And so it is Christmas! Or are we just preparing for it yet?

 CULTURAL NOTES

Richard Kinnud

Here in La Trinidad, Benguet this week, there were at least four government institutions that launched their celebration of Christmas.  A university, the municipal government, and a trading post held their respective ceremonies for their Christmas lights and the provincial government displayed different versions of the Star (talaw in the local language), a foremost Christmas symbol, made by their employees before lighting up their Christmas Tree.
    I was in the crowd of two of these events and the speeches delivered by the various public figures pronounced that Christmas is already here.  A common theme of these talks is on the spiritual dimension of the season.  One said that the light should lead us to the God who has walked on earth for us people.  Another said that it is all about love, peace, joy, and hope which should not just be beheld there with the lights or the star but should also be brought to the homes or communities. 
    I wonder though how many took to the heart the messages.  I heard reactions like, “nagbayagen dayta program ta ipasilaw da kuman.” (The program was taking too long that they may light them up already).  It seemed there was more focus on taking videos and pictures with the lights and decors than on listening to the talks. 
    Is this an indication that the secular dimension of Christmas more prominent to people than its spiritual dimension?  A friend of mine answered this in the negative.  He said that the spiritual dimension cannot be separated.  He reasoned that if the lights were put up in a different month far from the so-called ‘ber’ months, it might be meaningless for people to take photo with them.  The lights had in them the spirit of the season.  He even asked, “Do you think these people would be proud displaying their photos with the lights of bars notorious for wickedness yet they are similar?  Some might for the sake of fun take photos but wouldn’t be as happy when it reaches the social media.”
    So is Christmas really here?
    By the time this hits the Sunday newsstands, priests and pastors are preaching that it is just the First Sunday of Advent.  The dictionary definition of advent is “arrival” or “coming.”  In theology, it is referring to the coming of Jesus Christ.  As a part of the liturgical calendar, it is often explained as the time of preparation for the Christmas period.  It is thus not yet Christmas but is very much related to Christmas.
    In our daily routine and wander, we are passing by plants, trees, grasses, or shrubs.  At times we see them without flowers, and at other times we see them full of blooms.  That is comparable with these seasons.  Today we are seeing the lights which might be indications of  preparations or Christmas itself.  But in months, or maybe even weeks to come, they will be gone like the flowers and blooms we see along the way.  They signify a cycle.
    A homily I heard and won’t forget though proposed that the calendar of churches should not be seen as a cycle but rather to "experience them like stepping on a stairway." Though they look like a cycle because of the repetitiveness, they can be representative of a spiral stairway. The homilist said that this kind of understanding makes us reflect on our own life journey.  We could be seeing the same light but will surely be differently meant for each one.
    Even with different meanings, there can be one direction.  As John Lennon would say in his song “So This is Christmas”, Christmas is for everyone regardless of characteristic or status, but may it lead to a year “without any fear.”
    So is it Christmas?  It is in each one’s appreciation.

CULTURAL NOTES

"Inmonod ka ali"

