200 expected for Igorot international powwow

By Ramon Dacawi

BAGUIO CITY -- Organizers are keeping their fingers crossed attendance would hit the 200-mark in the 9th Igorot International Consultation (IIC) being mounted next month by the Igorot Global Organization (IGO), the aggrupation of people from here and abroad who trace their roots to the Cordillera.

Host IGO-Philippines led by Manuel Ano counted about 169 registrants so far last Sunday, including 61 expatriates who will come in from Europe, America, Australia and elsewhere for the three-day consultation set April 12-14 in Baguio and Benguet under the theme “Igorots in Partnership for Development”.

Held every two years, the consultation was proposed by the late Rex Botengan in 1994 as a sounding board of issues affecting Igorots, Cordillerans and their homeland, resulting in the first IIC the following year in California. Botengan’s vision also led to the founding of the IGO.

This will be the third time the IIC will be held in the Cordillera. The first was in 2000 at the Green Valley Country Club here in Baguio and in 2008 in Banaue, Ifugao. The 10th IIC in 2014 will be held in Austria.

Among others, the 9th consultation aims “to craft a development framework in which partnerships, linkages and networks with government and multi-sector groups can be established” to spur development of this upland region.

The event will be ushered in by the launching of “Igorot by Heart”, a book compilation of the key speeches and selected presentations in the last eight consultations, on April 11 at the Baguio Country Club, also the venue for this year’s presentations.

The organizers have invited Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo as keynote speaker.

The delegates will be welcomed by Baguio mayor Mauricio Domogan, Benguet governor Nestor Fongwan, Kalinga governor JoselBaac as chair of the Regional Development Council, IGO-International president Cesar Castro and IGO-Philippines president Ano.

On tap during the plenary session on April 12 are the following topics and presenters: IGO and IIC by Mia Abeya; People Participation in a Democracy by Tanya Hamada, Public-Private Partnership by Dr. Rowena Galpo and Rufino Bomasang; People Organization in the Context of Self-governance by Benjamin Solang; Cordillera Migrant Workers by Beverly Pooten; The Water Commons and Resource Capital for Development by Dr. Andrew Bacdayan; and Multiculturalism in the Context of Peace and Development by Brigitte Hamada-Pawid, chair of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.

The second day will open with twin presentations on the third push for Cordillera autonomy by mayor Domogan and Dr. Peter Cosalan.

These will be followed by workshops on Civil Society Participation in Governance; Social/health/Education/Sports/Migrant Workers; Environment and Climate Change/Disaster Risk Reduction and Management/Renewable Energy; Ancestral Lands and Domains/Natural Resources/Indigenous Peoples Rights Act; Trade and Industry/Investment/Tourism/Agriculture/Entrepreneurship Development; Culture and the Arts/Indigenous Knowledge, Systems and Practices/Multi-culturalism; governance; and Youth and Development.

The workshop outputs will be presented in the afternoon , together with the integration of these in IGO’s strategic plan.

The gala night on the second day will have Alan Holtz, cultural affairs officer of the United States Embassy, as speaker.

From the Baguio Country Club, the consultation will transfer on April 14 to the Pooten residence in Asin, Tuba, Benguet for the cultural festivities, this time with Ifugao Rep. TeodoroBaguilat Jr., the chair of the Committee on National Communities, as speaker. – Ramon Dacawi.