about regional autonomy because as the survey says, 40% don’t know what autonomy is already about. Can regional autonomy be achieved in conducting IECs? How much of IECs are needed by the way? Seemingly, autonomy is seen as an academic problem where people have to know the definition of homogenous and heterogenous.

Yet, a major factor is experiential. Regional autonomy needs to be lived and people and government have to do it, breathe it in order to know about it, and do it more. Otherwise, it would just be like any other electoral exercise where people cast their votes whether to write Juan or Jose in the ballot. Either the people vote for Juan in exchange for a kilo of rice, vote anyway, or boycott. After the elections, what are the people doing to involve themselves in the promises of Juan the Politiko?

In most cases, people don’t care less and let Juan the Politiko do his thing while Juan dela Cruz will also do his thing also: work, feed his children, sleep, wake up the next day, work again and the cycle goes on until the next election comes again with Politiko’s boring and repeated promises for a better future. So again, what do we expect for this quest for regional autonomy?

Where people are not even autonomous to exercise their basic constitutional rights. Where people are apathetic to political life and get busy with their own economic lives because Maria needs 25,000 for her tuition fees in college and the government anyway can’t help in her nursing course fees. Where the youth who are the hope of the Fatherland, are busy playing Counterstrike, getting in Friendster, or chatting in the Internet. Many adults are busy with their own lives in order to feed a family or feed themselves.

Many people leave for HK or UK or EU or USA because there are not enough decent paying jobs in this country swamped with a dearth of employment. People are alienated from government as if the government has nothing much to do with their own lives. Yet people mumble when there is a problem on fare increase, high tuition fees or low pay. But it is only until there. Grumble. We need more Dulag Maclii-ings, Junipers and Guinaang people.

Reprinted from Northern Philippine Times

Ist Pic. Macli-ing Dulag
2nd Pic. Halsema Highway

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