Inquirer Headlines / Nation
http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/thegoodnews/view.php?db=1&article=20080905-158764
RAMON MAGSAYSAY AWARDS
RAMON MAGSAYSAY AWARDS : P4-B microfinance started with P20, typewriter By TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: September 05, 2008
MANILA, Philippines—A venture that was started with P20 and an old Remington typewriter is now a one-stop shop offering loans, banking services and life insurance. And, because of it, hundreds of thousands of poor clients have become richer.
For the past 20 years, the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI) has been extending all forms of credit to landless peasants to help them rise out of poverty.
From its base in San Pablo City, Laguna, it has quietly reached out to the women of landless families, even in conflict areas in Mindanao, to help them set up small livelihood projects, save extra income, and get insured in case of death.
Small wonder then that CARD MRI—an organization comprising an NGO, a rural bank, a micro-insurance company and a training institute—has been named one of two Ramon Magsaysay awardees for public service this year.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation cited CARD MRI for its “successful adaptation of microfinance in the Philippines, providing self-sustaining and comprehensive services for half a million poor women and their families.”
Named after President Ramon Magsaysay who died in a plane crash in 1957, the awards are given out every year to individuals and organizations in Asia that have shown the late leader’s sense of selfless service.
The foundation conferred the award on the new laureates in a ceremony at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on Aug. 31. The winners each received a certificate, a medallion bearing the likeness of Magsaysay and a $50,000 cash prize.
Came as a shock
“It came as a shock that we’re being awarded the Ramon Magsaysay. We thought this was reserved only for high-profile companies,” said Dr. Jaime Aristotle Alip, founding chair and managing director of CARD MRI.
Alip and 14 rural developers established CARD Inc. as an NGO for the landless rural folk in Laguna in 1986 in the aftermath of Edsa I people power revolution that toppled Ferdinand Marcos.
The following year, they quit the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) to focus on CARD and ended up revolutionizing the microfinance industry.
“PBSP had a project here concentrating on rice farmers, but I felt these landless rural workers needed more help,” Alip, 51, said in an interview at the CARD MRI’s main office in San Pablo.
These are the seasonal farmers who don’t own land, get hired by tenant farmers to plant and harvest crops, and work odd jobs in between, he said.
Starting from scratch
CARD started out literally from scratch, with a measly capital of P20—according to Alip—or just enough to buy bond paper on which to write applications for foreign grants.
It initially occupied a classroom in the Alip family-owned vocational school that had spartan provisions—an old Remington typewriter, a desk and three chairs.
Thanks to a $20,000 grant from two Japanese micro-funding agencies, including the Asian Community Trust (ACT), it launched its economic assistance program for landless peasants in San Pablo and Bay, Laguna, in 1988.
“I think my friend (from ACT) pitied me, that’s why he gave us the grant,” said Alip, who flew to Japan to meet the funders carrying one suit, spent his nights at the airport and typed his proposals on the Remington.
Shift to women
With the grant, CARD trained some 200 “landless rural workers” on project management and organizational development, organized them into groups, and provided them with loans ranging from P500 to P5,000.
The initial batch was a mix of men and women but the NGO eventually shifted to women—the mothers—because they were better at managing finances.
“They would meet each week. There was a collection of savings, payments of loans. After that, there was an exchange of experiences, and then training on education,” Alip said.
A graduate of Agricultural Economics at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna (UPLB), Alip holds a master’s degree in Agricultural Marketing and a doctorate in Organizational Development.
Poor beginnings
The loans, payable in one year, were used to set up a variety store, handicraft store, poultry and piggery, among other “backyard projects.”
After a poor start that was marked by poor repayment, CARD picked up steam and expanded its membership from its base in Laguna to the provinces of Quezon, Marinduque, Mindoro and Masbate, and elsewhere.
In 1996, CARD applied for a license to operate a microfinance-oriented rural bank, the main goal of Alip and his colleagues for conceiving the NGO. And in September 1997, it opened the CARD Rural Bank in San Pablo.
Many of the CARD members eventually became part owners of the bank.
Secret of success
“That’s my thesis: Give them the ownership. Because for me the issue in microfinance is no longer access to credit. The issue is control of resource, and the best control of resources is by owning the equity of the bank,” Alip said.
He added: “The moment they have ownership, they’re able to get control and access in the capital. Then they can convert this into income. With income they can buy education, house for their family, food and the land that they need.”
With the bank, the members got bigger loans and, more important, opened savings and checking accounts, among others.
Alip said: “Now there are countless mothers who have their own land, own their own house, have their own business, and to me that is really bringing them out of poverty.”
In 1999, CARD formed another institution, the Mutual Benefit Association (MBA), to serve as a micro-insurance facility that would help members cope with deaths in the family and other unexpected events.
A mother’s idea
It was borne out of a mother’s proposal that CARD collect P1 each as a standby fund in case a mother or her next of kin dies. The pot reached a whopping P4.2 million, necessitating the establishment of a mutual insurance facility.
Again, the mothers were enrolled as part owners. As of June this year, MBA has insured some 2.9 million individuals around the country, more than those of many commercial insurance players.
MBA now operates in at least 47 provinces in the country, as well as in Cambodia and Vietnam.
The facility offered mortuary benefits, and loan redemption in case of the death of a mother, or any of her family members, under a “1-3-5” scheme.
This means that if a member dies, a life insurance ranging from P50,000 to P100,000 would be released to a beneficiary in one, three or five days at the most if there are any hitches, such as a delay in the release of the death certificate.
“At first, they played a prank on us. One claimed death in the family, but after three days the dead rose again. We found out about the false claim and made them repay,” Alip said, chuckling.
P4-B assets
Through this facility, CARD also offered pension to members, hospitalization and accident loans, as well as emergency loans during inclement weather.
CARD also relaunched its training center in 2004 and named it CARD MRI Development Institute, offering degree and non-degree courses for its staff. A year later, it established the Business Development Service (BDS) to help the mothers expand their micro-enterprises.
So, from the original NGO, four other institutions have been born—the bank, the micro-insurance company, the learning institute and the BDS, hence the name Mutually Reinforcing Institutions.
In 47 provinces
From a fledgling NGO 20 years ago, CARD MRI is now serving over 700,000 poor women clients in 47 provinces, including Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, with P2.3 billion outstanding loans. It boasts of P4 billion in assets.
“Microfinance is not a panacea or the answer to all poverty,” Alip admitted. “But certainly it’s a powerful tool in helping the poor rise out of poverty.”
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©Copyright 2001-2008 INQUIRER.net, An Inquirer Company
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Honest tricycle driver lands job in City Hall
Inquirer Headlines / Metro
http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/thegoodnews/view.php?db=1&article=20080920-161789
Honest tricycle driver lands job in City Hall
By Allison Lopez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: September 20, 2008
MANILA, Philippines – Despite the hard times, a tricycle driver in Quiapo resisted the temptation to keep for himself more than P50,000 in cash left behind by a passenger.
For not keeping the money, Abraham Cariño, 44, was cited for honesty Friday by the Manila city government.
Cariño received P5,500 plus a job at City Hall from Mayor Alfredo Lim as reward for turning over an envelope containing documents and P55,350 in cash.
Rep. Naida Angpin also gave P5,000 to Cariño for his commendable act.
The mayor, who presided at the People’s Day forum Friday, hired Cariño on the spot, saying his act of honesty proved “he was worth keeping at City Hall and will not steal money from it.”
“With your example, more and more people will realize that it pays to be honest,” said Lim.
Cariño said the envelope was left behind by a male passenger and a child who boarded his tricycle around 7 p.m. Thursday on Globo de Oro Street. However, he was unable to trace his passengers when he returned to where he dropped them off after he found the money.
Barangay chair Danny Aquino presented Cariño, a father of four, to Lim after the driver handed over the envelope to him.
The cash and documents are at the mayor’s office for safekeeping until these are claimed.
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©Copyright 2001-2008 INQUIRER.net, An Inquirer Company
http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/thegoodnews/view.php?db=1&article=20080920-161789
Honest tricycle driver lands job in City Hall
By Allison Lopez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: September 20, 2008
MANILA, Philippines – Despite the hard times, a tricycle driver in Quiapo resisted the temptation to keep for himself more than P50,000 in cash left behind by a passenger.
For not keeping the money, Abraham Cariño, 44, was cited for honesty Friday by the Manila city government.
Cariño received P5,500 plus a job at City Hall from Mayor Alfredo Lim as reward for turning over an envelope containing documents and P55,350 in cash.
Rep. Naida Angpin also gave P5,000 to Cariño for his commendable act.
The mayor, who presided at the People’s Day forum Friday, hired Cariño on the spot, saying his act of honesty proved “he was worth keeping at City Hall and will not steal money from it.”
“With your example, more and more people will realize that it pays to be honest,” said Lim.
Cariño said the envelope was left behind by a male passenger and a child who boarded his tricycle around 7 p.m. Thursday on Globo de Oro Street. However, he was unable to trace his passengers when he returned to where he dropped them off after he found the money.
Barangay chair Danny Aquino presented Cariño, a father of four, to Lim after the driver handed over the envelope to him.
The cash and documents are at the mayor’s office for safekeeping until these are claimed.
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©Copyright 2001-2008 INQUIRER.net, An Inquirer Company
Village school goes high tech
Inquirer Headlines / Regions
http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/thegoodnews/view.php?db=1&article=20080927-163231
INQUIRER VISAYAS
Inquirer Visayas : Village school goes high tech
By Vicente Labro
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: September 27, 2008
CALBAYOG CITY – Every Monday morning, 10-year-old Feviane G. Ale is eager to attend her computer class at the Gadgaran Elementary School in Calbayog City to get a chance to play “Xbox” and other educational PC games.
Ale’s school in Barangay Gadgaran has its own computer laboratory – with 13 computers having Internet access. Its 250 pupils and all the teachers are taught basic computer literacy. Its “modern” facility is now the envy of other city schools in Calbayog and the source of pride of its teachers, pupils and community.
“I like computers because it helps me in my study,” Ale, a Grade V pupil, says.
Gadgaran is a depressed village about five kilometers from the city proper, which is 180 km north of Tacloban City, the regional center of Eastern Visayas.
The computer laboratory is unique in its design. The ground layout resembles an Xbox video console of Microsoft, with an “x” raised walkway. Another “x” suspended from the ceiling illuminates the whole room with bright-green light.
The four triangular ground areas are divided into the Mathematics, Science, Arts, and Entertainment and Communications sections, which were all painted in orange, green, blue and yellow – the four colors of the Microsoft logo.
The computers are equipped with the latest educational software donated by Microsoft Corp.
American donor
David Dunleavy, an American who works with the US computer giant, designed and supervised the construction of the computer laboratory in August 2007. He also donated educational software materials, two TV sets, an LCD projector and an electric guitar and drum set, as well as the latest computer program.
The laboratory is using Microsoft Vista, but Dunleavy promised the school that when he visits the village again next year, he would bring along a Microsoft Version 7, which has not even come out of the global market yet, Teresa Villa, the school principal, said in an interview.
What was then a small school in a depressed village began to change in 2005 when it shared a vision of a “Modern and High Performing School” with the city school division. The community and the school worked together to achieve the goal.
In one of the meetings of the teachers and parents, Villa was told by a parent that an alumnus, Arvin Ofamen, was a friend of Microsoft’s Dunleavy, according to the campus publication “Kawit.”
Villa immediately contacted Ofamen and requested him to ask his friend to possibly donate a computer set. She also wrote a letter to Dunleavy.
Scholarship grants
In September 2005, Dunleavy and Ofamen visited the village, bringing along the donation. During his 10-day stay, the American discussed with Villa the situation not only of the school but also of the entire community.
“We asked him to provide the school with a scholarship program. He gave us fund for school supplies, school uniforms and for the contributions so that the parents won’t be spending anymore,” Villa said in a recent interview.
At first, Dunleavy provided 160 scholarship grants, but this has now increased to 200. He extended the program to high school students who are alumni, Villa said.
He also provided financial support to address the malnutrition problem in Gadgaran.
Since Dunleavy started helping, the school’s dropout rate went down to zero, the academic performance of the pupils greatly improved, and there were no cutting of classes and unnecessary absences among the pupils, Villa said.
“He is a philanthropist. His heart is really with the poor,” she said. Thankful for his generosity, the school and community declared Dunleavy an “adopted son of Gadgaran.”
Thanks to Gates, too
The school is also grateful to Microsoft founder Bill Gates. In fact, it has been “doubly lucky” because for every amount that Dunleavy donates, Microsoft, as a policy to its donor employees, matches this.
Arthur Basbas, an Information and Communication Technology teacher, says pupils and teachers from Grade 1 to Grade 6 were being taught basic computer literacy.
The teachers attend computer class from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily during school days. The pupils have their own classes twice a week and a film showing every Friday afternoon. They also do computer-aided research work during their vacant period, lunch time or after classes.
The ABS-CBN Foundation also donated educational video shows on Science, Math and English, Basbas says.
Incentive
He, however, clarifies that the basic computer literacy course is not included in the school curriculum, and that the students do not earn grades from the computer lessons. They earn points in quizzes, assignments and exams, and when they accumulate a total of 50 points, they are allowed a one-hour free use of the computer lab as incentive, including playing Xboxes and PC games.
Gadgaran is just an obscure, poor village, but its children now have access to a bright future with the help of new technologies.
^ Back to top
©Copyright 2001-2008 INQUIRER.net, An Inquirer Company
http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/thegoodnews/view.php?db=1&article=20080927-163231
INQUIRER VISAYAS
Inquirer Visayas : Village school goes high tech
By Vicente Labro
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: September 27, 2008
CALBAYOG CITY – Every Monday morning, 10-year-old Feviane G. Ale is eager to attend her computer class at the Gadgaran Elementary School in Calbayog City to get a chance to play “Xbox” and other educational PC games.
Ale’s school in Barangay Gadgaran has its own computer laboratory – with 13 computers having Internet access. Its 250 pupils and all the teachers are taught basic computer literacy. Its “modern” facility is now the envy of other city schools in Calbayog and the source of pride of its teachers, pupils and community.
“I like computers because it helps me in my study,” Ale, a Grade V pupil, says.
Gadgaran is a depressed village about five kilometers from the city proper, which is 180 km north of Tacloban City, the regional center of Eastern Visayas.
The computer laboratory is unique in its design. The ground layout resembles an Xbox video console of Microsoft, with an “x” raised walkway. Another “x” suspended from the ceiling illuminates the whole room with bright-green light.
The four triangular ground areas are divided into the Mathematics, Science, Arts, and Entertainment and Communications sections, which were all painted in orange, green, blue and yellow – the four colors of the Microsoft logo.
The computers are equipped with the latest educational software donated by Microsoft Corp.
American donor
David Dunleavy, an American who works with the US computer giant, designed and supervised the construction of the computer laboratory in August 2007. He also donated educational software materials, two TV sets, an LCD projector and an electric guitar and drum set, as well as the latest computer program.
The laboratory is using Microsoft Vista, but Dunleavy promised the school that when he visits the village again next year, he would bring along a Microsoft Version 7, which has not even come out of the global market yet, Teresa Villa, the school principal, said in an interview.
What was then a small school in a depressed village began to change in 2005 when it shared a vision of a “Modern and High Performing School” with the city school division. The community and the school worked together to achieve the goal.
In one of the meetings of the teachers and parents, Villa was told by a parent that an alumnus, Arvin Ofamen, was a friend of Microsoft’s Dunleavy, according to the campus publication “Kawit.”
Villa immediately contacted Ofamen and requested him to ask his friend to possibly donate a computer set. She also wrote a letter to Dunleavy.
Scholarship grants
In September 2005, Dunleavy and Ofamen visited the village, bringing along the donation. During his 10-day stay, the American discussed with Villa the situation not only of the school but also of the entire community.
“We asked him to provide the school with a scholarship program. He gave us fund for school supplies, school uniforms and for the contributions so that the parents won’t be spending anymore,” Villa said in a recent interview.
At first, Dunleavy provided 160 scholarship grants, but this has now increased to 200. He extended the program to high school students who are alumni, Villa said.
He also provided financial support to address the malnutrition problem in Gadgaran.
Since Dunleavy started helping, the school’s dropout rate went down to zero, the academic performance of the pupils greatly improved, and there were no cutting of classes and unnecessary absences among the pupils, Villa said.
“He is a philanthropist. His heart is really with the poor,” she said. Thankful for his generosity, the school and community declared Dunleavy an “adopted son of Gadgaran.”
Thanks to Gates, too
The school is also grateful to Microsoft founder Bill Gates. In fact, it has been “doubly lucky” because for every amount that Dunleavy donates, Microsoft, as a policy to its donor employees, matches this.
Arthur Basbas, an Information and Communication Technology teacher, says pupils and teachers from Grade 1 to Grade 6 were being taught basic computer literacy.
The teachers attend computer class from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily during school days. The pupils have their own classes twice a week and a film showing every Friday afternoon. They also do computer-aided research work during their vacant period, lunch time or after classes.
The ABS-CBN Foundation also donated educational video shows on Science, Math and English, Basbas says.
Incentive
He, however, clarifies that the basic computer literacy course is not included in the school curriculum, and that the students do not earn grades from the computer lessons. They earn points in quizzes, assignments and exams, and when they accumulate a total of 50 points, they are allowed a one-hour free use of the computer lab as incentive, including playing Xboxes and PC games.
Gadgaran is just an obscure, poor village, but its children now have access to a bright future with the help of new technologies.
^ Back to top
©Copyright 2001-2008 INQUIRER.net, An Inquirer Company
Greatness of spirit runs in this family from India
Inquirer Headlines / Nation
http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/thegoodnews/view.php?db=1&article=20080902-158145
RAMON MAGSAYSAY AWARD
RAMON MAGSAYSAY AWARD : Greatness of spirit runs in this family from India
By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo
Columnist / Writer
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: September 02, 2008
MANILA, Philippines—Greatness of spirit could run in the family. And whoever said that seedlings cannot thrive in the shadow of the huge parent tree could be proven wrong.
Husband and wife Prakash and Mandakini Amte of India, both doctors, are proof that the greatness of one’s parents could live on, not necessarily by some wonder of genetics, but because noble examples set by one generation can flourish and bear fruit in the next.
