TRAILS UP NORTH

Glo A. Tuazon
A tribute to Filipino ingenuity

BANAUE, Ifugao -- A tribute to Filipino ingenuity. This is the theme of the first ever formal wooden scooter race staged apart from other festivities or events in Banaue, Ifugao. In the past it was an integral activity of the annual Banaue Imbayah, something that wowed and fascinated the crowd. 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 Scooter Organization, headed by their president Vicente Dinundon Jr., a 2006 graduate of BS Agriculture of Benguet State University. Now 25, he is back home in Banaue to live and continue the tradition of home-based business and "scootering."

The story of the wooden scooter was well a tale on its own too. These mobile contraptions were once created to serve a need. Menfolk were having a difficult time going to and from their homes to their muyongs up the mountains, often bringing home firewood and crops tended p there.

It would often take them hours to walk the distance and carry the loads. Then was the birth of the first scooter. They would push it up the hills and work the day. Firewood would be strapped along both sides of the scooter and other goods tied at the back portion. 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 – the designs and styles becoming more intricate and complicated. Like the swirling horses on a carnival carousel, today's scooters came in a wonderful array of different designs - horses, tigers, Indian heads, eagles, bululs, anything that 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) started with a concept of showcasing their art. They made a proposition to have their club be registered with SEC that they may also use it for livelihood.

With the help of PTA (Philippine Tourism Authority), 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 former governor Mark Lapid 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 that even to this author remains a mystery. This made it more valuable and harder to part with. But he must. This he sold to Lapid for P8,000 with the hope of being granted the favor of having the viewdeck or 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.

Where in the world have you seen wooden scooters race downroad at an average speed of 40 kph, the almost 7 km span conquered in a record time of 7 minutes and 11 seconds? Only in Ifugao, in the gloryland of Banaue. -- email: twilight_glo@yahoo.com