Richard Kinnud

I have seen this text on the mudguard of a truck which, for  someone trying to learn the local languages,  is interesting.   In my poor proficiency on local languages hereabouts my workplace, I first thought that this is Kankanaey. But friends corrected me that it is actually in the Ibaloi language.  I was right though in my guess of what it meant which is "So you have followed!" In my native Ifugao tongue it is "Ot tene an immunud a!" 
    The use in this context is of greeting or acknowledging someone say for instance meeting him or her in an occasion when thought or known to have been left behind somewhere.  It is similar to the Iloko "Adda ka met gayam!" ("You're here!") and "Sika met gayam!" ("It's you!") as a manner of greeting.  As they are, the statements are simply stating what is obvious but, in these parts, are substitutes to "magandang umaga" , "good morning", "kumusta" , "how are you" or greetings used in other cultures.
    The word "inmonod" also brought me back to decades ago when I have been hearing this in my hometown.  People would say of their neighbors in instances when  rituals were  done in the homes,      "Adi da mo nin ipa'at hidin handi te inmonod da." (They might not do things as has been since they have already followed.)  What is referred to in the sentence is following Christ (Kristo when said in local language) and thus becoming Christians.
    Indeed, many have changed since Christianity was introduced in these highlands.  There were a lot of traditional  rituals which were forgotten or set aside.  And when they are performed, generally people feel that these are  against the norms.  Pa'o, for instance, a ritual for healing of a sick person is generally no longer practiced, as it is viewed as petitioning not to God.
    On the other hand, there are practices that continue to thrive as Christianity continues its growth in this part of the world.  In my native Ifugao, I observe that people still perform honga (often likened to birthday celebration or thanksgiving).  And there still is the tradition of dangli, and the bogwa done for dead kin.
    Perhaps one reason why these practices continue to persist is that they are seen as expressions of love.    Some would say they are just as status symbols but certainly, there is always an element of love.      An old man I knew who is known as a mumbaki (understood as native priest) before he died, encouraged his descendants to "umunud" (follow) in the Christian faith as he has seen it as having the same elements as  the old tradition which is about "pinnohodan", the rootword of which is "pohod" referring to love.  Love is a basic tenet of Christianity.
    The case of material or physical culture such as clothings and implements is a different case. Many would stand for it as part of  their identity. On the phenomenon where some are hidden, sold as antiques, or just left to nature's elements, a  very good poet I know expressed her dislike of this with words that went something like, "I'm sorry my folks if I'm hiding from you the way I am preserving your old culture because, since you have followed, you have also hidden many things from me, including the jars that once has brimmed with wine."  (Note: This is only how I recall the translation but sure was more powerful in the Kankanaey words of the author and her own translation).
    Especially every October when Indigenous People's Sunday is celebrated, people love going to church in ethnic or ethnic-inspired clothes.  The gongs are played and indigenous dances are perfomed within church compounds.  These are indications that while the people are generally, "inmonod" they still love a unique cultural identity.
    By the time this comes to print on Sunday, Christians particularly the Catholics and other denominations who follow or has a similar liturgical calendar, are commemorating the Solemnity of Christ the King.  This commemoration has been instituted by the Pope in 1926 thru an encyclical Quas Primas in response to a phenomenon seen on those times where a majority had thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives.  In the context of culture, an explanation I heard is that we cannot say we proclaim Christ as our King but continue to offer sacrifices for other gods or "kings."
     In a discussion among friends on this topic, one pointed out, the text is clear from the Gospel,     "Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."  But another quickly rebutted that the listening and following should not prevent us from creating or sustaining a unique culture as a people.  It is part of self-determination, another one added. "Inmonod kitajo ali nem egkoma debganan e edafuan." (We followed (Christ) yet we should not forget where we came from.)
    "Adigat ah!" was the conclusion.  (It's difficult!)  Either it is something hard to understand or something hard to operationalize.   Be that as it may, this corner wishes every inmonod a meaningful Christ the King solemnity.