The couple earned this year’s Ramon Magsaysay award for Community Leadership, the latest of many honors received in their home country and abroad. Their portraits, for example, have appeared on a Red Cross postage stamp issued by Monaco.
Prakash’s late father, Murlidhar Amte, was also an “RM” awardee (Public Service, 1985). A humanitarian and follower of Mahatma Gandhi, “Baba” (father), died early this year at the age of 96. Books have been written and a film has been made on Murlidhar’s work caring for lepers.
Along with brother Vikas, Prakash grew up in Anandwan in the Indian state of Maharashtra, in an ashram (a spiritual commune) and a rehabilitation center for leprosy patients founded by his father. “We went to school and played with the children of the (leper) community,” Prakash recalls.
After becoming a doctor, Prakash could have chosen a life of ease and plenty. But with his young bride Mandakini by his side, he followed a demanding path similar to what his old man had chosen.
Sense of mission
His sense of mission led him to the remote jungles of Hemalsaka in eastern Maharashtra, home to a gentle tribe known as the Madia Gonds.
When the couple arrived there 34 years ago, literacy among the Madia Gonds was zero and their contact with the outside world was limited. There were no modern services and little government presence in the 150 square meter of dense forest that sheltered the tribe.
The tribesmen coexisted with wild animals and survived by hunting, gathering and shifting cultivation, but they were considered a people forgotten by civilization. They had no written language, their dialect related neither to Hindi, India’s national language, nor to Marathi, which is spoken in Maharashtra.
But what exactly drew Prakash to the place? He was doing postgraduate studies in surgery in Nagpur when he volunteered to run his father’s new project among the Madia Gonds. This was a turning point for him, and Prakash knew it was also a homecoming of sorts.
Prakash told his then girlfriend Mandakini about his plans. Would she come with him to work in the jungle? Mandakini remembers how Prakash popped the question. “If not, he said, it would be okay,” recalls the former beauty queen-turned-doctor. She said yes, she will go with him.
Leap of faith
In 1974, Prakash and Mandakini made a leap in the dark, a leap of faith, and left their medical practice in the city to settle in Hemalsaka.
And once there, they had to start from scratch. There were no creature comforts to speak of. They lived in a doorless hut that offered no privacy. During the cold season they warmed themselves by the fireside. “We minimized our needs,” Prakash says.
Shy and suspicious of outsiders, the Madia Gonds did not warm up to the Amtes instantly. “When we arrived we right away felt the cultural barrier,” Mandakini says.
There were problems of malnutrition, blind faith in false healers and even in the practice of making a human sacrifice. Food production was through “zoom agriculture,” or slash-and-burn.
Prakash and Mandakini began their mission by setting up shop by the roadside. They learned the local dialect. Prakash shed the doctor’s standard white outfit and wore only short pants and an undershirt.
Little by little the couple earned the people’s trust. They nursed to health a badly burned epileptic boy and a man dying of cerebral malaria. The “miracle cures” resulted in more patients coming.
Against abuse
In 1975, the development agency SwissAid gave funds for the construction of a small hospital in Hemalkasa, on a land donated by government. “We did everything (since),” Prakash recalls with laughter. “Cataract operations, fractures, gynecological problems, bear bites. For 30 years we didn’t have a break.”
But health and nutrition were not the only problems. The Amtes discovered how the Madia Gonds could also be vulnerable to exploitation by corrupt forest officers and other outsiders. Hence, the couple had to intervene and mediate in the tribe’s disputes with abusive government officials.
In 1976, a school was built on the same land donated for the hospital. At first the people were reluctant to send their children to school, but it did not take long for them to get convinced.
The couple eventually raised their two sons in Hemalsaka and sent them to the same school with Madia Gond youths, just like how it was when Prakash was growing up with the children of his father’s leprosy patients.
The school did not just offer the basics but also provided training in organic farming. The people were taught how to conserve forest resources, including endangered fauna lest they be hunted to extinction. An animal orphanage was set up to stress the importance of wildlife in the balance of nature.
Electricity finally came to the Madia Gonds in 1995.
Alumni back to serve
Today, the hospital has a 50-bed capacity and treats more than 40,000 patients a year, free of charge. It also serves as a regional center for mother-child welfare and health education. Its “barefoot” volunteer doctors spread out to outlying villages.
The school, meanwhile, currently enrolls around 600 students, and some of its earliest students have become doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers and craftsmen.
Prakash reports that the school now counts “five doctors” among its alumni and that all five, along with 90 percent of the graduates, “have come back to serve in the community.”
Two of these young doctors are his own sons Digant and Aniket.
Digant and his wife Anagha, another doctor, have an adopted daughter named Arati, a Madia Gond whose mother died in childbirth. Arati is now a nurse.
Legacy
Now in their 60s, Prakash and Mandakini also have a grandson, whose pictures they proudly carry around in an album. Some of the photos show a wide-eyed boy frolicking among leopards, bears and snakes in the animal orphanage.
“Maybe it’s just the way we have led our lives,” Prakash says, summing up their works of compassion and the legacy they are leaving behind.
Their 34-year-old endeavor for the uplift of the Madia Gonds has since been known as Lok Biradari Prakalp (People’s Brotherhood Project) or LBP, a name given by Baba Amte.
With help from SwissAid, Oxfam and a Canadian development agency, LBP has forged on, although money and trained medical help are always in short supply. The couple’s cash award that goes with the “RM” will surely go a long way.
(The Amte couple are not the only second-generation RM awardees. Jon Ungphakorn of Thailand, the 2005 RM awardee for Government Service, is the son of 1965 awardee for Public Service Puey Ungphakorn.)
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©Copyright 2001-2008 INQUIRER.net, An Inquirer Company
http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/thegoodnews/view.php?db=1&article=20080902-158145
RAMON MAGSAYSAY AWARD
RAMON MAGSAYSAY AWARD : Greatness of spirit runs in this family from India
By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo
Columnist / Writer
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: September 02, 2008
MANILA, Philippines—Greatness of spirit could run in the family. And whoever said that seedlings cannot thrive in the shadow of the huge parent tree could be proven wrong.
Husband and wife Prakash and Mandakini Amte of India, both doctors, are proof that the greatness of one’s parents could live on, not necessarily by some wonder of genetics, but because noble examples set by one generation can flourish and bear fruit in the next.
The couple earned this year’s Ramon Magsaysay award for Community Leadership, the latest of many honors received in their home country and abroad. Their portraits, for example, have appeared on a Red Cross postage stamp issued by Monaco.
Prakash’s late father, Murlidhar Amte, was also an “RM” awardee (Public Service, 1985). A humanitarian and follower of Mahatma Gandhi, “Baba” (father), died early this year at the age of 96. Books have been written and a film has been made on Murlidhar’s work caring for lepers.
Along with brother Vikas, Prakash grew up in Anandwan in the Indian state of Maharashtra, in an ashram (a spiritual commune) and a rehabilitation center for leprosy patients founded by his father. “We went to school and played with the children of the (leper) community,” Prakash recalls.
After becoming a doctor, Prakash could have chosen a life of ease and plenty. But with his young bride Mandakini by his side, he followed a demanding path similar to what his old man had chosen.
Sense of mission
His sense of mission led him to the remote jungles of Hemalsaka in eastern Maharashtra, home to a gentle tribe known as the Madia Gonds.
When the couple arrived there 34 years ago, literacy among the Madia Gonds was zero and their contact with the outside world was limited. There were no modern services and little government presence in the 150 square meter of dense forest that sheltered the tribe.
The tribesmen coexisted with wild animals and survived by hunting, gathering and shifting cultivation, but they were considered a people forgotten by civilization. They had no written language, their dialect related neither to Hindi, India’s national language, nor to Marathi, which is spoken in Maharashtra.
But what exactly drew Prakash to the place? He was doing postgraduate studies in surgery in Nagpur when he volunteered to run his father’s new project among the Madia Gonds. This was a turning point for him, and Prakash knew it was also a homecoming of sorts.
Prakash told his then girlfriend Mandakini about his plans. Would she come with him to work in the jungle? Mandakini remembers how Prakash popped the question. “If not, he said, it would be okay,” recalls the former beauty queen-turned-doctor. She said yes, she will go with him.
Leap of faith
In 1974, Prakash and Mandakini made a leap in the dark, a leap of faith, and left their medical practice in the city to settle in Hemalsaka.
And once there, they had to start from scratch. There were no creature comforts to speak of. They lived in a doorless hut that offered no privacy. During the cold season they warmed themselves by the fireside. “We minimized our needs,” Prakash says.
Shy and suspicious of outsiders, the Madia Gonds did not warm up to the Amtes instantly. “When we arrived we right away felt the cultural barrier,” Mandakini says.
There were problems of malnutrition, blind faith in false healers and even in the practice of making a human sacrifice. Food production was through “zoom agriculture,” or slash-and-burn.
Prakash and Mandakini began their mission by setting up shop by the roadside. They learned the local dialect. Prakash shed the doctor’s standard white outfit and wore only short pants and an undershirt.
Little by little the couple earned the people’s trust. They nursed to health a badly burned epileptic boy and a man dying of cerebral malaria. The “miracle cures” resulted in more patients coming.
Against abuse
In 1975, the development agency SwissAid gave funds for the construction of a small hospital in Hemalkasa, on a land donated by government. “We did everything (since),” Prakash recalls with laughter. “Cataract operations, fractures, gynecological problems, bear bites. For 30 years we didn’t have a break.”
But health and nutrition were not the only problems. The Amtes discovered how the Madia Gonds could also be vulnerable to exploitation by corrupt forest officers and other outsiders. Hence, the couple had to intervene and mediate in the tribe’s disputes with abusive government officials.
In 1976, a school was built on the same land donated for the hospital. At first the people were reluctant to send their children to school, but it did not take long for them to get convinced.
The couple eventually raised their two sons in Hemalsaka and sent them to the same school with Madia Gond youths, just like how it was when Prakash was growing up with the children of his father’s leprosy patients.
The school did not just offer the basics but also provided training in organic farming. The people were taught how to conserve forest resources, including endangered fauna lest they be hunted to extinction. An animal orphanage was set up to stress the importance of wildlife in the balance of nature.
Electricity finally came to the Madia Gonds in 1995.
Alumni back to serve
Today, the hospital has a 50-bed capacity and treats more than 40,000 patients a year, free of charge. It also serves as a regional center for mother-child welfare and health education. Its “barefoot” volunteer doctors spread out to outlying villages.
The school, meanwhile, currently enrolls around 600 students, and some of its earliest students have become doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers and craftsmen.
Prakash reports that the school now counts “five doctors” among its alumni and that all five, along with 90 percent of the graduates, “have come back to serve in the community.”
Two of these young doctors are his own sons Digant and Aniket.
Digant and his wife Anagha, another doctor, have an adopted daughter named Arati, a Madia Gond whose mother died in childbirth. Arati is now a nurse.
Legacy
Now in their 60s, Prakash and Mandakini also have a grandson, whose pictures they proudly carry around in an album. Some of the photos show a wide-eyed boy frolicking among leopards, bears and snakes in the animal orphanage.
“Maybe it’s just the way we have led our lives,” Prakash says, summing up their works of compassion and the legacy they are leaving behind.
Their 34-year-old endeavor for the uplift of the Madia Gonds has since been known as Lok Biradari Prakalp (People’s Brotherhood Project) or LBP, a name given by Baba Amte.
With help from SwissAid, Oxfam and a Canadian development agency, LBP has forged on, although money and trained medical help are always in short supply. The couple’s cash award that goes with the “RM” will surely go a long way.
(The Amte couple are not the only second-generation RM awardees. Jon Ungphakorn of Thailand, the 2005 RM awardee for Government Service, is the son of 1965 awardee for Public Service Puey Ungphakorn.)
^ Back to top
©Copyright 2001-2008 INQUIRER.net, An Inquirer Company
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Ifugao wooden Scooter
Published on Sun.Star Network Online (http://www.sunstar.com.ph)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Ifugao wooden scooter: Pinoy ingenuity at centerstage
A TRIBUTE to Filipino ingenuity is the theme of the first wooden scooter race staged apart from other festivities in Banaue, Ifugao.
In the past it was an integral activity of the annual Banaue Imbayah, something that wowed and fascinated the crowd.
What's your take on the Mindanao crisis? Discuss views with other readers [1]
In April of 2008 however, these group of men fabricating the wooden scooters and joining races decided to form a group and called it Banaue Rice Terraces Wooden Scooters Organization, headed by president Vicente Dinundon Jr., a 2006 graduate of BS Agriculture of the Benguet State University.
Now 25 years old, he is back home in Banaue to live and continue the tradition of home-based business and "scootering."
The story of the wooden scooter is a tale on its own, too.
These mobile contraptions were once created to serve a need. The men-folk were having a difficult time going to and from their homes to their muyongs up the mountains, often bringing home firewood and crops tended up there. It would often take them hours to walk the distance and carry the load.
This then gave birth to the first scooter. They would push it up the hills and work for the day. Firewood would be strapped along both sides of the scooter and other goods tied at the back.
The ride back home would then be a breeze.
These scooters are fashioned out of wood, minimizing the use of nails. Through time the simple device to ferry firewood and tubers soon became art, their designs and styles becoming more intricate and complicated.
Like the swirling horses on a carnival carousel, today's scooters come in a wonderful array of designs -- horses, tigers, Indian heads, eagles, bululs, anything which catches the fancy of its creator, and most often the birthing of one creation comes with a story.
That makes it the more interesting and valuable.
The forming of the Banaue Rice Terraces Wooden Scooters Organization (BRTWSO) was armed with a concept of showcasing their art. They made a proposition to have their club be registered with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which they may also use for livelihood.
With the help of Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA), the first staging of the independent scooter race happened in a two-day activity, to boost the practice. The activity went well after two postponements and they hope it will survive the times.
For now what they need is a "viewdeck," to serve as a showroom of scooters where they can manufacture, assemble and show off their pieces. They are on the process of wooing good-hearted sponsors to help them on this cause, one of which is Gov. Mark Lapid, the incumbent governor of Pampanga.
Vincent Dinundon fashioned and extraordinary scooter out of hardwood, with a Mohawk head in front just above the handlebars. The scooter body is a horse, the mane flying in the wind, all this coated in handsome black and valued at more than P25,000. This was finished in two and a half months, based on a story and Ifugao culture. He named it "Bangkiki."
The story, Dinundon said, is a secret for now. This made it more valuable and harder to part with. But he must. This he humbly sold to Lapid for P8,000 with the hope of being granted the favor of having the viewdeck dream for the club.
The P8,000 he used to pay PTA for the registration fee of P300 for each of the 17 racers because with hard life, even this amount is hard to come by. With this they raced with will and hopes.
The just-concluded race showed the world the ingenuity of these simple people, an art borne out of tradition and necessity to continue and blossom as a valuable art and livelihood. Ifugao is living to its name as a land of wood carvers and sculptors, making masterpieces of imaginative and soulful arts.
For more Philippine news [2], visit Sun.Star Iloilo [2].
(October 2, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here. [3]
Baguio Feature
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source URL: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/baguio/ifugao-wooden-scooter-pinoy-ingenuity-centerstage
Links:
[1] http://www.sunstar.com.ph/specials/mincries/index.php
[2] http://www.sunstar.com.ph/iloilo
[3] http://www.sunstar.com.ph/feedback/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Ifugao wooden scooter: Pinoy ingenuity at centerstage
A TRIBUTE to Filipino ingenuity is the theme of the first wooden scooter race staged apart from other festivities in Banaue, Ifugao.
In the past it was an integral activity of the annual Banaue Imbayah, something that wowed and fascinated the crowd.
What's your take on the Mindanao crisis? Discuss views with other readers [1]
In April of 2008 however, these group of men fabricating the wooden scooters and joining races decided to form a group and called it Banaue Rice Terraces Wooden Scooters Organization, headed by president Vicente Dinundon Jr., a 2006 graduate of BS Agriculture of the Benguet State University.
Now 25 years old, he is back home in Banaue to live and continue the tradition of home-based business and "scootering."
The story of the wooden scooter is a tale on its own, too.
These mobile contraptions were once created to serve a need. The men-folk were having a difficult time going to and from their homes to their muyongs up the mountains, often bringing home firewood and crops tended up there. It would often take them hours to walk the distance and carry the load.
This then gave birth to the first scooter. They would push it up the hills and work for the day. Firewood would be strapped along both sides of the scooter and other goods tied at the back.
The ride back home would then be a breeze.
These scooters are fashioned out of wood, minimizing the use of nails. Through time the simple device to ferry firewood and tubers soon became art, their designs and styles becoming more intricate and complicated.
Like the swirling horses on a carnival carousel, today's scooters come in a wonderful array of designs -- horses, tigers, Indian heads, eagles, bululs, anything which catches the fancy of its creator, and most often the birthing of one creation comes with a story.
That makes it the more interesting and valuable.
The forming of the Banaue Rice Terraces Wooden Scooters Organization (BRTWSO) was armed with a concept of showcasing their art. They made a proposition to have their club be registered with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which they may also use for livelihood.
With the help of Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA), the first staging of the independent scooter race happened in a two-day activity, to boost the practice. The activity went well after two postponements and they hope it will survive the times.
For now what they need is a "viewdeck," to serve as a showroom of scooters where they can manufacture, assemble and show off their pieces. They are on the process of wooing good-hearted sponsors to help them on this cause, one of which is Gov. Mark Lapid, the incumbent governor of Pampanga.
Vincent Dinundon fashioned and extraordinary scooter out of hardwood, with a Mohawk head in front just above the handlebars. The scooter body is a horse, the mane flying in the wind, all this coated in handsome black and valued at more than P25,000. This was finished in two and a half months, based on a story and Ifugao culture. He named it "Bangkiki."
The story, Dinundon said, is a secret for now. This made it more valuable and harder to part with. But he must. This he humbly sold to Lapid for P8,000 with the hope of being granted the favor of having the viewdeck dream for the club.
The P8,000 he used to pay PTA for the registration fee of P300 for each of the 17 racers because with hard life, even this amount is hard to come by. With this they raced with will and hopes.
