A Charmed Life: A travelogue:: Igorot

Showing posts with label Igorot. Show all posts

Destroyed by Education

Friday, June 12, 2009 - - 2 comments

The following story is excerpt from the column of atty EDC. of the Mountain Province Monitor, vol. V no. 3, March 2009. p.3,

A court hearing which happened a few years ago in the Mountain Province involved questioning a witness -- an old, illiterate woman, who is also the complainant

Atty: Will you please tell to the Court, your name and other personal circumstances.

Witness: Mrs. Marianita Posposen, 80 years of age, widow, and a resident of _________.

Atty: You said that your name is Marianita Posposen, are you the same Marianita Posposen who filed a civil complaint against Mario Posposen, the Defendant in the case?

Witness: Yes, sir.

Atty: And do you know, Mario Posposen, the Defendant of this case?

Witness: Yes, sir. He is my son. "Dina-da-er di eskwila (getting an education destroyed him)."

All of us inside the courtroom, especially the presiding judge, were surprised, so he asked the attorney to proceed.

Atty: And what was your son studying Mrs. Witness?

Witness: "Para abogado kanu chi" ( I learned that my son was studying to be a lawyer).

We learned during further examination that this old, illiterate woman filed a case against his son for recovery of property because the latter, taking advantage and by using his knowledge in Law, presented another old woman to a lawyer as her mother and thus worked for the transfer of the title of her properties to his name. He sold some of the properties and used the proceeds aimlessly. He never finished his Law study.

Do you agree with the mother that "dina-da-er nan eskwila nan anak na?" (do you agree with the mother that education destroyed his son?)

YOU BE THE JUDGE.

Lang-ay Festival 2009: "Nurturing Our History and Culture."

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 - - 5 comments

Lang-ay, in the Igorot dialect

means, "fellowship." (sour c e)

Among the ethnic groups of the Mountain Province, Lang-ay is a gathering to eat, dance, and drink home-brewed wine (tapey or basi or fayash). It's a time for merriment and to be in fellowship with each member of the community.

Beat the gongs so everyone can hear.

Though it was first launched in 2005, this year was my first time to see the Lang-ay Festival. Yes, the provincial Lang-ay Festival is only 5 years old, but the tradition of Lang-ay as a family and community festivity has always been practiced among the different Igorot ethnic groups. It is referred by different terms by each group.

The current province-wide version was the brainchild of the governor of the Mountain Province. Owing to its great success when it was first held 4 years ago, it now became a yearly event.

Some of the objectives of the Festival are:

To share happiness, promote solidarity, hospitality, and nurture friendship among the different ethnic groups and municipalities of the Mountain Province.
To preserve and showcase culture.
To promote homegrown products.
To attract tourism for the province.
To call back the Igorot people who have left the province and the country, for them to visit and know their roots.

This year's Lang-ay theme was: "Nurturing Our History and Culture." It was held on April 1-7 in Bontoc, the capital of the Mountain Province.

Baliwon-Gaddang group from the municipality of Paracelis. It was my first time to hear them play their gongs. The sound they made produced a full and deep resonance making it 'intriguingly-mystical,' for my hearing. Their rhythm is surely different from what I'm familiar with. In the above photos they are playing a bamboo instrument.
Compared to the other ethnic groups of the Mountain Province, this group are the only ones who cover their head the way they do and they are the only ones who traditionally wear capes.