Sixth annual Ibaloi Day celebration

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

Roger D. Sinot

ASIN HOT SPRINGS, Tuba - The month of February has a lot of markings. There is a succession of events and activities for local and foreign a tourists who find their way to Baguio. We have the “Panagbenga Festival that is a month and a half activity, including the first week of March. We have the Chinese New Year. And the just concluded Ibaloy Day Celebration that is a three-day activity from February 21 to 23, the last day of which was officially declared as Ibaloy Day with this year’s theme ADIVAY SHI AVONG: “Daing, Tahal tan Semek ni Ivadoy”.

On the first day was a parade marked with the blowing of a cow horn loud enough to be heard. The horn-blowing jumpstarts the parade. In the early days of cattle raising, the cowboys blow their horn many times that people on the other mountain get to their feet and bow as a sign of respect to an activity, just like a trumpet sound that announces the arrival of the king or the royal family. Onjon ni Ivadoy president Jackson Chiday and Leopoldo Lamsis, the vice-president led the parade of the descendants of early settlers of Baguio and Benguet. Around a thousand or more walked the historical road with pride from the Convention Center down Session Road with their traditional attires.

As a descendant of the great old man Piraso, I took a second look at the Casa Vallejo and asked myself, shall we still see a house of the old man on this site if the Americans went to some other aside of Baguio? According to manong Jackson, he recalls that his grandfather Batu was buried at the foot of the site of city hall. Maybe someday his ancestors will appear in his dream and we will see Jackson doing a ritual for his ancestors in front of city hall.

February 22, 2014, Sunday, was the launching of a book “Indigenous Earth Wisdom” by Ms. Vicky Macay. The book is a recollection of how Baguio was preserved and maintained in the early days. The book written by manang Vicky gives importance to the “Kakad kajuan” forested mountains. The author is one of the Council of Elders of Baguio from the Loakan cluster area. Andrew “Bobby” Carantes, a professor of PMA from Loakan also launched his CD Album entitled “IKUL” an Ibaloy term for “tail”. You will love his songs since these are original compositions. He and his siblings were members of “Bagiw”, a Baguio Band which rocked the clubs with their Rollling Stone attires. His CD albums are now available at the record bars in Baguio.

During the three-day celebration, I noticed the streamer of a man in a kuval (G-string) and Americana riding on a horse beside a corral where cows are grouped, fed with salt and branded. Mateo Carino was the man who fought all the way to the higher courts his land where John Hay was established. He won without seeing the fruit of his fight. History tells that he was the hero behind the Carino Doctrine. It states that lands held since time immemorial are private lands.

Former NCIP Chair Zenaida Bridgette Hamada Pawid, fondly called as Manang Bridz and a descendant of Mateo Carino, once again said at the program that the site of the Ibaloy Garden is originally owned by them but their clan have decided that this be used not by the clan alone but by the Ibaloys of Baguio and Benguet. If only the late Cecil Okubo Afable of the Baguio Midland Courier was around, she would say “Amen” to that pronouncement.

The United Nations refers to Indigenous People as the “People who occupy a distinct territory, have a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies; consider themselves distinct from other sectors of society living in the same part of the same territory. They are not a dominant sector of society but are determined to develop, preserve and transmit existence as a people, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal system.” Before the program, the Council of Elders of Baguio and Council of Elders per clusters of Baguio were inducted by the NCIP-Regional Hearing Officer, Atty. Brain Masweng, whose mother’s roots is Ibaloy.

The late senator Dr. Juan Flavier said, “The IPs are the off springs and the heirs of the peoples who have first inhabited and cared for the land before any central government was established. Their ancestors had territories over which they ruled themselves and related with other tribes. These territories - the Land- includes people, their dwelling, the mountains, the waters and the air, plants, forests and the animals. This is their environment in its totality. Their existence as Indigenous people is manifested in their own lives through political, economic, socio-cultural and spiritual practices. The IPs’ culture is the living and irrefutable proof of this. Their survival depends on securing or acquiring land rights, asserting land rights to it. Otherwise, IPs shall cease to exist as a distinct peoples.” His speech molded the IPRA Law.

For his part, Mayor Mauricio Domogan said, he recognized what the law provides in the IPRA law and will see to it that the Ibaloy day will be a part of the Panagbenga Festival next year. A salute to Councilor Isabelo “Poppo” Cosalan Jr. for authoring February 23 as official day for Ibaloys, and the Carino Clan represented by Manang Bridgette for allowing their land to be used as the Ibaloy Heritage Garden.

Happy trails to all Ibalois, Hail to the Onjon ni Ivadoy!