The just-concluded race showed the world the ingenuity of these simple people, an art borne out of tradition and necessity to continue and blossom as a valuable art and livelihood. Ifugao is living to its name as a land of wood carvers and sculptors, making masterpieces of imaginative and soulful arts.
For more Philippine news [2], visit Sun.Star Iloilo [2].
(October 2, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here. [3]
Baguio Feature
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source URL: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/baguio/ifugao-wooden-scooter-pinoy-ingenuity-centerstage
Links:
[1] http://www.sunstar.com.ph/specials/mincries/index.php
[2] http://www.sunstar.com.ph/iloilo
[3] http://www.sunstar.com.ph/feedback/
Sunday, November 2, 2008
rogel marzan2
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Farmers gear up for organic agri congress
"BE HEALTHY, Go Organic" goes the theme of the second Cordillera Organic Agriculture Congress slated this 15th and 16th of February at the Benguet State University (BSU).
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
Farmers and entrepreneurs who will be participating in the congress will hear expert advises, researches, success stories as well as keynote speeches form invited guest speakers and lecturers.
Freda Gawisan, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Baguio-Benguet caretaker, expressed optimism that the second congress will entice more
farmers to go organic as more and more consumers are becoming health conscious.
As an added activity, congress participants will have a chance to observe and interact with farmers engaged in organic farming. The organic farms to be visited are the Cosmic Farm, Garden of Life and the BSU organic farm all located in nearby La Trinidad. The fourth organic farm to be visited is the Enca Farm in Tublay, Benguet.
BSU President Rogelio Colting will be giving a situationer on organic agriculture in the Cordillera on the first day of the congress and Rogel
Marzan of Cosmic Farm will give a talk on starting and managing an organic farm.
A topic on the harmful effects of pesticide will be given by Dr. Charles Cheng of the Filipino-Chinese Hospital and Professor Evangeline Cungihan and Dr. Ma. Klondy Dagupen of BSU will present a paper on the economics of organic farming cases.
The two-day congress, Gawisan said, will also present the programs of various government offices and a plenary session on waste management and
organic agriculture.
After the guided tour to the various organic farms on the second day, parallel sessions on organic vegetable production and marketing, a demonstration on rapid composting and preparation of organic fertilizers and pesticides will be discussed by various experts.
Herbal medicine specialist Precy Acoba will also show how to prepare herbs that are nutritious and medicinal to participants.
To cap the two-day congress, Gawisan added that a Cordillera agriculture road map will be presented to the participants to encourage and challenge them to venture into organic farming. Gawisan also noted that the congress is being supported by the Department of Agriculture, Department of Tourism, Department of Trade and Industry, the Benguet Chamber of Commerce, the Province of Benguet, municipality of La Trinidad, Organic Farmers Associations, Cooperative Bank of Benguet and the only organic university in the country, the BSU. (Art Tibaldo)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos.
Farmers gear up for organic agri congress
"BE HEALTHY, Go Organic" goes the theme of the second Cordillera Organic Agriculture Congress slated this 15th and 16th of February at the Benguet State University (BSU).
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
Farmers and entrepreneurs who will be participating in the congress will hear expert advises, researches, success stories as well as keynote speeches form invited guest speakers and lecturers.
Freda Gawisan, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Baguio-Benguet caretaker, expressed optimism that the second congress will entice more
farmers to go organic as more and more consumers are becoming health conscious.
As an added activity, congress participants will have a chance to observe and interact with farmers engaged in organic farming. The organic farms to be visited are the Cosmic Farm, Garden of Life and the BSU organic farm all located in nearby La Trinidad. The fourth organic farm to be visited is the Enca Farm in Tublay, Benguet.
BSU President Rogelio Colting will be giving a situationer on organic agriculture in the Cordillera on the first day of the congress and Rogel
Marzan of Cosmic Farm will give a talk on starting and managing an organic farm.
A topic on the harmful effects of pesticide will be given by Dr. Charles Cheng of the Filipino-Chinese Hospital and Professor Evangeline Cungihan and Dr. Ma. Klondy Dagupen of BSU will present a paper on the economics of organic farming cases.
The two-day congress, Gawisan said, will also present the programs of various government offices and a plenary session on waste management and
organic agriculture.
After the guided tour to the various organic farms on the second day, parallel sessions on organic vegetable production and marketing, a demonstration on rapid composting and preparation of organic fertilizers and pesticides will be discussed by various experts.
Herbal medicine specialist Precy Acoba will also show how to prepare herbs that are nutritious and medicinal to participants.
To cap the two-day congress, Gawisan added that a Cordillera agriculture road map will be presented to the participants to encourage and challenge them to venture into organic farming. Gawisan also noted that the congress is being supported by the Department of Agriculture, Department of Tourism, Department of Trade and Industry, the Benguet Chamber of Commerce, the Province of Benguet, municipality of La Trinidad, Organic Farmers Associations, Cooperative Bank of Benguet and the only organic university in the country, the BSU. (Art Tibaldo)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos.
rogel marzan1
Practitioners of organic
farming set monitoring
By Noel Victa
Correspondent
dec. 25, 2006
PRACTITIONERS of organic farming are policing their own ranks from possible dishonest practices that might destroy the future of this booming industry.
Farmers engaged in organic agriculture have set internal quality-control mechanisms to ensure that products delivered to the markets are really grown free from artificial or chemical fertilizers and pesticides, a group based in Northern Luzon said.
According to Felix Tan, a member of the La Trinidad Organic Practitioners (LaTOP), the group has established a monitoring initiative to guarantee that its members are producing organic crops.
“We conduct monthly inspection to check if our members are the ones who produced the vegetables that are delivered to organic stalls at the public market,” said Tan, adding that the mechanism would guard the group from unscrupulous farmers who claim to produce organic crops even though they use chemicals.
Among the internal control measures done is the registration of crops that each member would plant, the quantity of expected yield and the probable date that these would be harvested.
Rogel Marzan, also a member of the LaTOP, said each member is expected to comply with the Philippine National Standards on organic agriculture.
Members should meet at least the minimum required standard for organic farming, including the proper mixture of organic fertilizers, Marzan said.
The group also encourages its members to go beyond the basic requirement of organic agriculture.
Tan said the organization has set its own standards to encourage members to further improve their farming practices.
“Members who engage in enhanced organic farming are given recognition. The group ranks his farm as either two-star or five-star farm, depending on his farming practices, Tan said, adding there are already two farms that were ranked five-stars—the Cosmic Farm, owned by Marzan and the Master’s Garden.
Meanwhile, advocates of organic agriculture have scheduled their second regional organic congress at the Benguet State University next year to further promote organic farming.
farming set monitoring
By Noel Victa
Correspondent
dec. 25, 2006
PRACTITIONERS of organic farming are policing their own ranks from possible dishonest practices that might destroy the future of this booming industry.
Farmers engaged in organic agriculture have set internal quality-control mechanisms to ensure that products delivered to the markets are really grown free from artificial or chemical fertilizers and pesticides, a group based in Northern Luzon said.
According to Felix Tan, a member of the La Trinidad Organic Practitioners (LaTOP), the group has established a monitoring initiative to guarantee that its members are producing organic crops.
“We conduct monthly inspection to check if our members are the ones who produced the vegetables that are delivered to organic stalls at the public market,” said Tan, adding that the mechanism would guard the group from unscrupulous farmers who claim to produce organic crops even though they use chemicals.
Among the internal control measures done is the registration of crops that each member would plant, the quantity of expected yield and the probable date that these would be harvested.
Rogel Marzan, also a member of the LaTOP, said each member is expected to comply with the Philippine National Standards on organic agriculture.
Members should meet at least the minimum required standard for organic farming, including the proper mixture of organic fertilizers, Marzan said.
The group also encourages its members to go beyond the basic requirement of organic agriculture.
Tan said the organization has set its own standards to encourage members to further improve their farming practices.
“Members who engage in enhanced organic farming are given recognition. The group ranks his farm as either two-star or five-star farm, depending on his farming practices, Tan said, adding there are already two farms that were ranked five-stars—the Cosmic Farm, owned by Marzan and the Master’s Garden.
Meanwhile, advocates of organic agriculture have scheduled their second regional organic congress at the Benguet State University next year to further promote organic farming.
Vegetarian noodles
Newly developed veggie noodles highly nutritiveJimmy Laking
Health, 4/20/2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vegetable noodles soon to be processed on a commercial scale by the state-owned Benguet State University are rich in Vitamin A, iron, and protein and were developed from temperate crops with known nutritive values.
“It is probably for this reason alone that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo decided it should be marketed and made available nationwide,” said Dr. Rogelio Colting, president of BSU.
The highly nutritive noodles were developed by a team headed by Dr. Violeta B. Salda, who took up previous studies on noodle production in Hong Kong.
To make the pro-duct available nationwide through the “Tindahan ni Gloria,” President Arroyo has awarded BSU on March 22, a P10-million funding for the purchase of equipment and the putting up of a building needed for a processing center.
Colting said the processing center will process different kinds of vegetable based products like pasta, noodles, meat, puree, soup, and powder.
He said vegetables will be sourced from local farmers, ensuring an alternative and steady market for their products.
“In a way, the center will help to stabilize veggie prices because the center will be buying their pro-ducts the whole year-round,” he said.
He said the pro-ducts are unique in that these are guaranteed to be developed from vegetables with high nutrient contents. “It would be ideal to family needs.”
He said that the funding provided by GMA would enable the university to perfect the technology in the production of noodles and other vegetable products.
He said the production center is equivalent to an assembly line for fresh noodles using fresh vegetable products.
“We will start first on a pilot scale then increase production as we acquire the necessary equipment,” Colting said.
Health, 4/20/2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vegetable noodles soon to be processed on a commercial scale by the state-owned Benguet State University are rich in Vitamin A, iron, and protein and were developed from temperate crops with known nutritive values.
“It is probably for this reason alone that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo decided it should be marketed and made available nationwide,” said Dr. Rogelio Colting, president of BSU.
The highly nutritive noodles were developed by a team headed by Dr. Violeta B. Salda, who took up previous studies on noodle production in Hong Kong.
To make the pro-duct available nationwide through the “Tindahan ni Gloria,” President Arroyo has awarded BSU on March 22, a P10-million funding for the purchase of equipment and the putting up of a building needed for a processing center.
Colting said the processing center will process different kinds of vegetable based products like pasta, noodles, meat, puree, soup, and powder.
He said vegetables will be sourced from local farmers, ensuring an alternative and steady market for their products.
“In a way, the center will help to stabilize veggie prices because the center will be buying their pro-ducts the whole year-round,” he said.
He said the pro-ducts are unique in that these are guaranteed to be developed from vegetables with high nutrient contents. “It would be ideal to family needs.”
He said that the funding provided by GMA would enable the university to perfect the technology in the production of noodles and other vegetable products.
He said the production center is equivalent to an assembly line for fresh noodles using fresh vegetable products.
“We will start first on a pilot scale then increase production as we acquire the necessary equipment,” Colting said.
martial art 1
Atok pride misses WBO title; Igorot boxers cited by GMAJogin Tamayo
Sports, 3/30/2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cordilleras missed having a legitimate world champion last March 17.
The youthful Javier Malulan of Atok, Benguet lost by a close split decision to Pungluang Sor Singyu of Thailand for the vacant World Boxing Organization flyweight title in Pattaya, Thailand.
“Bugbog na iyung Thai na kalaban ni Javier pero nung huli kinapos na... niner-biyos daw,” said international matchmaker and local boxing promoter Brico Santig who accompanied Malulan and another Filipino boxer from Davao.
Malulan, from the Everlasting stable, skipped the main event during the Great Fights at the Heights last March 9 at the CCDC gym in Buyagan to face his biggest challenge in his professional career.
“Sayang, may world champion na sana tayo,” said Santig who also accompanied Malulan and Amor Tino, another boxer from Bokod, Benguet in receiving their citations from no less than President Gloria Arroyo during the 8th Banquet of Champions and the Elorde Awards Night last March 28 at the Manila Hotel.
The two Cordillera champions joined seve-ral other Filipino world boxing champions including newly crowned World Boxing Council super-featherweight champion Man-ny Pacquiao, Gerry Peñalosa, Nonito Do-naire, Bernabe Con-cepcion, and former champ Luisito Espi-nosa, among others.
Tino is the WBO Youth Asian Pacific superfeatherweight champion while Malulan is the WBO-AsPac flyweight division champion.
Meanwhile, after winning gold and silver medals in the World Muay Boran Championships, some members of the victorious Cordillera delegation stayed behind in Thailand to attend a summer camp in muay thai.
Ricky Agayas and George Lusadan, gold medalists in sparring, and Reneboy Bellisil and Delver Mangaoile, silver medalists in the same event, underwent training at the Bangkok Sawat Training Camp and will be home by April 5.
Agayas, also the lone gold medalist in the World Martial Arts Festival last December in Thailand, together with his group also won the gold in the muay aerobics team event.
Sports, 3/30/2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cordilleras missed having a legitimate world champion last March 17.
The youthful Javier Malulan of Atok, Benguet lost by a close split decision to Pungluang Sor Singyu of Thailand for the vacant World Boxing Organization flyweight title in Pattaya, Thailand.
“Bugbog na iyung Thai na kalaban ni Javier pero nung huli kinapos na... niner-biyos daw,” said international matchmaker and local boxing promoter Brico Santig who accompanied Malulan and another Filipino boxer from Davao.
Malulan, from the Everlasting stable, skipped the main event during the Great Fights at the Heights last March 9 at the CCDC gym in Buyagan to face his biggest challenge in his professional career.
“Sayang, may world champion na sana tayo,” said Santig who also accompanied Malulan and Amor Tino, another boxer from Bokod, Benguet in receiving their citations from no less than President Gloria Arroyo during the 8th Banquet of Champions and the Elorde Awards Night last March 28 at the Manila Hotel.
The two Cordillera champions joined seve-ral other Filipino world boxing champions including newly crowned World Boxing Council super-featherweight champion Man-ny Pacquiao, Gerry Peñalosa, Nonito Do-naire, Bernabe Con-cepcion, and former champ Luisito Espi-nosa, among others.
Tino is the WBO Youth Asian Pacific superfeatherweight champion while Malulan is the WBO-AsPac flyweight division champion.
Meanwhile, after winning gold and silver medals in the World Muay Boran Championships, some members of the victorious Cordillera delegation stayed behind in Thailand to attend a summer camp in muay thai.
Ricky Agayas and George Lusadan, gold medalists in sparring, and Reneboy Bellisil and Delver Mangaoile, silver medalists in the same event, underwent training at the Bangkok Sawat Training Camp and will be home by April 5.
Agayas, also the lone gold medalist in the World Martial Arts Festival last December in Thailand, together with his group also won the gold in the muay aerobics team event.
wushu 1
Wushu Olympian shines; Slow Pitch tourney slated
by Jogin Tamayo
baguio midland news Nov. 2 , 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Still fresh from his bronze medal finish in the recent Olympic Wushu Championships in Beijing, Benjie Rivera went back to work again with a silver medal in the 56-kilogram sanshou event in the 4th Wushu Sanshou World Cup held in Harbin, China last Sept. 19-21.
Regional president Tasuitong Candelaria said that Cordillera athletes “continue to be a force to reckon with in combative sports with a proven track record in excellence.”
Candelaria revealed that Olympians Rivera and fellow bronze medalist Marianne Mariano continued competing abroad a few weeks after the Beijing stint in preparation for the coming world championships.
Meanwhile, The Baguio City Batted Balls Club will kick off its Slow Pitch Tournament starting Nov. 9 at the Melvin Jones grounds.
The club is also conducting a clinic on batted ball skills every Sunday at the Athletic Bowl.
“This is open to all interested elementary and high school students and is free of charge,” said Alex Dalog.
“This is aimed at improving and promoting batted ball games in the grassroot level,” added Dalog.
Interested teams for the tournament may get in touch with Jano Cardenas (0927-826-2769) or Lovise Llaneta (0927-934-0315) and Dalog (0928-524-1677) for the clinic.
by Jogin Tamayo
baguio midland news Nov. 2 , 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Still fresh from his bronze medal finish in the recent Olympic Wushu Championships in Beijing, Benjie Rivera went back to work again with a silver medal in the 56-kilogram sanshou event in the 4th Wushu Sanshou World Cup held in Harbin, China last Sept. 19-21.
Regional president Tasuitong Candelaria said that Cordillera athletes “continue to be a force to reckon with in combative sports with a proven track record in excellence.”
Candelaria revealed that Olympians Rivera and fellow bronze medalist Marianne Mariano continued competing abroad a few weeks after the Beijing stint in preparation for the coming world championships.
Meanwhile, The Baguio City Batted Balls Club will kick off its Slow Pitch Tournament starting Nov. 9 at the Melvin Jones grounds.
The club is also conducting a clinic on batted ball skills every Sunday at the Athletic Bowl.
“This is open to all interested elementary and high school students and is free of charge,” said Alex Dalog.
“This is aimed at improving and promoting batted ball games in the grassroot level,” added Dalog.
Interested teams for the tournament may get in touch with Jano Cardenas (0927-826-2769) or Lovise Llaneta (0927-934-0315) and Dalog (0928-524-1677) for the clinic.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Environmental issues 1
Albay boy’s drawing bests 1,676 worldwide
By Ephraim Aguilar
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: August 31, 2008
GUINOBATAN, Albay, Philippines—Bryle Napay’s mind is etched with memories of rainy days when he would set aside his black leather shoes and wade to school on slippers as floods would rise fast in their village in Camalig town.
These memories were what inspired Bryle, now 16, to join the Shoot Nations 2008 contest, where his drawing bested 1,676 entries from all over the world.
Shoot Nations, organized by Plan International and London-based Shoot Experience, is an annual photography and drawing contest, which encourages young people to express their thoughts on global issues.
It aims to use these art forms as tools for cross-cultural, language-free communication. Entries are sent online.
This year’s theme revolved around climate change, a global menace that has prompted advocates to launch worldwide campaigns on awareness and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
But Bryle’s drawing, which he finished in just a day using paint and oil pastel, conveyed a simple message out of “a hand holding a seedling.”
