BENCHWARMER

Setting things right
RAMON S. DACAWI

Two of the resolutions approved in the recent 7th Igorot International Consultation in Banaue, Ifugao came from the youth. One resolved that the youth be involved in planning the next IIC, set in Vancouver, Canada in 2010. The other called for youth representation in the working committees of the Igorot Global Organization, the convenor of the biennial consultation on issues affecting the Cordillera homeland.

The two resolutions were the most applauded during the plenary session. Still, in a world managed by adults, the young often find it difficult to be heard – and to be involved. At the 1992 World Summit in Rio de Janeiro, children tried to find their voice before theworld’s leaders.

They asked for a few minutes for the world’s leaders to hear them about their thoughts on “sustainable development”, which was the focus of the summit. The summit resulted in “Agenda 21” that the world’s leaders signed as a blueprint for development, one that should not compromise, deplete or destroy Earth’s resources so that it can sustain human life in the future, long after we, adults, are gone.

Unknown to most adults, the kids eventually came up with their own version of Agenda 21 entitled “Rescue Mission: Planet Earth”.Written in simple, clear, language, it is a readily understandable blueprint of the do-able, devoid of the development gobbledygook ofthe adult version. The kids’ work has become my environmental guide.

“Sustainable development” has become a by-word of environmentalists, yet it can be amorphous, difficult to define. The Igorots may not even have an equivalent term for it, but they have, for centuries, practiced it. This is evident in their terraced rice culture and farming system anchored on the preservation of and respect for nature, specifically their traditional forest management practices that, for generations ensured irrigation water for the terraces. They knew water is life.

In the same token, children or the young are what defines sustainability. As noted by the late Peppot Ilagan, a Baguio newsman and Igorot by choice and heart, children are a reminder from God that the world must go on. Within this context of sustainability must be viewed from the relevance of the IIC youth’s resolutions to help prepare them to eventually manage the affairsof the IGO, the IIC consultations and the Cordillera homeland and environment they will inherit.

That’s why the immersion of the youth, especially those born abroad, into village life in Banaue, was as important as the adult discussions inside the Banaue Hotel. We hope they would share with us their impressions and feelings about that experience on the websites of the IGO and the BIBAK, the organizations of those who are Igorots by birth, blood, marriage, association, sentiment and choice.

Another resolution from the IIC asked the Government Service Insurance System to preserve a small patch of pine stand it owns in Baguio. Engr, Edmund Bugnosen moved for the adoption of the appeal for GSIS to preserve the patch beside the Baguio Convention Center as such.

Edmund, by the way, is the same fellow who prepared the blueprint for the widening of the natural sinkholes and tunnels that eventually freed the highly populated City Camp basin of Baguio of days of water clogging and flooding during the rainy season.

I, too, felt the need to contribute to the consultation. The opportunity came when the host committee, composed mostly of ladies, asked me to join a preparatory meeting with Ifugao Gov. Teddy Baguilat. Sensing the stress and pressure of the details of the preparations bearing down on them, I suggested the creation of another committee which I offered to chair– a worry committee that would do nothing but worry for them, thereby relieving them of the burden.

Noting its impracticality, the ladies brushed aside the idea. Instead, Philian Weygan, the IGO- Philippines vice-president, asked if I could do share some Ifugao jokes to lighten up the mood of the consultation. In return, another lady member suggested, they would waive my registration fee.

It proved a neat arrangement, a neat bargain, in fact. I had my free board and lodging, a souvenir bag, a copy of the printed program, aside from an “I was there” T-shirt from Manang Salma Martin. Careful not to overdo it, I narrated only three anecdotes, lest an overdose would repeat a mistake we had during an outreach basic journalism seminar for kids in Sagada,Mt. Province.

That was when the late newsman Willy Cacdac and I overheard a girl telling her mother how she enjoyed the seminar for the laughter. She remembered all the jokes yet couldn’t recall any of the journalism lessons.

Manong Rex Botengan, the Igorot visionary who worked hard to developing the IGO and the IIC, must have smiled from up there when the consultation delegates took time to pass the hat. That time I had the honor of meeting him, Manong Rex spoke of his vision for an organization of Igorots all over that would provide a speedy mechanism for their reaching out to the Cordillera during adversities and calamities.

The amount pooled by the delegates was delivered by IGO president Rey Baguilat to Hungduan mayor Pablo Cuyahon. It helped pay for the burial and hospital expenses for victims of an accident, when a bus full of Ifugaos plunged into a ravine in Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya, a day before the conference. The victims were on their way home to Hungduan town, to renew kinshipties and join the “tungoh”, an annual cultural festival in anticipation of a bountiful rice harvest.

Her sense of priority as a nurse in Michigan prevailed for Jenelyn Paclayan-Balanza. She skipped the consultations with niece Twinkle Labutan to join Dr. Butch Bigornia in a medical mission in Hungduan. The medical outreach somehow eased gloom for a festival turned into collective sorrow, a period of mourning and burying lost kin due to the road accident.

A press conference at the end of the consultation helped clear the air over a traditional Ifugao rice granary (alang) that found its way to London. London-based Igorot couple Richard Stone “Estong” and Conchita Pooten recalled that the alang was bought years back by the British Museum from its owner in Ifugao. It was on display at the museum as part of an exhibit featuring the Philippines. Eventually, the wooden, nail-less structure was transferred to the Philippine Embassy. When the embassy had to transfer to a cheaper but less spacious office, there was noplace to put the alang.

Richard said his family took custody of the granary, which required a cleansing ritual done by the BIBAK group out of respect for Ifugao ancestors who built and used it. The couple made it clear what was done was a cleaning ritual, not a “death ritual” as erroneously reported in the news. Conchita noted that the British Museum and the RP embassy were placed inbad light due to the news reports that failed to get the side of both offices.

Estong said the alang can be shipped back to Ifugao, but this would require permission from the Museum, which owns it, having bought it from the original owner in Ifugao. The consultation set these things right. Outside the Banaue Hotel, on the road to the terraces viewpoint, the National Food Authority was also trying to set things right. It parked a delivery truck near the terraces marker, where Ifugao villagers were lining up to buy government rice at a price far lower than those of commercial outlets.

With the magnificent, greening terraces as backdrop, it was a contrast to behold and to frame with a camera.(e-mail:rdacawi@yahoo.com for comments).