Bontoc, Maeng tribes hold reunion to honor centuries-old peace pact

By Rommel Lengwa

BONTOC, Mountain Province – Tribal elders of this capital town and the Maeng Tribe of Abra recently held peace pact reunions to review brotherhood ties between the two tribes which had endured three centuries.

The first was celebrated in Tubo, Abra on Jan. 29-31 while the second was conducted here April 4-5.

Twenty two delegates represented the Bontok tribe while Maeng had 174 delegates from four towns of Abra..

According to the oldest surviving participants interviewed, the existing centuries old peace agreement was established in the 1870s with Chopchopen of the Bontok tribe and Likawen of the Maeng tribe as pioneer pact holders.

Mountain Province Provincial Gov. Maximo B. Dalog said the Bontok-Maeng tribal peace pact was one of a kind, saying the successful handling of this olden day truce was laudable.

“While peace pacts forged between other tribal groups have been severed, the Bontok-Maeng pact endured and was preserved over time because true respect and unwavering trust between the parties reigned,” he said.

During the two separate reunions, former mayor Alfonso L. Kiat-ong, Sr. and Bontoc sangguniang bayan member Alexander Fakat explained to the public the historical account of the peacepact.

Kiat-ong said before World War 2, peace pact agreements (pagta) in the Cordillera were unwritten hence were handed down from one generation to the other verbally. “It was only in March 24,1947 when the first written pagta was drafted.”

He added written amendments to the pagta were only made in 1973, 1985 and 2001.

Historical records revealed the first two generations that handled and preserved the peace pact were Chopchopen and Faniswa, followed by their siblings Chaking Chopchopen, Fakayan Chopchopen, Yango Fakayan, Lumtag, and Ut-utan representing the Bontok Tribe.

On the part of the Maeng, they were Daodao-ang, Wandasan, Licawen, Lumangsey, Lacunsay, Tagmangen, Tawali, and Salingbay.

The peacepact reunions were made possible by support and assistance of Tubo town local government under Mayor Wilma Gattud, municipal government of Bontoc under Mayor Franklin C. Odsey and the provincial government of Mountain Province under Gov. Maximo B. Dalog.