It was captioned, “Reminds me that we can still do small things before it’s too late.”
A newbie in outside-the-school drawing contests, Bryle, senior high school student at the Marcial O. Rañola Memorial School here, said he never thought his drawing would win as “Best Overall Drawing” in the all-age category.
Bryle’s winning entry will be printed for exhibition at the World Youth Congress in Quebec, Canada, for the United Nations International Youth Day 2008.
It is also posted on www.shootnations.org and was exhibited at the OXO Tower Gallery in London last Aug. 12 to 17.
Bryle said his awareness of the ill-effects of environmental degradation as experienced by his community vividly showed him the impacts of a changing climate.
“Since [my] kindergarten [days], our village had always been flooded,” he recalled.
This reality, Bryle said, made him easily understand that deeds as small as littering trash have greater effects on a larger population.
He said that as thousands of young people view his drawings, he wants to send a message of unity.
“If every one would contribute in small ways and with all our efforts, we can save mother earth,” he said.
He lamented that most of the so-called “wired generation,” or those born in the advent of mobile technology, have become passive of environmental issues.
“Even if there are environmental laws and education in schools, some young people would not really care. But this can change if the youth are properly educated,” he said.
Dream
Given the chance, he said, he would love to create cartoons, whose content advocates environmental protection.
“I want to make animé about climate change so the youth will be aware of this issue,” he said.
After winning the contest, Bryle said he was motivated to learn more about environmental issues.
Because of his Shoot Nations stint, Bryle received an invitation to become a young ambassador for climate change in the YouthXchange, a international campaign initiative on sustainable consumption and production.
^ Back to top
©Copyright 2001-2008 INQUIRER.net, An Inquirer Company
By Ephraim Aguilar
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: August 31, 2008
GUINOBATAN, Albay, Philippines—Bryle Napay’s mind is etched with memories of rainy days when he would set aside his black leather shoes and wade to school on slippers as floods would rise fast in their village in Camalig town.
These memories were what inspired Bryle, now 16, to join the Shoot Nations 2008 contest, where his drawing bested 1,676 entries from all over the world.
Shoot Nations, organized by Plan International and London-based Shoot Experience, is an annual photography and drawing contest, which encourages young people to express their thoughts on global issues.
It aims to use these art forms as tools for cross-cultural, language-free communication. Entries are sent online.
This year’s theme revolved around climate change, a global menace that has prompted advocates to launch worldwide campaigns on awareness and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
But Bryle’s drawing, which he finished in just a day using paint and oil pastel, conveyed a simple message out of “a hand holding a seedling.”
It was captioned, “Reminds me that we can still do small things before it’s too late.”
A newbie in outside-the-school drawing contests, Bryle, senior high school student at the Marcial O. Rañola Memorial School here, said he never thought his drawing would win as “Best Overall Drawing” in the all-age category.
Bryle’s winning entry will be printed for exhibition at the World Youth Congress in Quebec, Canada, for the United Nations International Youth Day 2008.
It is also posted on www.shootnations.org and was exhibited at the OXO Tower Gallery in London last Aug. 12 to 17.
Bryle said his awareness of the ill-effects of environmental degradation as experienced by his community vividly showed him the impacts of a changing climate.
“Since [my] kindergarten [days], our village had always been flooded,” he recalled.
This reality, Bryle said, made him easily understand that deeds as small as littering trash have greater effects on a larger population.
He said that as thousands of young people view his drawings, he wants to send a message of unity.
“If every one would contribute in small ways and with all our efforts, we can save mother earth,” he said.
He lamented that most of the so-called “wired generation,” or those born in the advent of mobile technology, have become passive of environmental issues.
“Even if there are environmental laws and education in schools, some young people would not really care. But this can change if the youth are properly educated,” he said.
Dream
Given the chance, he said, he would love to create cartoons, whose content advocates environmental protection.
“I want to make animé about climate change so the youth will be aware of this issue,” he said.
After winning the contest, Bryle said he was motivated to learn more about environmental issues.
Because of his Shoot Nations stint, Bryle received an invitation to become a young ambassador for climate change in the YouthXchange, a international campaign initiative on sustainable consumption and production.
^ Back to top
©Copyright 2001-2008 INQUIRER.net, An Inquirer Company
30 years of treating patients for free
Inquirer Headlines / Regions
http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/thegoodnews/view.php?db=1&article=20081011-165816
HOMETOWN SNAPSHOTS
HOMETOWN SNAPSHOTS : 30 years of treating patients for free
By Donna Demetillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: October 11, 2008
BAGUIO CITY – The revelation came to Dr. Victor Dumaguing 30 years ago when a woman and her son came to him for treatment.
He recalls that day: “A mother brought her son for treatment of pneumonia and tuberculosis. I examined the mother and found she, too, had tuberculosis. I thought to myself: How could she take care of her son when she herself was sick? Whatever money they had, they should use it for medicines.”
Since then, Dumaguing, 59, has been treating patients for free.
“I opened my eyes to the realities of the medical field. I saw the need,” said Dumaguing, a native of Naguilian, La Union.
On Sept. 29, he was among 10 doctors honored by the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Senate Philippines in the annual search for The Outstanding Filipino Physicians (TOFP).
“I was the only doctor there who is from the province. I felt honored that someone was chosen from the Cordillera,” said Dumaguing, who stands firm in his desire to stay in the country and serve Filipinos.
After graduating from the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay (UERM) Medical School, where he finished salutatorian, Dumaguing worked at the government-owned Philippine General Hospital.
Working in the outpatient department of a government hospital, he treated people who were very ill and had little money to spare for medication.
It was at that moment that Dumaguing made a “covenant with God” that he would never collect fees from his patients.
He is one of the doctors of the Saint Louis University Hospital of the Sacred Heart here where patients line up to see him as their doctor and friend.
“He is our doctor but he is also our guidance counselor,” said a patient.
Dumaguing continues to give free medical attention, earning his bread and butter from teaching instead.
On weekends, he goes around the villages where he conducts lectures on maternal and child health, performs circumcisions, does blood tests and deworming, and gives away basic medicines for cough, colds, fever and diarrhea, among other things, as part of his outreach program.
He also joins civic organizations in various charity works. He has been called “the rain or shine doctor” for going about medical missions in bad and good weather.
^ Back to top
©Copyright 2001-2008 INQUIRER.net, An Inquirer Company
http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/thegoodnews/view.php?db=1&article=20081011-165816
HOMETOWN SNAPSHOTS
HOMETOWN SNAPSHOTS : 30 years of treating patients for free
By Donna Demetillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: October 11, 2008
BAGUIO CITY – The revelation came to Dr. Victor Dumaguing 30 years ago when a woman and her son came to him for treatment.
He recalls that day: “A mother brought her son for treatment of pneumonia and tuberculosis. I examined the mother and found she, too, had tuberculosis. I thought to myself: How could she take care of her son when she herself was sick? Whatever money they had, they should use it for medicines.”
Since then, Dumaguing, 59, has been treating patients for free.
“I opened my eyes to the realities of the medical field. I saw the need,” said Dumaguing, a native of Naguilian, La Union.
On Sept. 29, he was among 10 doctors honored by the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Senate Philippines in the annual search for The Outstanding Filipino Physicians (TOFP).
“I was the only doctor there who is from the province. I felt honored that someone was chosen from the Cordillera,” said Dumaguing, who stands firm in his desire to stay in the country and serve Filipinos.
After graduating from the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay (UERM) Medical School, where he finished salutatorian, Dumaguing worked at the government-owned Philippine General Hospital.
Working in the outpatient department of a government hospital, he treated people who were very ill and had little money to spare for medication.
It was at that moment that Dumaguing made a “covenant with God” that he would never collect fees from his patients.
He is one of the doctors of the Saint Louis University Hospital of the Sacred Heart here where patients line up to see him as their doctor and friend.
“He is our doctor but he is also our guidance counselor,” said a patient.
Dumaguing continues to give free medical attention, earning his bread and butter from teaching instead.
On weekends, he goes around the villages where he conducts lectures on maternal and child health, performs circumcisions, does blood tests and deworming, and gives away basic medicines for cough, colds, fever and diarrhea, among other things, as part of his outreach program.
He also joins civic organizations in various charity works. He has been called “the rain or shine doctor” for going about medical missions in bad and good weather.
^ Back to top
©Copyright 2001-2008 INQUIRER.net, An Inquirer Company
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Farming1
Terraces rice served in US gourmet market with Peace Corps help
By ROBERT L. DOMOGUEN
SAGADA, Mt. Province –Mary Hensley, a former US Peace Corp Volunteer in Lubuagan, Kalinga, is back.
She is behind the Cordillera Heirloom Rice Project and the Eight Wonder company that retails Mountain Province rice in the United States.
Since 2005, the Cordillera Heirloom Rice Project has partnered with Vicky Garcia, Executive Director of the Revitalize Indigenous Cordilleran Entrepreneurs (RICE), to promote folk farming knowledge.
Their aim: to spur the local economy and preserve the terraces and its environment as well.
Hensley believes the evasive key to the decades quest to save the rice terraces lies in the indigenous cultures of the Cordilleras and the heirloom rice that it grows.
And she is determined to “establish a project that would be successful financially and not dependent on dole outs from the government or international development agencies.”
She is assisted by Adam Angsten, another US Peace Corps Volunteer with a degree in economics based in Banaue, Ifugao.
In recent years, locals slowly abandoned rice terraces farming in favor of tourist-related work. Or they migrated to the lowlands where farming is more lucrative. Losing half of these farmers, the rice terraces were about ready to crumble.
The past two decades saw many “Save the Rice Terraces” projects, none of which succeeded. Tourism-related projects, retraining for new farming skills, the introduction of high value fruits and vegetables, and high yielding rice varieties – all came to naught.
According to the Tebtebba Foundation, the mass production of wood carvings and the establishment of lodgings on properties within the rice fields actually made a major environmental toll. The use of pesticides by vegetable farmers introduced new pests.
Meanwhile, the all-important concerns remained unresolved: the out-migration of farmers, the deterioration of watersheds, the collapse of centuries-old irrigation systems, and the disappearance of indigenous cultures that revolved around the growing of traditional rice.
One thing seemed certain: the rice terraces in the highlands of Abra, Benguet, Kalinga, Ifugao and Mt. Province gradually shrunk to only about 20,000 hectares functional fields.
Now it seems rice could very well be the answer. In 2006, Eight Wonder retailed over 7 tons of rice from Kalinga and Ifugao terraces. This year, the target is 20 tons of selected mountain varieties.
Farmers have suddenly found a reason to continue terraces rice farming.
The way to go, according to Hensley, was to put money on the centuries-old, noble and ingenious farming.
A former social worker, Hensley initiated the Cordillera Heirloom Rice Project together with RICE, terraces farmers in Ifugao and Kalinga, Eight Wonder and the local government.
Back in a US graduate school, Hensley did a feasibility study on whether native rices could be sold in the highly competitive US specialty food market.
When the results looked promising, she wrote a five-year business plan projecting the organizational needs and costs for organizing farmers, and developing a marketing strategy to sell the rice at a price that compensated the farmers for their incredibly hard work.
Her master’s thesis proposed the shared equity business model – poor farmers would be part-owners of Eight Wonder. She and Vicky Garcia, RICE executive director, then convinced the farmers about the scheme.
Back in 2003, few believed the Tinawon rice from Ifugao and the Unoy rice from Kalinga would sell. Now for the first time, more farmers are returning to the rice terraces because they sense a profit, says Julie Aclam, Kalinga’s assistant provincial agriculturist.
With the assistance of RICE, the newly established Rice Terraces Farmers’ Cooperative of Ifugao and Kalinga was able to produce and process 7 tons of native Tinawon and Unoy rice for the export market.
This was shipped to Eight Wonder in the US for sale in the gourmet rice market. The rice was purchased at a fair trade price, with an advance payment to help capitalize the cooperative.
In Kalinga, farmers have started forming a federated association of unoy rice growers. They have established seed banks as ready sources of rice seeds. Other farmers are set to follow. InterNews&Features
By ROBERT L. DOMOGUEN
SAGADA, Mt. Province –Mary Hensley, a former US Peace Corp Volunteer in Lubuagan, Kalinga, is back.
She is behind the Cordillera Heirloom Rice Project and the Eight Wonder company that retails Mountain Province rice in the United States.
Since 2005, the Cordillera Heirloom Rice Project has partnered with Vicky Garcia, Executive Director of the Revitalize Indigenous Cordilleran Entrepreneurs (RICE), to promote folk farming knowledge.
Their aim: to spur the local economy and preserve the terraces and its environment as well.
Hensley believes the evasive key to the decades quest to save the rice terraces lies in the indigenous cultures of the Cordilleras and the heirloom rice that it grows.
And she is determined to “establish a project that would be successful financially and not dependent on dole outs from the government or international development agencies.”
She is assisted by Adam Angsten, another US Peace Corps Volunteer with a degree in economics based in Banaue, Ifugao.
In recent years, locals slowly abandoned rice terraces farming in favor of tourist-related work. Or they migrated to the lowlands where farming is more lucrative. Losing half of these farmers, the rice terraces were about ready to crumble.
The past two decades saw many “Save the Rice Terraces” projects, none of which succeeded. Tourism-related projects, retraining for new farming skills, the introduction of high value fruits and vegetables, and high yielding rice varieties – all came to naught.
According to the Tebtebba Foundation, the mass production of wood carvings and the establishment of lodgings on properties within the rice fields actually made a major environmental toll. The use of pesticides by vegetable farmers introduced new pests.
Meanwhile, the all-important concerns remained unresolved: the out-migration of farmers, the deterioration of watersheds, the collapse of centuries-old irrigation systems, and the disappearance of indigenous cultures that revolved around the growing of traditional rice.
One thing seemed certain: the rice terraces in the highlands of Abra, Benguet, Kalinga, Ifugao and Mt. Province gradually shrunk to only about 20,000 hectares functional fields.
Now it seems rice could very well be the answer. In 2006, Eight Wonder retailed over 7 tons of rice from Kalinga and Ifugao terraces. This year, the target is 20 tons of selected mountain varieties.
Farmers have suddenly found a reason to continue terraces rice farming.
The way to go, according to Hensley, was to put money on the centuries-old, noble and ingenious farming.
A former social worker, Hensley initiated the Cordillera Heirloom Rice Project together with RICE, terraces farmers in Ifugao and Kalinga, Eight Wonder and the local government.
Back in a US graduate school, Hensley did a feasibility study on whether native rices could be sold in the highly competitive US specialty food market.
When the results looked promising, she wrote a five-year business plan projecting the organizational needs and costs for organizing farmers, and developing a marketing strategy to sell the rice at a price that compensated the farmers for their incredibly hard work.
Her master’s thesis proposed the shared equity business model – poor farmers would be part-owners of Eight Wonder. She and Vicky Garcia, RICE executive director, then convinced the farmers about the scheme.
Back in 2003, few believed the Tinawon rice from Ifugao and the Unoy rice from Kalinga would sell. Now for the first time, more farmers are returning to the rice terraces because they sense a profit, says Julie Aclam, Kalinga’s assistant provincial agriculturist.
With the assistance of RICE, the newly established Rice Terraces Farmers’ Cooperative of Ifugao and Kalinga was able to produce and process 7 tons of native Tinawon and Unoy rice for the export market.
This was shipped to Eight Wonder in the US for sale in the gourmet rice market. The rice was purchased at a fair trade price, with an advance payment to help capitalize the cooperative.
In Kalinga, farmers have started forming a federated association of unoy rice growers. They have established seed banks as ready sources of rice seeds. Other farmers are set to follow. InterNews&Features
Dandanac1
How to starve indigenous communities
By Maurice Malanes
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:03:00 04/08/2008
BAGUIO CITY – The Igorot people now acknowledge their ancestors’ long-term foresight in ensuring the food security of succeeding generations by carving rice terraces, even in tough, challenging terrain, in the Cordillera mountains.
Even during World War II and a rice crisis in the 1970s, the rice paddies have helped sustain the local folk. During the lean months, they supplemented rice with camote (sweet potato) from the nem-a or uma (upland swidden).
In recent years, however, this relative self-sufficiency has been threatened by “modern agriculture,” which the government has pushed purportedly to increase crop production through high-yielding varieties (HYVs) and, lately, genetically engineered seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
A study by the private Montañosa Research and Development Center (MRDC) tells of a farmer from the village of Dandanac in Besao, Mt. Province, who brought home a hybrid variety of corn given by a municipal agricultural technician. Concerned villagers warned that the seeds might be a strain or associated with Bt corn, but the farmer insisted on planting them because of an assurance of high yield.
“True enough, the new corn grew and flowered, but it did not bear ears,” said the study.
The MRDC documented how other farmers had slowly replaced their traditional rice with HYVs. In 1996, only two of 18 rice varieties that the Dandanac farmers were using were HYVs. In 2004, 11 of the 27 rice varieties inventoried were HYVs, nine were introduced by other farmers and seven were traditional types.
Eventually, more people planted larger areas with HYVs, dominating the traditional varieties and those introduced by neighboring communities, the center said. The HYVs were maturing early and could be planted twice during the rainy season in rain-fed areas.
In such a short time, the farmers had more yields than before. But there was a problem.
The HYVs narrowed the germplasm (genetic material that carries the inherited characteristics of an organism) base, the study noted. Several traditional varieties are no longer planted and are now considered lost. As a result, the farmers lost control over their seeds. They have to buy the HYVs from agro-chemical stores or dealers each cropping season.
The new varieties weakened the community’s synchronized cropping schedule. As a result, pests increased, accounting for a 20-percent crop loss.
Moreover, the community’s cooperative self-help group, through which knowledge and exemplary practices were shared among farmers, has disintegrated.
The HYVs brought along a new technology alien to the community – the use of oil-based inorganic fertilizers and pesticides, which, in the long term, degrade and contaminate the soil. Pesticide use leads to a cycle of poison, as farmers tend to use more when pests eventually develop resistance to even the most potent poison.
Thus, farmers have been forced to buy everything from seeds to fertilizers and pesticides, which often leave them heavily indebted, the MRDC study said. Before, they could select and set aside seeds from their own harvests, simply use weeds and animal dung as fertilizers, and synchronize cropping schedules to keep pests at bay.
