Coming home and the birth of a radio program

HAPPY WEEKEND
By Gina Dizon

SAGADA, MOUNTAIN PROVINCE- It had been an interesting weekend with the coming home of kailyan, Jerry ‘Pageet’ Abeya, from the US to Sagada a few week ago. Jerry Abeya fondly called by his Igorot name Page-et, Page8 for short, or Bogsot, had been here in Sagada to be with his 98 year old mother, Flora Bondad Abeya the past week and attend the golden wedding anniversary of his older sister Jane Abeya and brother- in -law, Atty William Claver at Tabuk City, Kalinga July 16 this year.

Interesting, as the coming home enabled yahoo group KyErs ( Kotim ya Eta) members from Sagada come together over steaming azucena, cups of aromatic Arabica koffee, and doses of patarante de fundada with the gracious hosting of KyEr Graal Bayang at her home at Alibama Pinikpikan Haus.

Enjoyed the company with co- KyErs Graal, former mayor Tom ‘Champag’Killip, vice mayor Richard Yodong, Jaime ‘Tigan-o' Dugao currently provincial community affairs officer such that MTC judge Hugh Gayman who was also with us that time jokingly refers to Manong Jaime as Secretary to the Interior hahah! Other Sangguniang Bayan members Francis Kilongan and Valentin Lam-sen joined us for dinner.

Was good to note that Radyo Sagada staff Marites Matulay, Brenda Fuchay, Konyap Omaweng, and station manager Mary Carlin were also with us.

So the cheerful chatter over P8’s homecoming, and intense discussions on favoring or not regional autonomy, and the Mountain Province State Polytechnique College (MPSPC) brouhaha, led to a radio interview of P8 in our one and only Radyo Sagada the next day.

The radio station, 104.7 FM reaches the western, southern and northern towns of Mt Province namely Besao, Tadian, Sabangan, Sagada, and Bontoc. With the radio relay lines located at Mt Ampakaw, the radio signal reaches as far as Conner, Apayao; Tubo Abra; Quirino Ilocos Sur; Mt Polis, MP-Ifugao boundary, and Sinipsip, Benguet.

And so the radio program, 'Gawis ubpay nan kasin sumaa' (It’s good to be back home again) was born on July 21. It’s a pioneering initiative and we look forward to other expatriates from around the world who come home visit us here at the station. This radio program also welcomes kailyan who reside in other parts of the Philippines and who had not been home for quite some time.

So Jerry talked about life in the US because texters asked how life in the US is, and how is employment over at USA. Very interesting because answers come from someone who stayed long in the US for some ten years and another ten years in Australia.

To texters asking how life is in the US, Jerry advised that life is better in the Philippines unlike in the US where life is work, work, and work with personal touch lacking in the work that one is into.

Economy has gone down with the recession still being felt by the average American resident in the US, he said. Although economic life among Igorot in the US is good enough, he said. Must be that the industrious Igorot carries with him the trait of being industrious in other countries as well?
Jerry advised that one should not just go to the US with no guaranteed employer.

And so we further talked about how Igorots help each other and how ‘iliw’ (homesickness) is handled living in far away from home and families, and he said there are Igorot groups and organizations including BIBAK San Diego and BIBAK Maryland who regularly come together. Cyber links are around which have been created including KyE and the historic BIBAKnets created by Harry ’DaKing” Basingat, based at US.

And of course, P8 talked about impressions when he went home to Sagada, reiterating what ka-ilyan Conrad Aben said that that business is going fast in Sagada, somehow should slow down a little bit taking the rural location of the place and the culture of the people.

“Am touched when a kailyan who met me along the way said, ‘gawis ta sinmaa ka ta igeygey mo si inam’ (Good that you went home to take care of your mother), he said. Really touching because personal and cultural links are strong in this closely knit town among people in general.
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KyE means Kotim ya Eta (Chaff and Grain). It’s a yahoo group borne out of social and cultural togetherness to link and update each other, talk about whatever under the sun from kinships to Kankanaey translations of pigs to chickens to gold and dust, to politics to regional autonomy, to energy, human rights, indigenous peoples rights, to God and the Bible, to inayan, reproductive health and sex.

True to its date of birth, KyE was founded on the anniversary date of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9, 2008. It has nearly 350 members who have strong cultural values and who dominantly come from Sagada, Besao, and some from Tadian, Bauko, Sabangan, Bontoc found all over the world from the north to the South Pole.

In its home page, KyE says, ‘this e-group invites individuals who speak the northern Kankanaey dialect and who understand what “kotim” and "eta" are, to subscribe and join this "ag-ag-gongan-in-the-sky". Those who do not speak Kankanaey but are willing to learn the "langwich" and at the same time to understand about "eta" and "kotim", are also welcome. Any language is welcome though as long as members understand the language used. Anything goes in this forum provided that posts are ‘with malice toward none and with charity for all’. With or without sense but preferably with, exchanges can be one or a combination of the 4 adjectival "e's"- educational, enlightening, entertaining, or enformative.”

Ala, wasdi esa ay makikotim ya maki-eta ya men-istorya.