CULTURAL NOTES

Adivay, Allibay, Alibay and the Celebration of a Founding

Richard Kinnud

The ads promoting the fiesta happening now in La Trinidad, Benguet prominently indicates that it is the Adivay and the 123rd Founding Anniversary of the province of Benguet.
    Adivay is first introduced as an agriculture and tourism (agri-tourism) festival in 2005.  At that time, it was held in the last week of February to the first week of March, brought into the line of Panagbenga, the so-called flower festival of Baguio City (the city right within but often pictured by non-natives as just side-by-side with Benguet.)  The following year, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) of the province formally institutionalized it as an annual celebration for the province through Resolution 06-55.  The same resolution set it to “start within the fourth week of October which will culminate during the Benguet Provincial Foundation Day.”  The foundation day referred to is November 23.  In actuality, the celebrations usually extend beyond that.  In the ads of Adivay 2023, the first official activity is dated October 24 and the last is listed for December 9.
    Those who are conscious about holidays probably have noted that the province is observing two foundation days.  These are the June and November local holidays, both for the creation of the province.  The June 18 holiday is provided for by Republic Act (RA) 7672 that has become a law in 1994.  This law has harnessed Resolution 269, s. 1988 of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Benguet that has recognized the June date as the province’s founding.  These pieces of legislations stand on RA  4965, the decree on the division of what is now referred to as the old Mountain Province giving birth to Benguet, Ifugao, the present Mountain Province, and the then Kalinga-Apayao (which was later split into two provinces.)
    While RA 7672 is still in effect pending a bill filed in the current Congress to repeal it, Provincial Ordinance (PO) 99-58 officially recognized November 23 as the foundation day of the province repealing Resolution 269-88.  In the implementation of SP Resolution 06-55, the celebration of the founding anniversary and Adivay has merged since November of 2006.
    The whereas clauses in the adoption of PO 99-58 referred to Act No. 49 the then Philippine Commission.  This legislation established a civil government in the province of Benguet.  This law was passed on November 23, 1900.  It also cited Act No. 155 of 1901, an amendment to Act No. 49 which provided for the election of a representative for the province.  To the appreciation of the nineteen-ninety-nine ordinance, these legislations are a recognition of the existence of the province of Benguet since 1900.
    The then civil government for Benguet referred to in Act 49 covers townships mentioned in the immediately preceding act, Act No. 48, which provided for the civil governments in these townships There were nineteen townships which, in the order they are listed in that Act, were Baguio, Trinidad, Galiano, Itogon, Tublay, Atok, Kapangan, Balakbak, Palina, Ampusungan, Loo, Buguias, Kabayan, Adaoay, Bokod, Daklan, Sablan, Kibungan, and Ambuklao.  The township of Galiano would later be part of La Union by Act 662 modifying the boundaries of Benguet and La Union.
    That province of Benguet was later merged with other districts to form what the first Mountain Province by Act 1876 in 1908.  It had lost its being a province and was then referred to as a sub-province along with the sub-provinces of Amburayan and Lepanto among others.
    In 1909, there was Act 1963 that created the City of Baguio though it did include all areas of what was then the township of Baguio.  The excluded areas - the barrios of San Pascual, Taloy, Tabaan, Twin Peaks, Saitan, Cuenca, San Luis, Dagupan, Maoasoas, Ambangunan, Pugo, and Nagalisan – constituted the then new township of Twin Peaks.  The City of Baguio is among the Chartered City in Act 2711, or the Revised Administrative Code of the Philippines of 1917, which made it governed independently from Benguet.  By virtue of other laws, some barrios of the then township of Twin Peaks were ceded to the province of La Union.
    Several other acts followed that affected the then Mountain Province which in turn affected the sub-provinces.  One is the eventual dissolution of the sub-provinces of Amburayan and Lepanto.  These and other acts caused resetting of boundaries of Benguet with adjacent provinces.
    In the Administrative Code of 1916 stated that subprovince of Benguet contains the city of Baguio and the townships of Atok, Bagulin, Bokod, Buguias, Disdis, Itogon, Kabayan, Kapangan, Kibungan, La Trinidad, Pugo, Tuba, and Tublay.  With the amendment in 1917, the municipal districts Atok, Bokod, Bakun, Buguias, Itogon, Kabayan, Kapañgan, Kibuñgan, La Trinidad, Mankayan, Sablan, Tuba, and Tublay were listed under the sub-province of Benguet.  The western part of Bakun was actually what remained of the subprovince of Amburayan while Mankayan was from what was then the subprovince of Lepanto-Bontoc.
    The provincial ordinance recognizing November 23 as the Benguet Foundation viewed the creation of Benguet by RA 4965 as simply a restoration of the originally recognized province.
    Act No. 48 generally described the inhabitants of the province as “entirely Igorrotes.”  This goes to show that language grouping was likely not or less considered.  As it is today, there are several ethnolinguistic groups in the province.  In resolution 06-55, it retained the festival name as Adivay but gave the provision that the equivalents “alibay” and “allibay” should not be prejudiced.  Adivay is to the Ibaloi-speaking groups, alibay for the Kankanaey group, and Allibay for the Kalanguya group which generally understood as the coming together in “storytelling, exchange of pleasantries, offerings and partaking of food and drinks” as noted in the mentioned resolution.  Ibalois, Kankanaeys, and Kalanguyas are among the ethnolinguistic groups in Benguet.
    With Benguet rich in natural resources thereby making it as center of industries such as mining and agriculture, and Baguio becoming an urban city, many people from other places were attracted to choose Benguet as their residence thereby adding to the number of linguistic groups in the province.  Adivay was packaged to be a celebration and showcase of the grandeur of the province and to” keeps young generation in touch with their historical and cultural moorings” as noted in 06-55.
This corner greets all i-Benguets a Happy Adivay!
    (N.B.  The laws cited can be accessed by readers from the internet mostly from elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph , issuances-library.senate.gov.ph , and officialgazette.gov.ph )