Debt trap
The findings were presented during the Third National Conference on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Security in Quezon City on March 29, which the MRDC and other development nongovernment organizations serving indigenous peoples attended.
Sponsored by the EED Philippine Partners’ Task Force on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, the conference was held at a time when official pronouncements blamed previous typhoons and, later, rising world food prices and rice hoarders for a crisis over rice, the Filipinos’ main staple. The EED stands for Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst e.V., a church-supported donor agency in Germany.
A similar research by the Southern Christian College (SCC) in Midsayap, North Cotabato, reinforced the MRDC study. The SCC discovered that Bt corn and F1 hybrid rice had proved to be counterproductive among indigenous farmers in Sarangani.
The high cost of producing Bt corn, which requires chemical fertilizers and pesticides, has buried many farmers in debt, forcing some to sell or mortgage their land, Prof. Elma Neyra of the SCC said.
Maria Pilar Castro, senior agriculturist of the Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya (Sibat), another development organization, reported about Bt corn contamination in B’laan communities in Mindanao, raising concerns on food safety.
Hunger, blood
Indigenous peoples also felt cursed because their ancestral domains have been targeted for big-scale mining and logging. These only brought “hunger and blood” to many indigenous communities in Mindanao, according to Manobo youth leader Yatz Ambangan of Carmen, North Cotabato.
Ambangan cited how the government often responded with more military operations when indigenous folk would protest against mining and logging operations.
As a result, indigenous folk have to evacuate, abandoning their upland farms, and many accused of being rebel sympathizers have been killed, he said.
The conversion of lands into plantations of banana, palm and lately biofuel plants will lead to “food insecurity,” he said. He noted how the plantations had displaced hundreds of indigenous folk, some of whom were forced to become farm laborers with meager wages that were not enough to provide them all their needs, including food.
Policy issues
The EED Task Force on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, which is a consortium of development organizations serving indigenous communities, saw the food problem, including the current rice crisis, as an issue of policy. “Indigenous peoples’ rights to their land and resources must be secured,” it said. “This is the fundamental basis of their food security.”
Government and international policies, it said, must respect and recognize the rights of indigenous peoples to determine their own development – be it in agriculture and other industries, including mining, and other land and resource uses.
It stressed the right of indigenous peoples to free and prior informed consent (FPIC), which is guaranteed by the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
By Maurice Malanes
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:03:00 04/08/2008
BAGUIO CITY – The Igorot people now acknowledge their ancestors’ long-term foresight in ensuring the food security of succeeding generations by carving rice terraces, even in tough, challenging terrain, in the Cordillera mountains.
Even during World War II and a rice crisis in the 1970s, the rice paddies have helped sustain the local folk. During the lean months, they supplemented rice with camote (sweet potato) from the nem-a or uma (upland swidden).
In recent years, however, this relative self-sufficiency has been threatened by “modern agriculture,” which the government has pushed purportedly to increase crop production through high-yielding varieties (HYVs) and, lately, genetically engineered seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
A study by the private Montañosa Research and Development Center (MRDC) tells of a farmer from the village of Dandanac in Besao, Mt. Province, who brought home a hybrid variety of corn given by a municipal agricultural technician. Concerned villagers warned that the seeds might be a strain or associated with Bt corn, but the farmer insisted on planting them because of an assurance of high yield.
“True enough, the new corn grew and flowered, but it did not bear ears,” said the study.
The MRDC documented how other farmers had slowly replaced their traditional rice with HYVs. In 1996, only two of 18 rice varieties that the Dandanac farmers were using were HYVs. In 2004, 11 of the 27 rice varieties inventoried were HYVs, nine were introduced by other farmers and seven were traditional types.
Eventually, more people planted larger areas with HYVs, dominating the traditional varieties and those introduced by neighboring communities, the center said. The HYVs were maturing early and could be planted twice during the rainy season in rain-fed areas.
In such a short time, the farmers had more yields than before. But there was a problem.
The HYVs narrowed the germplasm (genetic material that carries the inherited characteristics of an organism) base, the study noted. Several traditional varieties are no longer planted and are now considered lost. As a result, the farmers lost control over their seeds. They have to buy the HYVs from agro-chemical stores or dealers each cropping season.
The new varieties weakened the community’s synchronized cropping schedule. As a result, pests increased, accounting for a 20-percent crop loss.
Moreover, the community’s cooperative self-help group, through which knowledge and exemplary practices were shared among farmers, has disintegrated.
The HYVs brought along a new technology alien to the community – the use of oil-based inorganic fertilizers and pesticides, which, in the long term, degrade and contaminate the soil. Pesticide use leads to a cycle of poison, as farmers tend to use more when pests eventually develop resistance to even the most potent poison.
Thus, farmers have been forced to buy everything from seeds to fertilizers and pesticides, which often leave them heavily indebted, the MRDC study said. Before, they could select and set aside seeds from their own harvests, simply use weeds and animal dung as fertilizers, and synchronize cropping schedules to keep pests at bay.
Debt trap
The findings were presented during the Third National Conference on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Security in Quezon City on March 29, which the MRDC and other development nongovernment organizations serving indigenous peoples attended.
Sponsored by the EED Philippine Partners’ Task Force on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, the conference was held at a time when official pronouncements blamed previous typhoons and, later, rising world food prices and rice hoarders for a crisis over rice, the Filipinos’ main staple. The EED stands for Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst e.V., a church-supported donor agency in Germany.
A similar research by the Southern Christian College (SCC) in Midsayap, North Cotabato, reinforced the MRDC study. The SCC discovered that Bt corn and F1 hybrid rice had proved to be counterproductive among indigenous farmers in Sarangani.
The high cost of producing Bt corn, which requires chemical fertilizers and pesticides, has buried many farmers in debt, forcing some to sell or mortgage their land, Prof. Elma Neyra of the SCC said.
Maria Pilar Castro, senior agriculturist of the Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya (Sibat), another development organization, reported about Bt corn contamination in B’laan communities in Mindanao, raising concerns on food safety.
Hunger, blood
Indigenous peoples also felt cursed because their ancestral domains have been targeted for big-scale mining and logging. These only brought “hunger and blood” to many indigenous communities in Mindanao, according to Manobo youth leader Yatz Ambangan of Carmen, North Cotabato.
Ambangan cited how the government often responded with more military operations when indigenous folk would protest against mining and logging operations.
As a result, indigenous folk have to evacuate, abandoning their upland farms, and many accused of being rebel sympathizers have been killed, he said.
The conversion of lands into plantations of banana, palm and lately biofuel plants will lead to “food insecurity,” he said. He noted how the plantations had displaced hundreds of indigenous folk, some of whom were forced to become farm laborers with meager wages that were not enough to provide them all their needs, including food.
Policy issues
The EED Task Force on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, which is a consortium of development organizations serving indigenous communities, saw the food problem, including the current rice crisis, as an issue of policy. “Indigenous peoples’ rights to their land and resources must be secured,” it said. “This is the fundamental basis of their food security.”
Government and international policies, it said, must respect and recognize the rights of indigenous peoples to determine their own development – be it in agriculture and other industries, including mining, and other land and resource uses.
It stressed the right of indigenous peoples to free and prior informed consent (FPIC), which is guaranteed by the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Agawa3
New Rice Varieties Destroying Native Farming Practices
Ina Endena is concerned at the impact of the new rice varieties on Agawa community life. Since the introduction of the biit, the synchronized planting season has been inexistent. During a community holiday for example, the farmers usually break the ubaya or community taboo just to tend their fields for the application of needed fertilizers or pesticides.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts
Vol. VI, No. 36 Oct. 15 - 21, 2006 Quezon City, Philippines
BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
I've seen her many times in different occasions involving grassroots organizations ? in Mountain Province or in any part of Cordillera and elsewhere. In most of these activities where I had seen her, human rights issues were the main topics in the discussions. She comes from a place that had often been militarized and as a consequence, human rights violations were usually reported.
On the day before the celebration of our paper?s fourth anniversary as a weekly and 17th as a news dispatch, Baket Endena ? a leader of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) in her native Mountain Province as well as the Innabuyog-GABRIELA ? came with a pizza to share with the Nordis staff, who were then busy preparing for the occasion.
This time, my conversation with Ina Endena, as most fondly call her, is focused on agricultural practices in their village in Agawa, Besao in Mountain Province.
I am touched at how she laments that new rice varieties are slowly displacing indigenous varieties. She is saddened at the thought that her community practices are slowly disintegrating due to the introduction of these new varieties into the Cordillera interior.
At first, it is hard to comprehend how the entry of the new varieties has weakened indigenous practices. But she explained with such clarity that I realized that we have to respond to an urgent call from this 82-year-old elder who is still active in grassroots organizing.
Ina Endena described the role of the dap-ay, an indigenous socio-political system where elders gather and talk about the beginning of the agricultural activities.
In end-September, the elders declare three days as ubaya or community holidays. They perform a ritual, observe signs, and if all the indications appear good then they start the rice seedbed preparation in the padog (rice field specifically designated for that purpose). The ubaya also starts the land preparation. Work is done simultaneously in all rice fields. The community residents do the preparation, planting and harvesting in synchrony with the environment. A tradition of thanksgiving is also performed after every harvest.
Outside influences, she says, contribute to the weakening of their indigenous practices. She observed this in what is happening to their indigenous rice varieties called the bayag (literally, a long period of time). These are slowly being set aside, she says.
These varieties include the tupeng, ginolot, yangaw (sticky rice). She observed that those varieties already lost are the sabsaba, kinison and matiko.
These old varieties are being replaced by taiwan, walay (sticky rice) and others called biit (short) as these may be planted twice a year.
She admits that it takes a longer wait to harvest the bayag variety, but she prefers it to the introduced biit because these are raised with just natural fertilizers like sunflower leaves, and a local variety of grasses, among others. She pointed out the biit, though planted twice in a year, need more commercial inputs like fertilizers and pesticides. She observed that these inputs are not only expensive but makes the land barren and therefore, dependent on these agro-chemicals.
Ina Endena is concerned at the impact of the new rice varieties on Agawa community life. She observes that since the introduction of the biit, the synchronized planting season has been inexistent. In the declaration of a community holiday for example, the farmers usually break the ubaya or community taboo just to tend their fields for the application of needed fertilizers or pesticides.
She also observes that indigenous agricultural practices are environment-friendly.
Before our interaction ended with lots of lemon grass tea and brewed coffee that washed the pizza down our throats, I felt the need to heed her recommendations to adopt indigenous systems. After all, these practices have been proven to be cost-effective and environment-friendly by indigenous communities like Agawa in Mountain Province. Northern Dispatch / Posted by Bulatlat
___________________________________
? 2006 Bulatlat ? Alipato Media Center
Ina Endena is concerned at the impact of the new rice varieties on Agawa community life. Since the introduction of the biit, the synchronized planting season has been inexistent. During a community holiday for example, the farmers usually break the ubaya or community taboo just to tend their fields for the application of needed fertilizers or pesticides.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts
Vol. VI, No. 36 Oct. 15 - 21, 2006 Quezon City, Philippines
BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
I've seen her many times in different occasions involving grassroots organizations ? in Mountain Province or in any part of Cordillera and elsewhere. In most of these activities where I had seen her, human rights issues were the main topics in the discussions. She comes from a place that had often been militarized and as a consequence, human rights violations were usually reported.
On the day before the celebration of our paper?s fourth anniversary as a weekly and 17th as a news dispatch, Baket Endena ? a leader of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) in her native Mountain Province as well as the Innabuyog-GABRIELA ? came with a pizza to share with the Nordis staff, who were then busy preparing for the occasion.
This time, my conversation with Ina Endena, as most fondly call her, is focused on agricultural practices in their village in Agawa, Besao in Mountain Province.
I am touched at how she laments that new rice varieties are slowly displacing indigenous varieties. She is saddened at the thought that her community practices are slowly disintegrating due to the introduction of these new varieties into the Cordillera interior.
At first, it is hard to comprehend how the entry of the new varieties has weakened indigenous practices. But she explained with such clarity that I realized that we have to respond to an urgent call from this 82-year-old elder who is still active in grassroots organizing.
Ina Endena described the role of the dap-ay, an indigenous socio-political system where elders gather and talk about the beginning of the agricultural activities.
In end-September, the elders declare three days as ubaya or community holidays. They perform a ritual, observe signs, and if all the indications appear good then they start the rice seedbed preparation in the padog (rice field specifically designated for that purpose). The ubaya also starts the land preparation. Work is done simultaneously in all rice fields. The community residents do the preparation, planting and harvesting in synchrony with the environment. A tradition of thanksgiving is also performed after every harvest.
Outside influences, she says, contribute to the weakening of their indigenous practices. She observed this in what is happening to their indigenous rice varieties called the bayag (literally, a long period of time). These are slowly being set aside, she says.
These varieties include the tupeng, ginolot, yangaw (sticky rice). She observed that those varieties already lost are the sabsaba, kinison and matiko.
These old varieties are being replaced by taiwan, walay (sticky rice) and others called biit (short) as these may be planted twice a year.
She admits that it takes a longer wait to harvest the bayag variety, but she prefers it to the introduced biit because these are raised with just natural fertilizers like sunflower leaves, and a local variety of grasses, among others. She pointed out the biit, though planted twice in a year, need more commercial inputs like fertilizers and pesticides. She observed that these inputs are not only expensive but makes the land barren and therefore, dependent on these agro-chemicals.
Ina Endena is concerned at the impact of the new rice varieties on Agawa community life. She observes that since the introduction of the biit, the synchronized planting season has been inexistent. In the declaration of a community holiday for example, the farmers usually break the ubaya or community taboo just to tend their fields for the application of needed fertilizers or pesticides.
She also observes that indigenous agricultural practices are environment-friendly.
Before our interaction ended with lots of lemon grass tea and brewed coffee that washed the pizza down our throats, I felt the need to heed her recommendations to adopt indigenous systems. After all, these practices have been proven to be cost-effective and environment-friendly by indigenous communities like Agawa in Mountain Province. Northern Dispatch / Posted by Bulatlat
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? 2006 Bulatlat ? Alipato Media Center
Agawa2
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
The Sagada church bell
from The Agawa compassion: Life in the country
-a budding author from Agawa, Besao
-works now as a development officer at Easter School
-an account on the bell which now stands in front of the convent in Sagada
-notice the reference to the Agawa people eating more.
The Agawa compassion
Life in the Country
Vicente Sapguian
Wanted: More Igorot journalists. Often enough on Igorot history and culture, we detect prejudiced implications from foreign and non-Igorot writers. But we cannot utterly blame them if we do not help to clarify the issues ourselves. One need not hold a doctorate degree to become an effective journalist or writer. I’d say an Igorot who was raised in that ethnic culture is better than a non-Igorot scholar writing about Igorot folkways.
It is delightful to learn that a young man from Agawa has begun a research work on his people’s origin and culture. I sought the man thinking to get from him more details about some stories that I gathered from their place. You know what I’ve found? A small treasure. The young man has come out with a book detailing his people’s history, researched and written from what he calls the real authors of his book, the old folks at home!
Leon O. Lonogan came up with a book he titled “The Sun Sets at Sunrise: The Rise of the Agawa Tribe”. Lonogan started researching on the origins of his people in 1997. He then presented his first work as a term paper required in an Education subject during his undergraduate teaching course at Easter School. Agawa elders, in due time, saw the volume and made suggestions to go more extensive. Historical details shaped up more clearly as more elders and concerned Agawa leaders helped in the research to establish facts and beliefs. The latest unedited copy of the book has just been bound last August.
Leon O. Lonogan is presently working as development officer of Easter College, Inc. He also handles some classes at the school.
A good editor can help refine the Lonogan manuscript and make it competitive in the book market. The book with its historical episodes is surely a priceless treasure for the Besao people.
Aside from the adventures of the pioneers of Agawa and how “Linnapet” and the twelve months of the Agawa agricultural year came to be, the origins of the four barangays of Agawa are amply found in the book. Adventure fills the reader as he follows the exploits of Agawa forebears who carved a land and passed a culture of exceptional unity to their people, up to this day “a slave to none, dependent to no one, and crony of nobody.”
To give you a foretaste of the book, here’s an abridged version of a portion of the chapter on ‘Agawa and the Establishment of the Besao Municipality’.
“When the mountain villages were divided into municipalities, Agawa became part of Sagada while Besao was included as a barrio of the municipality of Bangnin. . . . Government projects or donations were given through the officers stationed in Sagada. All ran smooth in the political and socio-economic affairs involving the Agawa villages..”
“In those days, when there was no electricity to run machineries and there were no communication facilities, a bell was very important. It provided information to the people. It reminded the community of the time of worship, let know the hour of the day, called the people during meetings, attracted their attention when there was an emergency, and gave a warning in time of danger for the community. With this, government officials stationed in Sagada were given the assignment to bring a big bell from Vigan, Ilocos Sur to Sagada."
“In the beginning of the 20th century, the church of Sagada requested for the bell. This was to be carried all the way from Vigan to Sagada since there was no easier means of transportation during those days. Carrying government or church properties was one of the means by which Igorots earned money, for mining companies were not yet common. The people of Sagada were of course prioritized to do the work. They chose their able-bodied men for the job and off they went to Vigan.”
To shorten, the Sagada men failed and so were the second batch of carriers who came from Besao. The church bell was too much for them even with the employment of long sturdy bamboo poles with the cumbersome object tied at the center and carried by the men on all sides. It was the Agawa carriers who persevered.
“In Sagada, the church officials did not give up to secure the bell. The year was 1903 when they offered a higher pay for the job and promised a shirt for every carrier. Able-bodied men from Agawa decided to try. Led by Budkaeng, 20 sturdy men from Agawa started for Vigan. Among them were Aklatan, Tigilan, Sib-aten and Ciano, the youngest.”
“The chief officer in Vigan whom they called Seniora welcomed the third batch of carriers. She fed them well and prepared their food provisions for the tortuous trip back. She observed that the Agawa carriers were smaller than those from Sagada and Besao, yet they ate twice more than the bigger men. Hope ran through her. She demurred to judge strength by the size of a person.”
