BENCHWARMER

Ramon Dacawi
What’s in a name? (II)

Delegates to the third International Igorot Consultation (IIC) in 2000 here in Baguio took a morning arguing whether or not to call themselves Igorots. A majority vote reaffirmed use of the collective name. Still, the debate on the propriety of “Igorot” (which means ”from the mountain”) never died.

Unable to whip up the registration fee, I listened to the arguments in observer status, then took a breather outside the hall. There, I overheard a delegate, a long-time expatriate like most who came, in soliloquy.

“Whatever arguments you have for or against (that term), no problem, as I’m an American citizen,” he murmured to himself, perhaps thinking no one was within earshot. “Ah, Amerikano ka gayam, saan nga Igorot; agsubli ka ngarud idiay ilim,” I ribbed.him from behind. He spun - and was startled to see a drinking buddy way back in college. “Manglukluko ak laeng, manong, sika met,” he uttered. Grinning sheepishly, he hugged me like a long-lost brother.

Finding the issue inside not of our moment, we shared how each had moved on towards affording a gin bottle to share, as Igorots, Ifugaos, Apayaos, Kalingas, Ibalois, Kankanaeys, Kalanguyas, Bagos, Tingguians, Cordillerans or Filipinos normally do. Back into the hall, I overheard another aside, a Shakespearian parody from noted Baguio short film artist Eric de Guia,

“An Igorot by another name is just as sweet,” Eric, also known as Kidlat Tahimik, said. You can click on the internet arguments for “Igorot”, as spelled out by Igorot expat Lambert Sagalla (a.k.a Maltreb Aslagal). His paper is “The Rationale Behind the Name ‘Igorot’ in the Titles of IQ, IIC and IGO.” Below that title is a blurb: “An Appeal for Understanding”.

The acronyms stand for the Igorot Quarterly, a publication of the Igorot Global Organization which sponsors the IIC, a biennial forum to discuss current issues in our Cordillera Homeland. I share some of the views of Maltreb, or Mr. Sagalla, and wrote on them in a two-part column item entitled “Igorot Slant”.

Perhaps needing relief should the debates resurface in last year’s IIC in Banaue, Ifugao, the conference organizers, mostly women offered to waive my fees if I could share some of those Ifugao jokes during breaks from the panel and group discussions.

Three jokes paid for my kit, board and lodging. Some asked for more anecdotes, which I said will be shared at the eighth IIC April next year in Vancouver, Canada . These days, have second thoughts, unless we can laugh off this world-wide recession that, like our identity debate, may torment us for a while.

By the way, the anecdotes are Ifugao - not Kiangan jokes. Not all Ifugaos are from Kiangan, but the jokes naturally surface anywhere you find an Ifugao. If you’re in San Diego, ask for Bob Aliping, an Igorot from Bauko,Baguio and Alfonso Lista, Ifugao. This disarming gentleman will readily “sheyl yu di leytis, wid di plapel diksyon, layt pisial explesyon en gestyols mit a”.

Whatever. Columnist Jose Dulnuan, an Igorot – and Ifugao -, said it all about this Igorot name imposed by the Americans (whose name came from that of an Italian explorer whose name a German cartographer wrote on his map of what is now America).: “I am an Igorot. Let me be treated as I deserve - with respect if I am good, with contempt if I am no good, irrespective of the name I carry. Let the term, Igorot, remain, and the world will use it with the correct meaning attached to it.”