“As the way it used to be in carrying a heavy object, the Agawa carriers tied the big bell to a bamboo assiw. They slowly lifted the heavy bell then moved down the road at a snail’s pace until they were out of sight. The Seniora was much pleased. He hoped that the difficult job would at last be done.”
“The way from Vigan to Sagada was long and hard. The Agawa carriers walked unhurriedly but certainly. Sometimes they had to follow the long route to avoid passing through a narrow channel. At times they had to walk at night to arrive at a place with water to camp. Fortunately, it was summer, there were no rains to make the journey more difficult.”
“As the carriers reached Langyatan, the mountain that overlooks the Lepanto River, they rang the bell, that its sound was heard in the Kayang villages below. The people upon hearing the sound of the bell gathered food and brought it to the carriers. This is an indigenous way of helping people with a heavy load, a native practice called mangoto.”
“On the fourth day, the group finally reached the village of Malliten in the Kinali territory. They decided to rest and go fishing at the Balas-iyan River, leaving the huge bell at the Dap-ay. Down at the river, the Agawa carriers enjoyed feasting on the fish, including eels and wading. They decided to stay the night at the river to mannilew.”
“Up in Malliten, men from Sagada who were sent to meet the Agawa group arrived and prepared to leave with the bell even without the Agawa carriers. The thought of the rewards filled their hearts. They did not think of the efforts and difficulties undergone by their brethren from Agawa who brought the bell to the upland, now only about a fourth of the way herefrom to Sagada. Selfishness reigned in them. They contemplated of taking the reward by themselves, so off they went with the huge bell home without the Agawa carriers . . .”
This episode extends more. But as I have said, I can only give you a foretaste of what the Lonogan manuscript has in store for readers. Anyway, the bell now remains a treasure in Sagada.
The misunderstanding between the Agawa and Sagada carriers for the reward of money and shirts helped to kindle the eventual separation of Agawa from Sagada. Agawa soon joined Besao to form the Besao municipality that it is now. **
For reactions email vicsapguian@digitelone.com
The Sagada church bell
from The Agawa compassion: Life in the country
-a budding author from Agawa, Besao
-works now as a development officer at Easter School
-an account on the bell which now stands in front of the convent in Sagada
-notice the reference to the Agawa people eating more.
The Agawa compassion
Life in the Country
Vicente Sapguian
Wanted: More Igorot journalists. Often enough on Igorot history and culture, we detect prejudiced implications from foreign and non-Igorot writers. But we cannot utterly blame them if we do not help to clarify the issues ourselves. One need not hold a doctorate degree to become an effective journalist or writer. I’d say an Igorot who was raised in that ethnic culture is better than a non-Igorot scholar writing about Igorot folkways.
It is delightful to learn that a young man from Agawa has begun a research work on his people’s origin and culture. I sought the man thinking to get from him more details about some stories that I gathered from their place. You know what I’ve found? A small treasure. The young man has come out with a book detailing his people’s history, researched and written from what he calls the real authors of his book, the old folks at home!
Leon O. Lonogan came up with a book he titled “The Sun Sets at Sunrise: The Rise of the Agawa Tribe”. Lonogan started researching on the origins of his people in 1997. He then presented his first work as a term paper required in an Education subject during his undergraduate teaching course at Easter School. Agawa elders, in due time, saw the volume and made suggestions to go more extensive. Historical details shaped up more clearly as more elders and concerned Agawa leaders helped in the research to establish facts and beliefs. The latest unedited copy of the book has just been bound last August.
Leon O. Lonogan is presently working as development officer of Easter College, Inc. He also handles some classes at the school.
A good editor can help refine the Lonogan manuscript and make it competitive in the book market. The book with its historical episodes is surely a priceless treasure for the Besao people.
Aside from the adventures of the pioneers of Agawa and how “Linnapet” and the twelve months of the Agawa agricultural year came to be, the origins of the four barangays of Agawa are amply found in the book. Adventure fills the reader as he follows the exploits of Agawa forebears who carved a land and passed a culture of exceptional unity to their people, up to this day “a slave to none, dependent to no one, and crony of nobody.”
To give you a foretaste of the book, here’s an abridged version of a portion of the chapter on ‘Agawa and the Establishment of the Besao Municipality’.
“When the mountain villages were divided into municipalities, Agawa became part of Sagada while Besao was included as a barrio of the municipality of Bangnin. . . . Government projects or donations were given through the officers stationed in Sagada. All ran smooth in the political and socio-economic affairs involving the Agawa villages..”
“In those days, when there was no electricity to run machineries and there were no communication facilities, a bell was very important. It provided information to the people. It reminded the community of the time of worship, let know the hour of the day, called the people during meetings, attracted their attention when there was an emergency, and gave a warning in time of danger for the community. With this, government officials stationed in Sagada were given the assignment to bring a big bell from Vigan, Ilocos Sur to Sagada."
“In the beginning of the 20th century, the church of Sagada requested for the bell. This was to be carried all the way from Vigan to Sagada since there was no easier means of transportation during those days. Carrying government or church properties was one of the means by which Igorots earned money, for mining companies were not yet common. The people of Sagada were of course prioritized to do the work. They chose their able-bodied men for the job and off they went to Vigan.”
To shorten, the Sagada men failed and so were the second batch of carriers who came from Besao. The church bell was too much for them even with the employment of long sturdy bamboo poles with the cumbersome object tied at the center and carried by the men on all sides. It was the Agawa carriers who persevered.
“In Sagada, the church officials did not give up to secure the bell. The year was 1903 when they offered a higher pay for the job and promised a shirt for every carrier. Able-bodied men from Agawa decided to try. Led by Budkaeng, 20 sturdy men from Agawa started for Vigan. Among them were Aklatan, Tigilan, Sib-aten and Ciano, the youngest.”
“The chief officer in Vigan whom they called Seniora welcomed the third batch of carriers. She fed them well and prepared their food provisions for the tortuous trip back. She observed that the Agawa carriers were smaller than those from Sagada and Besao, yet they ate twice more than the bigger men. Hope ran through her. She demurred to judge strength by the size of a person.”
“As the way it used to be in carrying a heavy object, the Agawa carriers tied the big bell to a bamboo assiw. They slowly lifted the heavy bell then moved down the road at a snail’s pace until they were out of sight. The Seniora was much pleased. He hoped that the difficult job would at last be done.”
“The way from Vigan to Sagada was long and hard. The Agawa carriers walked unhurriedly but certainly. Sometimes they had to follow the long route to avoid passing through a narrow channel. At times they had to walk at night to arrive at a place with water to camp. Fortunately, it was summer, there were no rains to make the journey more difficult.”
“As the carriers reached Langyatan, the mountain that overlooks the Lepanto River, they rang the bell, that its sound was heard in the Kayang villages below. The people upon hearing the sound of the bell gathered food and brought it to the carriers. This is an indigenous way of helping people with a heavy load, a native practice called mangoto.”
“On the fourth day, the group finally reached the village of Malliten in the Kinali territory. They decided to rest and go fishing at the Balas-iyan River, leaving the huge bell at the Dap-ay. Down at the river, the Agawa carriers enjoyed feasting on the fish, including eels and wading. They decided to stay the night at the river to mannilew.”
“Up in Malliten, men from Sagada who were sent to meet the Agawa group arrived and prepared to leave with the bell even without the Agawa carriers. The thought of the rewards filled their hearts. They did not think of the efforts and difficulties undergone by their brethren from Agawa who brought the bell to the upland, now only about a fourth of the way herefrom to Sagada. Selfishness reigned in them. They contemplated of taking the reward by themselves, so off they went with the huge bell home without the Agawa carriers . . .”
This episode extends more. But as I have said, I can only give you a foretaste of what the Lonogan manuscript has in store for readers. Anyway, the bell now remains a treasure in Sagada.
The misunderstanding between the Agawa and Sagada carriers for the reward of money and shirts helped to kindle the eventual separation of Agawa from Sagada. Agawa soon joined Besao to form the Besao municipality that it is now. **
For reactions email vicsapguian@digitelone.com
Agawa 1
THE PRACTICE OF HEAD-HUNTING IN AGAWA
(Chapter VII of Leon Lonogan’s soon to be published book about the Agawa Tribe entitled “Sunrise at Sunset”)
HEAD-HUNTING BETWEEN THE I-LAGUD AND THE I-AGAWA
From the time of Kingat to Ola-o, the villages of Agawa were safe from head-hunters. Head-hunting between the i-Lagud and the i-Agawa was unknown. However, during the time of Ganema in the pre-Spanish era, the first head-hunting victims were taken in Pagpag forest by the i-Lagud.
Ganema was known as magasat ay mangnganup (fortunate hunter). Other hunters would like to go with him in his hunting trip that they might share his gasat. No guns were used in those days but wild lives were abundant in the forest that skilled hunters always leave the forest with hunting preys.
In one of his hunting trip, Ganema told his fellow hunters not to go with him for something wrong was seen in his labeg. Yet, two other hunters followed him in his apa in Tinma-uda despite his warning.
In Pagpag forest, Ganema and his companions met a group of i-Lagud who also went to hunt. During the meeting, the i-Lagud attacked the i-Agawa killing the companions of Ganema. The surprise attack caught Ganema unaware, but he managed to flee from their assailant. When he made a distance of about sixty armspan from the i-Lagud, he shouted at them. “Ay sino nan inyalayo? (What cause you to take the lives of my companion?)”
“Teba ad Manabo (The misunderstanding in Manabo),” the i-Lagud answered.
“Teba ad Manabo ay kaysan appaten di amam-a! (The misunderstanding in Manabo was already settled by the elders!),” Ganema answered back. “Ay sino kayet nan inyalayo? (What really cause you to take the lives of my companion?)”
“Taked si niket,” one of the i-Lagud shouted.
“Taked si niket ay kedeng kami ay i-Agawa ay manapdapdap si danum ad Buasao! (Taked si niket when we from Agawa, are the only ones “chopping” water from Buasao!),” Ganema replied. “Ay sino kayet nan inyalayo? (What really caused you to take the lives of my companion?)”
“Ittapimi sik-a (We will take you too),” the i-Lagud said and ran towards Ganema with their blades raised. Ganema rushed to the bushes and dis-appeared. After he sensed that i-Lagud left, Ganema returned to the place where they killed his companions. He wiped the headless bodies and took them home.
The i-Lagud were not able to give Ganema a reasonable cause for the killing. Hence, the killing was unjust to the Agawa people and that vengeance was required. On the part of the Lagud people, it was either reasonable or unreasonable. They might not be contented with how the elders settled the teba ad Manabo and or believe that the i-Agawa were responsible for the killing of their tribemate in the pine wooded area of Buasao. They might also have killed the companions of Ganema without any bases but for head-taking intention only since it was their practice.
Teba ad Manabo happened when an i-Lagud was offended by a labak (joke) from an i-Agawa. He met the i-Agawa in Manabo, Abra when both went to makilagbo (work for money or in exchange for any other valuables). During the meeting, the i-Agawa told the i-Lagud, “Wada aya nan baonmo (So you have a baon).” The i-Agawa was referring to the young woman who was with the i-Lagud and the latter got so insulted because the woman was his daughter. The labak later turned to be a liability of all i-Agawa to the i-Lagud. When the i-Lagud hunters brought out the teba ad Manabo saying that it was their reason for killing Ganema’s companions, the hunter from Agawa answered saying that it could not be for it was already settled by their fathers.
On the other hand, the taked si niket came about when an i-Lagud was killed in Buasao and the i-Agawa were the suspects. Ganema also explained that the i-Agawa could not be the culprits for they were the only ones “chopping” water from Buasao. He means to say that they were the only ones sourcing out water supply from Buasao and that if they were the ones responsible, then they would have polluted their own water supply.
Since the i-Lagud were not able to provide sufficient grounds for killing the two i-Agawa, this started the bloody conflict between the two tribes. The i-Lagud became a kabinnoso of the i-Agawa. Whenever the Agawa people caught sight of i-Lagud passing through their territory going to Ngaab, they waited for them by the way. Likewise, when the i-Lagud meet folks from Agawa in the forest or in other places they executed their head-taking purpose if they got chances. Innocent men and women became victims of this unfriendly tradition. Both tribes counted their casualties and avenged it to get even. Members of other tribes were even involved especially when they were mistaken as i-Agawa or i-Lagud by the menkabinnoso (tribal enemies).
One event that recalls the head-hunting between the two tribes was the killing of an i-Lagud in Lubo. The place called Tegteg Sey-a derived its name after men from Agawa stoned to death an i-Lagud name Sey-a. Sey-a was carrying a payok-vessel, which he bought from Candon when he was spotted by Bodao in the Balas-iyan River. Bodao, an i-Agawa who settled in Patiacan, befriended and accompanied him going up to Lubo where they met Sakkiwen, another i-Agawa. During the meeting, the two i-Agawa killed the unaided i-Lagud. Bodao took Sey-a’s head to Patiacan and dance over it in his dap-ay at Mangmangitit while Sakkiwen took the payok-vessel to Agawa.
Days later, two i-Lagud went to Payeo asking for the payok-vessel. They said that their people will not take into account the life of Sey-a but the payok-vessel must be returned to them. Sakkiwen was informed about it and he immediately took the huge cooking vessel to Payeo to give it to the men who were looking for it to avoid bloody confrontation. Afraid to face the i-Lagud, he gave the payok-vessel through Domisiw, an elder of Payeo, who change it with an old one with crack. The i-Lagud saw that the vessel brought by Sakkiwen from Agawa was changed by the i-Payeo. They did not take the huge cooking untensil but went outside the village and hanged around waiting for someone to kill as payment for the payok-vessel. Before dark, they were able to take the head of a farmer.
This unsociable situation between the Agawa and the Lagud tribes went on for many years and only ended in the later part of the 20th century when Protestant missionaries led by the Episcopal Church entered the Mountain Province and evangelized the people. At present, intermarriage is taking place between the two tribes with the bayaw-ritual conducted to appease whatever known or unknown tribal accountability that exist.
The Reasons:
THE REASONS FOR HEAD-HUNTING
The head-hunting tradition is one of the harsh and unfriendly practices of the Igorots particularly in the Mountain Province. Once it started, it could hardly be prevented. It keeps on coming back. Observance of community rituals and economic activities for the sustenance of the community life were disturbed so long as there is life to avenge. It could not be forgotten until all were made even.
The origin of head-hunting is unknown. It could have originated in foreign land where the early Igorots came from. History reveals that the aborigines of the Philippines are the negritos or aetas. Then came the first batch of brown skin people crossing the sea through the land bridges. Some historians call them the head-hunting Malays while others describe them as iron age Malays. These were believed to be the Igorots. When the land bridges were washed out, the second batch of brown skin people came to the Philippines crossing the sea by boats.
Head-hunting is cutting the head, ears or any other part of the body either from male or female, and taking it to the dap-ay where the head-hunter belongs that the people may play gongs and dance over it. It is a risky, cruel, and heartless act. Yet, the Igorots had practiced it in the earlier era and there must be grounds for doing it.
In the history of the Agawa tribe, there were three reasons for the practice of head-hunting. First, it was for revenge; second, it was for the people to find out if the labeg conducted was appropriate or recognized by the spirits; and third, it was to obtain war souvenir.
The head-hunting expedition of Lawad in the Kay-ang territory explained that head-hunting was done for revenge. On the other hand, the experience of Dokyogen when he killed a man and took his head in the Ma-eng territory illustrated how head-hunting was done to determine if a labeg was recognized by the spirits while the ginaman, a gosi kept by Kig-ongen Wanagen of Nabanig, is an evidence that head-negay serves as war trophy
Head Hunting for Revenge
HEAD-HUNTING FOR REVENGE
In the earlier days when Lubo was still a populated village, the courage of an Agawa warrior was manifested when he was forced to take revenge on the death of his sister in the hands of head-hunters. Lawad was the warrior whose bolo’s handle was formed after a male sex organ and who gave a head-hunting lesson to the Kagubatan people.
Lawad’s sister was on her way from Agawa to Ilian to deliver food-presents to their relatives when head-hunters executed her. Lawad immediately followed the head-hunters to Kagubatan and pleaded to the village elders to let him utter a baya-o to her sister’s head. “Tay siya nan ik-ikkan di am-a, itulokyo koma ta menbaya-oak nan ulon nan besatko ay inalayo (For it is the practice of the fathers, I beg you to let me utter my baya-o to my sister’s head which you took),” Lawad said humbly to the elders. The elders understood the reasonable intention of the victim’s brother but they did not grant his request. Instead, they let the men mocked him and laughed at his bolo’s handle, which was in the form of a male sex organ. “Kinwanin Lawad en ay linadladay nan petan nan gamana,” the men of Kagubatan despised him. They felt so secured and thought of themselves mighty before the lone warrior of Agawa. Degyem, the chief warrior of the Kagubatan people, even made fun of Lawad and boasted his act of taking the head of the later’s sister.
Lawad ignored their disparaging treatment and continued pleading. “I followed my sister’s head but not as an enemy to take revenge but as a humble person to express my last words to her,” Lawad said in a low but clear supplicating voice. “Count me not your enemy.”
“You are still our enemy today,” Degyem replied. “Expect no mercy from us.”
“Yet warriors still have consideration to their enemies. Let me say just a little words,” Lawad begged. “I shall be cursed if I fail to do it.”
Degyem showed no compassion to the man pleading infront of them. When Lawad tried to insist on his request, the elders warned him. They told him to better return to Agawa before anything worst could happen.
Lawad left with a disappointed reaction. He was filled with the zeal to revenge.
Once he reached home, he immediately started doing the burial rites for his sister. After completing the appropriate initial rituals, he began to make his labeg warm. When the time was apt, he returned to Kagubatan to avenge his sister.
He reached Kagubatan at daybreak and positioned himself near a spring where most of the folks obtained water for their daily use. Lawad waited patiently underneath thick shrubs for the right victim. By coincidence, Degyem, the man who mocked him most, came carrying a wooden bucket. Lawad prepared and as Degyem draw nearer; he struck him with his bolo by the shoulder. Degyem was caught unaware. He felt the pain and blood came running down his breast. He strove to flee but staggering and he stumbled. Degyem slowly rose to his knees. He blinked, shook his head and stared at his assailant. Numbly he recognized Lawad. “Kinwanin Lawad en ay linadladay nan petan nan gamana,” he heard the man standing tall before him repeated the belittling words he uttered to him earlier.
Lawad, his eyes burning, stepped closer, as if impelled with a violent fascination –without the slightest warning he grabbed Degyem’s hair with an ayawan-like grasp. A strong blow from a sparkling blade from his hand came slashing his victim’s throat. Degyem lost his senses. Folks who witnessed the scene gripped their hands and held their breath, tensed by the bloody climax, and the only sound was Lawad’s war cries.
The warrior raised Degyem’s head. He smiled and broke the handle of his bolo and placed it on top of the headless body for the Kagubatan people to remember him whose bolo’s handle was linadladay. Then he slowly walked away and disappeared.
Later, Degyem’s relatives went to Agawa to take back his head. They were able to have his head back in exchange of a payok-vessel. This practice of taking back the head of a head-hunting victim in exchange of something valuable was done if the relatives of the victim cannot avenge their dead and Degyem’s relatives so as not to lower their dignity must do it. Lawad the kindhearted warrior accepted the cooking vessel. His descendants kept the payok-vessel from generation to generation. When the house of Baklangen of Agawa was burned to ashes in the later part of the 20th century, the payok-vessel was destroyed by the fire
HEAD-HUNTING FOR REASON OF LABEG
While Lawad practiced head-hunting for revenge, Dokyogen did it to test if his labeg was accepted by the spirit s and have solemn significance. He did it to evade a predicted misfortune.
In the village of Pisa, a begnas was conducted to give thanks to Kabunian for the bountiful provisions provided for the year round. Dokyogen, an unmarried leader of a dap-ay, led the young men to mangayew. They were beating their wooden shields with sticks when they saw a frog up croaking on a trunk of a pine tree. The small tailless creature climbed almost reaching the first branch of the tree and croaking so fast and loud. This was their piles (omen) and the men cannot figure out its meaning.
After the begnas, Dokyogen inquired about the wisdom of his abigan-friend in Dattaan regarding his piles. The abigan told him that he must carry out three begnas that would be done every three years. He also told him not to marry until he completed the begnas-ceremonies. Dokyogen was so thankful that the abigan told him how to straighten the annoying sign they saw during their kayew-trip to the mountain.
At home, Dokyogen thought of the nine years to complete the three begnas. He felt contented of what the abigan told him but was unhappy about the span of time to complete what he was told to do. Nine years was too long for him to wait before he gets married. Yet, he must follow for he knows that to disobey an abig brings misfortune. He decided to complete the three begnas the soonest by conducting it every three months instead of every three years.
Dokyogen did exactly what he planned to do in fulfillment of the abig. After nine months, he completed the three begnas. To be in no doubt, that what he did was right; he must test it by going to head-hunting. If he succeeds in his mission to bring home a negay, it means that his labeg is right and is recognized by the spirits and that he can marry without fear of any misfortune. Nontheless, if he fails in his mission he must perform another three begnas following the three years time space as the abigan told him.
In his headhunting journey, the warrior from Pisa arrived at the Ma-eng territory. He waited for a victim in the first village he reached. Before midday, Dokyogen was able to kill a man and took his head.
During the killing, the abigan from Dattaan who instructed Dokyogen to conduct three begnas, was in the village where Dokyogen carried out his head-hunting. It so happened that the victim whom the warrior killed was a friend of the abigan. When the abigan learned about the killing, he sensed at once that Dokyogen did it. He comforted the people who were grieving over the headless body saying that he will follow the head-hunter.
The abigan followed Dokyogen and so fast did he hiked that he caught up with the warrior in the forest. Dokyogen recognized the abigan that he did not thrust his spear at him. The abigan told him that the person whom Dokyogen killed was also a friend of his. “Inyabigak sik-a ya enka obpay inyala sin kadalidegko (I told you the abig but you used it to take the life of my friend),” the abigan told him. Dokyogen asked his abigan-friend to calm down and he promised to settle out what he did. His abigan-friend took his promise and they set a date for both to return to the Ma-eng area to settle what was done.
Dokyogen performed the proper rites for his head-hunting journey and immediately went back to the Ma-eng territory with the abigan-friend and amicably settled his offense with his victim’s relatives. After his offense was resolved, he went to Agawa to look for a wife. He married Kabaynga of Batogyan and raised his family in his wife’s village. Dokyogen lived peacefully in Batogyan but when Agawa was struck by a bultong-disease, he led four other elders and their families to settle in Ambagiw.
In Ambagiw, Dokyogen built his home like the other elders who took their families with them. In his new home, he prospered and many sons and daughters were born from his five children. His wife while getting rid of the labagan-grasshopper later changed his name to Galeled and became the father of the Galeled clan.
HEAD-HUNTING FOR WAR TROPHY
Tribal war is more common before than at present. Though the number of casualties is much lesser because there were no guns, it was still detrimental to the village people for it disturbs their economic, social and cultural activities.
In the earlier days, the people of Golingsan (the Barangay of Besao at present) and Bagsingit (the barangay of Payeo at present) had a conflict with the i-Kay-ang. They had several encounters with their enemy through a dong-as where they always suffered more casualties. Hence, they decided to stop engaging in a dong-as. Yet, it did not end their trouble for they live in fear for a sudden attack. It was a common attempt by warring tribes to send young men to their enemies’ territories to take life in the absence of dong-as. For this reason, able-bodied men took turns in guarding possible entries of their enemies and places where economic activities were conducted daily such as the sakdoan, payas and sippotan.
This condition remained for days until the people of Bagsingit and Golingsan grew weary and they decided to ask for the assistance of their Agawa neighbor that they might settle their conflict with the i-Kay-ang for the last time through a dong-as. “Aye pay, ay siyay entako ed-edkan ay menbanbantay ay aditako et kayet mensama. Entako et kasin makidong-as ken daida ta kaileppasana (This is way too much spending our time guarding instead of working in our fields, let’s face them again in a dong-as once in for all),” their chief elder said. “Waday omey kendakayo ad Agawa ta damagenyo no pinmopoos nan labegda ta menbapabadang tako et kayet (Somebody will go to Agawa to ask if their labeg is warm that we might as well ask for their assistance).”
As instructed, some elders went to Agawa and returned with good reports. The labeg of the i-Agawa was warm and the elders agreed to help them. Young men then made prepapration for the dong-as.
The warring tribes agreed that the dong-as be done at Nakkawang. Armed by wooden shields, bolos and spears, young men led by their elders face each other. With the combined forces of the i-Bagsingit, i-Golingsan and the i-Agawa, the i-Kay-ang were easily beaten. The enemy suffered many casualties and the survivors were scattered from all direction. Young men with their arms followed the fleeing enemies but the elders prevented them. “Daetan, bay-anyo ta waday men-apat. Namlastako gedan (Enough let them escape that somebody may speak. We had killed many anyway),” the elders said.
The victor gathered the bodies of them that fall under their spears.
“Ay kedeng, kadya menpilikayo et as itedyo kendakami as negaymi abes (Well, choose now whom you will give us for our negay),” the Agawa warriors told the elders from Bagsingit and Golingsan.
The negay asked by the i-Agawa will serve as memento of victory in the dong-as at Nakkawang and the later choosed the head of a longhaired warrior with many nits and gave it to them. But unknown to the Golingsan and Bagsingit elders, the head belong to the chief warrior of the i-Kay-ang.
Later, a company from the Kay-ang tribe went to Golingsan looking for the head of a notable person that fall during the dong-as at Nakkawang. They were not able to find and they moved to Bagsingit but still have no luck. The Bagsingit elders told them to go to Agawa and check if the head-negay taken by the i-Agawa is what they are searching.
In Agawa, the i-Kay-ang found that the head with many nits was what they are looking for. They begged the Agawa elders to return it to them in exchange of an ancient wine jar called ginaman. “Maheg-ang kayo adi ta makkayatkayo ay itauli han ulo ay inalayo et alaenyo nan gohi ay ginaman hina (Have pity on us. Return to us the head that you have taken in exchange of this ginaman-wine jar),” the i-Kayang told the Agawa elders.
“Ay siya, ta annongenyo as kapaayanyo abes (So be it that you might conduct appropriate annong-rituals for your own goodwill),” the Agawa elders overpowered by the feelings of compassion said no more but accepted the wine jar.
The ancient wine jar was passed through inheritance from generation to generation. Today, the ancient ginaman-wine jar is in the hand of Kig-ongen Wanagen of Nabanig. It is a recollection of the head-negay taken by the Agawa warriors as war trophy.
THE LAST HEAD-NEGAY BROUGHT TO AGAWA
At present, head-hunting is no longer practiced by the Agawa people and even by the eastern tribes of Mountain province. With the evangelistic effort of the protestant missionaries particularly the Episcopal or Anglican Church, the unfriendly tradition gradually ceased to exist. The last head-hunting trip of the Agawa warriors was conducted in 1945. The elders motivated their young men to head-hunt for revenge.
Just as the war was ending, members of the 121 Infantry of the Filipino-American arm forces turned to banditry. Led by Kabuena of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur, the bandits sowed fear in the western part of Mountain Province and in the mountain villages of Ilocos sur.
In 1945, the bandits took Hidalgo of Payeo to Liddawan, Ilocos Sur and killed him. Later, they again took David Ganaden of Masameyeo to the same place and executed him. Then they attacked the villages of Tambuan and Dandanac killing many men including five men from Agawa -Agidda, Guesaed, John Maggaes, Mang-osan and a son of Mayegayeg.
The i-Agawa were on their way to get salt supply in Candon when the bandits apprehended and killed them in Dandanac. The indiscriminate killing drew the attention of the government who sent members of the Philippine Constabulary to Tabbak to wage war with the bandits.
During the assault in Tabbak, several bandits were killed and elders from Nabanig and Ayobo took the hands of two of the slain bandits as baes for the three of the five i-Agawa that were killed in Dandanac. The people played gongs and danced over the hands-negay in their respective dap-ay. During the seldak-ritual observance, Bossogan Dapuyen, an elder of Dap-ay Eengan in Nabanig, taunted Kodangos, an elder of Dap-ay Patay.
“Kamanoy kasna Kodangos, adika makaibaes sin minnateymo (You’re nothing Kodangos, you cannot avenge your dead),” Dapuyen mocked Kodangos. The former was referring to the death of John Abkilen who was one of the five i-Agawa killed in Dandanac and who belongs to Dap-ay Patay from which Kodangos was in charge.
“Awni ta as wakas (wait till tomorrow),” Kodangos replied with contempt. “Ilaem as wakas ta ibaak nan babbaballok (You will see tomorrow and I will send my young men).”
Sometime in the month of June 1945, Kodangos and the elders of Dap-ay Patay and of Dap-ay Gueday (extension of Dap-ay Patay) made their labeg warm. After the appropriate rituals were conducted for their labeg, they sent Loblobot Domin-eng, Omaybas Lidab and Loman Cawayan to head-hunt.
The three started their journey and they went to the hunting grounds of Pagpag forest where the scattered bandits during the Tabbak assault fled. By fate, they came across a bandit hiding in Taliktik. They took the bandit to Balicongcong and killed him. The group brought the bandit’s head to Dap-ay Gueday and played gongs over it. During the seldak-ritual, Kodangos made a discourse emphasizing that the head-negay brought by Domin-eng and his group was the fulfillment of his word to Dapuyen of Dap-ay Eengan.
“Siyana nan tet-ewa ay baes tay dakami ay mismo nan nangpatey ay baken en as teken ay ippogao (This is the true vengeance for we are the very ones who killed the victim and not by other people),” Kodangos told the gathered people. “Siyana nan tet-ewa ay negay (This is the real negay).”
Kodangos’ message was spoken infront of the gathered throng in Dap-ay Gueday but it was meant preferably for Dapuyen of Nabanig. He stressed the manner by which the i-Nabanig’s negay was obtained. Members of the Philippine Constabulary killed Dapuyen’s negay while young men of Dap-ay Gueday killed his.
While the Agawa folks were dancing over the head-negay brought by Domin-eng’s group at Dap-ay Gueaday, the bandits that were driven in Tabbak moved down to Legleg, Ilocos Sur. They reorganized themselves and remained a threat to the people. The villages of the Besao municipality only felt secured when a vigilantes was formed to fight the outlaws. Sgt. Bawaan of Payeo organized a vigilante group with Paul Bakdayan acting as his secretary and with Omaybas Lidab, Ommayat Cawayan, and other recruits from Payeo and Besao as soldiers. They stationed at Panabungen and sent a letter to Kabuena and his band of outlaws challenging them to a gunbattle. Knowing that the people of Besao were armed and prepared, the bandits did not accept the challenge. From that time on, the bandits were never seen again in any of the villages of Besao.
The bandit’s head taken in Balicongcong is the last head-negay brought to Agawa. Since then, no other head-hunting victim was reported. At present, the top of the hill of Deladelan in Napoon was named Ken Bandido because it was where the people buried the head of the bandit which was the last victim of head-hunting in Agawa.
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(Chapter VII of Leon Lonogan’s soon to be published book about the Agawa Tribe entitled “Sunrise at Sunset”)
HEAD-HUNTING BETWEEN THE I-LAGUD AND THE I-AGAWA
From the time of Kingat to Ola-o, the villages of Agawa were safe from head-hunters. Head-hunting between the i-Lagud and the i-Agawa was unknown. However, during the time of Ganema in the pre-Spanish era, the first head-hunting victims were taken in Pagpag forest by the i-Lagud.
Ganema was known as magasat ay mangnganup (fortunate hunter). Other hunters would like to go with him in his hunting trip that they might share his gasat. No guns were used in those days but wild lives were abundant in the forest that skilled hunters always leave the forest with hunting preys.
In one of his hunting trip, Ganema told his fellow hunters not to go with him for something wrong was seen in his labeg. Yet, two other hunters followed him in his apa in Tinma-uda despite his warning.
In Pagpag forest, Ganema and his companions met a group of i-Lagud who also went to hunt. During the meeting, the i-Lagud attacked the i-Agawa killing the companions of Ganema. The surprise attack caught Ganema unaware, but he managed to flee from their assailant. When he made a distance of about sixty armspan from the i-Lagud, he shouted at them. “Ay sino nan inyalayo? (What cause you to take the lives of my companion?)”
“Teba ad Manabo (The misunderstanding in Manabo),” the i-Lagud answered.
“Teba ad Manabo ay kaysan appaten di amam-a! (The misunderstanding in Manabo was already settled by the elders!),” Ganema answered back. “Ay sino kayet nan inyalayo? (What really cause you to take the lives of my companion?)”
“Taked si niket,” one of the i-Lagud shouted.
“Taked si niket ay kedeng kami ay i-Agawa ay manapdapdap si danum ad Buasao! (Taked si niket when we from Agawa, are the only ones “chopping” water from Buasao!),” Ganema replied. “Ay sino kayet nan inyalayo? (What really caused you to take the lives of my companion?)”
“Ittapimi sik-a (We will take you too),” the i-Lagud said and ran towards Ganema with their blades raised. Ganema rushed to the bushes and dis-appeared. After he sensed that i-Lagud left, Ganema returned to the place where they killed his companions. He wiped the headless bodies and took them home.
The i-Lagud were not able to give Ganema a reasonable cause for the killing. Hence, the killing was unjust to the Agawa people and that vengeance was required. On the part of the Lagud people, it was either reasonable or unreasonable. They might not be contented with how the elders settled the teba ad Manabo and or believe that the i-Agawa were responsible for the killing of their tribemate in the pine wooded area of Buasao. They might also have killed the companions of Ganema without any bases but for head-taking intention only since it was their practice.
Teba ad Manabo happened when an i-Lagud was offended by a labak (joke) from an i-Agawa. He met the i-Agawa in Manabo, Abra when both went to makilagbo (work for money or in exchange for any other valuables). During the meeting, the i-Agawa told the i-Lagud, “Wada aya nan baonmo (So you have a baon).” The i-Agawa was referring to the young woman who was with the i-Lagud and the latter got so insulted because the woman was his daughter. The labak later turned to be a liability of all i-Agawa to the i-Lagud. When the i-Lagud hunters brought out the teba ad Manabo saying that it was their reason for killing Ganema’s companions, the hunter from Agawa answered saying that it could not be for it was already settled by their fathers.
On the other hand, the taked si niket came about when an i-Lagud was killed in Buasao and the i-Agawa were the suspects. Ganema also explained that the i-Agawa could not be the culprits for they were the only ones “chopping” water from Buasao. He means to say that they were the only ones sourcing out water supply from Buasao and that if they were the ones responsible, then they would have polluted their own water supply.
Since the i-Lagud were not able to provide sufficient grounds for killing the two i-Agawa, this started the bloody conflict between the two tribes. The i-Lagud became a kabinnoso of the i-Agawa. Whenever the Agawa people caught sight of i-Lagud passing through their territory going to Ngaab, they waited for them by the way. Likewise, when the i-Lagud meet folks from Agawa in the forest or in other places they executed their head-taking purpose if they got chances. Innocent men and women became victims of this unfriendly tradition. Both tribes counted their casualties and avenged it to get even. Members of other tribes were even involved especially when they were mistaken as i-Agawa or i-Lagud by the menkabinnoso (tribal enemies).
One event that recalls the head-hunting between the two tribes was the killing of an i-Lagud in Lubo. The place called Tegteg Sey-a derived its name after men from Agawa stoned to death an i-Lagud name Sey-a. Sey-a was carrying a payok-vessel, which he bought from Candon when he was spotted by Bodao in the Balas-iyan River. Bodao, an i-Agawa who settled in Patiacan, befriended and accompanied him going up to Lubo where they met Sakkiwen, another i-Agawa. During the meeting, the two i-Agawa killed the unaided i-Lagud. Bodao took Sey-a’s head to Patiacan and dance over it in his dap-ay at Mangmangitit while Sakkiwen took the payok-vessel to Agawa.
Days later, two i-Lagud went to Payeo asking for the payok-vessel. They said that their people will not take into account the life of Sey-a but the payok-vessel must be returned to them. Sakkiwen was informed about it and he immediately took the huge cooking vessel to Payeo to give it to the men who were looking for it to avoid bloody confrontation. Afraid to face the i-Lagud, he gave the payok-vessel through Domisiw, an elder of Payeo, who change it with an old one with crack. The i-Lagud saw that the vessel brought by Sakkiwen from Agawa was changed by the i-Payeo. They did not take the huge cooking untensil but went outside the village and hanged around waiting for someone to kill as payment for the payok-vessel. Before dark, they were able to take the head of a farmer.
This unsociable situation between the Agawa and the Lagud tribes went on for many years and only ended in the later part of the 20th century when Protestant missionaries led by the Episcopal Church entered the Mountain Province and evangelized the people. At present, intermarriage is taking place between the two tribes with the bayaw-ritual conducted to appease whatever known or unknown tribal accountability that exist.
The Reasons:
THE REASONS FOR HEAD-HUNTING
The head-hunting tradition is one of the harsh and unfriendly practices of the Igorots particularly in the Mountain Province. Once it started, it could hardly be prevented. It keeps on coming back. Observance of community rituals and economic activities for the sustenance of the community life were disturbed so long as there is life to avenge. It could not be forgotten until all were made even.
The origin of head-hunting is unknown. It could have originated in foreign land where the early Igorots came from. History reveals that the aborigines of the Philippines are the negritos or aetas. Then came the first batch of brown skin people crossing the sea through the land bridges. Some historians call them the head-hunting Malays while others describe them as iron age Malays. These were believed to be the Igorots. When the land bridges were washed out, the second batch of brown skin people came to the Philippines crossing the sea by boats.
Head-hunting is cutting the head, ears or any other part of the body either from male or female, and taking it to the dap-ay where the head-hunter belongs that the people may play gongs and dance over it. It is a risky, cruel, and heartless act. Yet, the Igorots had practiced it in the earlier era and there must be grounds for doing it.
In the history of the Agawa tribe, there were three reasons for the practice of head-hunting. First, it was for revenge; second, it was for the people to find out if the labeg conducted was appropriate or recognized by the spirits; and third, it was to obtain war souvenir.
The head-hunting expedition of Lawad in the Kay-ang territory explained that head-hunting was done for revenge. On the other hand, the experience of Dokyogen when he killed a man and took his head in the Ma-eng territory illustrated how head-hunting was done to determine if a labeg was recognized by the spirits while the ginaman, a gosi kept by Kig-ongen Wanagen of Nabanig, is an evidence that head-negay serves as war trophy
Head Hunting for Revenge
HEAD-HUNTING FOR REVENGE
In the earlier days when Lubo was still a populated village, the courage of an Agawa warrior was manifested when he was forced to take revenge on the death of his sister in the hands of head-hunters. Lawad was the warrior whose bolo’s handle was formed after a male sex organ and who gave a head-hunting lesson to the Kagubatan people.
Lawad’s sister was on her way from Agawa to Ilian to deliver food-presents to their relatives when head-hunters executed her. Lawad immediately followed the head-hunters to Kagubatan and pleaded to the village elders to let him utter a baya-o to her sister’s head. “Tay siya nan ik-ikkan di am-a, itulokyo koma ta menbaya-oak nan ulon nan besatko ay inalayo (For it is the practice of the fathers, I beg you to let me utter my baya-o to my sister’s head which you took),” Lawad said humbly to the elders. The elders understood the reasonable intention of the victim’s brother but they did not grant his request. Instead, they let the men mocked him and laughed at his bolo’s handle, which was in the form of a male sex organ. “Kinwanin Lawad en ay linadladay nan petan nan gamana,” the men of Kagubatan despised him. They felt so secured and thought of themselves mighty before the lone warrior of Agawa. Degyem, the chief warrior of the Kagubatan people, even made fun of Lawad and boasted his act of taking the head of the later’s sister.
Lawad ignored their disparaging treatment and continued pleading. “I followed my sister’s head but not as an enemy to take revenge but as a humble person to express my last words to her,” Lawad said in a low but clear supplicating voice. “Count me not your enemy.”
“You are still our enemy today,” Degyem replied. “Expect no mercy from us.”
“Yet warriors still have consideration to their enemies. Let me say just a little words,” Lawad begged. “I shall be cursed if I fail to do it.”
Degyem showed no compassion to the man pleading infront of them. When Lawad tried to insist on his request, the elders warned him. They told him to better return to Agawa before anything worst could happen.
Lawad left with a disappointed reaction. He was filled with the zeal to revenge.
Once he reached home, he immediately started doing the burial rites for his sister. After completing the appropriate initial rituals, he began to make his labeg warm. When the time was apt, he returned to Kagubatan to avenge his sister.
He reached Kagubatan at daybreak and positioned himself near a spring where most of the folks obtained water for their daily use. Lawad waited patiently underneath thick shrubs for the right victim. By coincidence, Degyem, the man who mocked him most, came carrying a wooden bucket. Lawad prepared and as Degyem draw nearer; he struck him with his bolo by the shoulder. Degyem was caught unaware. He felt the pain and blood came running down his breast. He strove to flee but staggering and he stumbled. Degyem slowly rose to his knees. He blinked, shook his head and stared at his assailant. Numbly he recognized Lawad. “Kinwanin Lawad en ay linadladay nan petan nan gamana,” he heard the man standing tall before him repeated the belittling words he uttered to him earlier.
Lawad, his eyes burning, stepped closer, as if impelled with a violent fascination –without the slightest warning he grabbed Degyem’s hair with an ayawan-like grasp. A strong blow from a sparkling blade from his hand came slashing his victim’s throat. Degyem lost his senses. Folks who witnessed the scene gripped their hands and held their breath, tensed by the bloody climax, and the only sound was Lawad’s war cries.
The warrior raised Degyem’s head. He smiled and broke the handle of his bolo and placed it on top of the headless body for the Kagubatan people to remember him whose bolo’s handle was linadladay. Then he slowly walked away and disappeared.
Later, Degyem’s relatives went to Agawa to take back his head. They were able to have his head back in exchange of a payok-vessel. This practice of taking back the head of a head-hunting victim in exchange of something valuable was done if the relatives of the victim cannot avenge their dead and Degyem’s relatives so as not to lower their dignity must do it. Lawad the kindhearted warrior accepted the cooking vessel. His descendants kept the payok-vessel from generation to generation. When the house of Baklangen of Agawa was burned to ashes in the later part of the 20th century, the payok-vessel was destroyed by the fire
HEAD-HUNTING FOR REASON OF LABEG
While Lawad practiced head-hunting for revenge, Dokyogen did it to test if his labeg was accepted by the spirit s and have solemn significance. He did it to evade a predicted misfortune.
In the village of Pisa, a begnas was conducted to give thanks to Kabunian for the bountiful provisions provided for the year round. Dokyogen, an unmarried leader of a dap-ay, led the young men to mangayew. They were beating their wooden shields with sticks when they saw a frog up croaking on a trunk of a pine tree. The small tailless creature climbed almost reaching the first branch of the tree and croaking so fast and loud. This was their piles (omen) and the men cannot figure out its meaning.
After the begnas, Dokyogen inquired about the wisdom of his abigan-friend in Dattaan regarding his piles. The abigan told him that he must carry out three begnas that would be done every three years. He also told him not to marry until he completed the begnas-ceremonies. Dokyogen was so thankful that the abigan told him how to straighten the annoying sign they saw during their kayew-trip to the mountain.
At home, Dokyogen thought of the nine years to complete the three begnas. He felt contented of what the abigan told him but was unhappy about the span of time to complete what he was told to do. Nine years was too long for him to wait before he gets married. Yet, he must follow for he knows that to disobey an abig brings misfortune. He decided to complete the three begnas the soonest by conducting it every three months instead of every three years.
Dokyogen did exactly what he planned to do in fulfillment of the abig. After nine months, he completed the three begnas. To be in no doubt, that what he did was right; he must test it by going to head-hunting. If he succeeds in his mission to bring home a negay, it means that his labeg is right and is recognized by the spirits and that he can marry without fear of any misfortune. Nontheless, if he fails in his mission he must perform another three begnas following the three years time space as the abigan told him.
In his headhunting journey, the warrior from Pisa arrived at the Ma-eng territory. He waited for a victim in the first village he reached. Before midday, Dokyogen was able to kill a man and took his head.
During the killing, the abigan from Dattaan who instructed Dokyogen to conduct three begnas, was in the village where Dokyogen carried out his head-hunting. It so happened that the victim whom the warrior killed was a friend of the abigan. When the abigan learned about the killing, he sensed at once that Dokyogen did it. He comforted the people who were grieving over the headless body saying that he will follow the head-hunter.
The abigan followed Dokyogen and so fast did he hiked that he caught up with the warrior in the forest. Dokyogen recognized the abigan that he did not thrust his spear at him. The abigan told him that the person whom Dokyogen killed was also a friend of his. “Inyabigak sik-a ya enka obpay inyala sin kadalidegko (I told you the abig but you used it to take the life of my friend),” the abigan told him. Dokyogen asked his abigan-friend to calm down and he promised to settle out what he did. His abigan-friend took his promise and they set a date for both to return to the Ma-eng area to settle what was done.
Dokyogen performed the proper rites for his head-hunting journey and immediately went back to the Ma-eng territory with the abigan-friend and amicably settled his offense with his victim’s relatives. After his offense was resolved, he went to Agawa to look for a wife. He married Kabaynga of Batogyan and raised his family in his wife’s village. Dokyogen lived peacefully in Batogyan but when Agawa was struck by a bultong-disease, he led four other elders and their families to settle in Ambagiw.
In Ambagiw, Dokyogen built his home like the other elders who took their families with them. In his new home, he prospered and many sons and daughters were born from his five children. His wife while getting rid of the labagan-grasshopper later changed his name to Galeled and became the father of the Galeled clan.
HEAD-HUNTING FOR WAR TROPHY
Tribal war is more common before than at present. Though the number of casualties is much lesser because there were no guns, it was still detrimental to the village people for it disturbs their economic, social and cultural activities.
In the earlier days, the people of Golingsan (the Barangay of Besao at present) and Bagsingit (the barangay of Payeo at present) had a conflict with the i-Kay-ang. They had several encounters with their enemy through a dong-as where they always suffered more casualties. Hence, they decided to stop engaging in a dong-as. Yet, it did not end their trouble for they live in fear for a sudden attack. It was a common attempt by warring tribes to send young men to their enemies’ territories to take life in the absence of dong-as. For this reason, able-bodied men took turns in guarding possible entries of their enemies and places where economic activities were conducted daily such as the sakdoan, payas and sippotan.
This condition remained for days until the people of Bagsingit and Golingsan grew weary and they decided to ask for the assistance of their Agawa neighbor that they might settle their conflict with the i-Kay-ang for the last time through a dong-as. “Aye pay, ay siyay entako ed-edkan ay menbanbantay ay aditako et kayet mensama. Entako et kasin makidong-as ken daida ta kaileppasana (This is way too much spending our time guarding instead of working in our fields, let’s face them again in a dong-as once in for all),” their chief elder said. “Waday omey kendakayo ad Agawa ta damagenyo no pinmopoos nan labegda ta menbapabadang tako et kayet (Somebody will go to Agawa to ask if their labeg is warm that we might as well ask for their assistance).”
As instructed, some elders went to Agawa and returned with good reports. The labeg of the i-Agawa was warm and the elders agreed to help them. Young men then made prepapration for the dong-as.
The warring tribes agreed that the dong-as be done at Nakkawang. Armed by wooden shields, bolos and spears, young men led by their elders face each other. With the combined forces of the i-Bagsingit, i-Golingsan and the i-Agawa, the i-Kay-ang were easily beaten. The enemy suffered many casualties and the survivors were scattered from all direction. Young men with their arms followed the fleeing enemies but the elders prevented them. “Daetan, bay-anyo ta waday men-apat. Namlastako gedan (Enough let them escape that somebody may speak. We had killed many anyway),” the elders said.
The victor gathered the bodies of them that fall under their spears.
“Ay kedeng, kadya menpilikayo et as itedyo kendakami as negaymi abes (Well, choose now whom you will give us for our negay),” the Agawa warriors told the elders from Bagsingit and Golingsan.
The negay asked by the i-Agawa will serve as memento of victory in the dong-as at Nakkawang and the later choosed the head of a longhaired warrior with many nits and gave it to them. But unknown to the Golingsan and Bagsingit elders, the head belong to the chief warrior of the i-Kay-ang.
Later, a company from the Kay-ang tribe went to Golingsan looking for the head of a notable person that fall during the dong-as at Nakkawang. They were not able to find and they moved to Bagsingit but still have no luck. The Bagsingit elders told them to go to Agawa and check if the head-negay taken by the i-Agawa is what they are searching.
In Agawa, the i-Kay-ang found that the head with many nits was what they are looking for. They begged the Agawa elders to return it to them in exchange of an ancient wine jar called ginaman. “Maheg-ang kayo adi ta makkayatkayo ay itauli han ulo ay inalayo et alaenyo nan gohi ay ginaman hina (Have pity on us. Return to us the head that you have taken in exchange of this ginaman-wine jar),” the i-Kayang told the Agawa elders.
“Ay siya, ta annongenyo as kapaayanyo abes (So be it that you might conduct appropriate annong-rituals for your own goodwill),” the Agawa elders overpowered by the feelings of compassion said no more but accepted the wine jar.
The ancient wine jar was passed through inheritance from generation to generation. Today, the ancient ginaman-wine jar is in the hand of Kig-ongen Wanagen of Nabanig. It is a recollection of the head-negay taken by the Agawa warriors as war trophy.
THE LAST HEAD-NEGAY BROUGHT TO AGAWA
At present, head-hunting is no longer practiced by the Agawa people and even by the eastern tribes of Mountain province. With the evangelistic effort of the protestant missionaries particularly the Episcopal or Anglican Church, the unfriendly tradition gradually ceased to exist. The last head-hunting trip of the Agawa warriors was conducted in 1945. The elders motivated their young men to head-hunt for revenge.
Just as the war was ending, members of the 121 Infantry of the Filipino-American arm forces turned to banditry. Led by Kabuena of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur, the bandits sowed fear in the western part of Mountain Province and in the mountain villages of Ilocos sur.
In 1945, the bandits took Hidalgo of Payeo to Liddawan, Ilocos Sur and killed him. Later, they again took David Ganaden of Masameyeo to the same place and executed him. Then they attacked the villages of Tambuan and Dandanac killing many men including five men from Agawa -Agidda, Guesaed, John Maggaes, Mang-osan and a son of Mayegayeg.
The i-Agawa were on their way to get salt supply in Candon when the bandits apprehended and killed them in Dandanac. The indiscriminate killing drew the attention of the government who sent members of the Philippine Constabulary to Tabbak to wage war with the bandits.
During the assault in Tabbak, several bandits were killed and elders from Nabanig and Ayobo took the hands of two of the slain bandits as baes for the three of the five i-Agawa that were killed in Dandanac. The people played gongs and danced over the hands-negay in their respective dap-ay. During the seldak-ritual observance, Bossogan Dapuyen, an elder of Dap-ay Eengan in Nabanig, taunted Kodangos, an elder of Dap-ay Patay.
“Kamanoy kasna Kodangos, adika makaibaes sin minnateymo (You’re nothing Kodangos, you cannot avenge your dead),” Dapuyen mocked Kodangos. The former was referring to the death of John Abkilen who was one of the five i-Agawa killed in Dandanac and who belongs to Dap-ay Patay from which Kodangos was in charge.
“Awni ta as wakas (wait till tomorrow),” Kodangos replied with contempt. “Ilaem as wakas ta ibaak nan babbaballok (You will see tomorrow and I will send my young men).”
Sometime in the month of June 1945, Kodangos and the elders of Dap-ay Patay and of Dap-ay Gueday (extension of Dap-ay Patay) made their labeg warm. After the appropriate rituals were conducted for their labeg, they sent Loblobot Domin-eng, Omaybas Lidab and Loman Cawayan to head-hunt.
The three started their journey and they went to the hunting grounds of Pagpag forest where the scattered bandits during the Tabbak assault fled. By fate, they came across a bandit hiding in Taliktik. They took the bandit to Balicongcong and killed him. The group brought the bandit’s head to Dap-ay Gueday and played gongs over it. During the seldak-ritual, Kodangos made a discourse emphasizing that the head-negay brought by Domin-eng and his group was the fulfillment of his word to Dapuyen of Dap-ay Eengan.
“Siyana nan tet-ewa ay baes tay dakami ay mismo nan nangpatey ay baken en as teken ay ippogao (This is the true vengeance for we are the very ones who killed the victim and not by other people),” Kodangos told the gathered people. “Siyana nan tet-ewa ay negay (This is the real negay).”
Kodangos’ message was spoken infront of the gathered throng in Dap-ay Gueday but it was meant preferably for Dapuyen of Nabanig. He stressed the manner by which the i-Nabanig’s negay was obtained. Members of the Philippine Constabulary killed Dapuyen’s negay while young men of Dap-ay Gueday killed his.
While the Agawa folks were dancing over the head-negay brought by Domin-eng’s group at Dap-ay Gueaday, the bandits that were driven in Tabbak moved down to Legleg, Ilocos Sur. They reorganized themselves and remained a threat to the people. The villages of the Besao municipality only felt secured when a vigilantes was formed to fight the outlaws. Sgt. Bawaan of Payeo organized a vigilante group with Paul Bakdayan acting as his secretary and with Omaybas Lidab, Ommayat Cawayan, and other recruits from Payeo and Besao as soldiers. They stationed at Panabungen and sent a letter to Kabuena and his band of outlaws challenging them to a gunbattle. Knowing that the people of Besao were armed and prepared, the bandits did not accept the challenge. From that time on, the bandits were never seen again in any of the villages of Besao.
The bandit’s head taken in Balicongcong is the last head-negay brought to Agawa. Since then, no other head-hunting victim was reported. At present, the top of the hill of Deladelan in Napoon was named Ken Bandido because it was where the people buried the head of the bandit which was the last victim of head-hunting in Agawa.
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