Ibaloy - a vanishing tribe?

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

Roger Sinot

(Last part of a series)

ASIN HOT SPRINGS, Tuba - Sometimes when the moon is high and the night is not so dark, I go out and have a dip or soak in my favorite outdoor hot bath tub in the open air. I see stars of different sizes clear up the sky, the big and small dipper. There, the shining stars that group themselves seem to have a corner star bigger than the others, arranged in line, triangular in shape with a tail. I always put in mind that the stars are our loved ones that have gone unseen.

In the big dipper are stars that were our great teachers that had distinction. These stars represent a group of teachers who have gone to the skies to meet the greatest teacher up above, Jesus Christ. Recently, I went to a wake of an old boss in DECS (now DePEd), Sir Jose Olarte Sr., the father of a good friend Atty. Bubut Olarte. To name a few of our good leaders in Benguet who were teachers by profession, there were former Benguet Governor Ben Palispis, former Congressman Andres Cosalan and his beloved wife Isabel Morales Cosalan, former La Trinidad Councilor Geoffrey Carantes, former Midland Courier Editor in Chief Cecil Afable and others. They are now together in a great classroom in the sky. They are the big shining stars in the sky.

During high school at Easter School, I remember the late Ms. Frances KollinLaoyan, my English literature teacher. The last time I saw her was when she came for a bath at my place with her women church group at Resurrection Cathedral a month before she passed.

In our conversation, I said to her jokingly, "What is Roger without ma'am Laoyan!" Truly, we have no engineers, no doctors, no lawyers, no good leaders without these teachers. To all our beloved teachers who have gone to the great classroom in the sky - "your job on earth was well done, your lights have shone in our lives! Farewell!"

I came across a post on Facebook (FB) that says "WARNING! People use more and more of the world's land for buildings, farming and roads, and the place where animals live (their habitat) become smaller and smaller.” This means that the number of animals in the world is decreasing very quickly. Hunting of certain animals is also reducing their numbers. If we do not do something to stop this, many species will disappear altogether.

Some of them are already gone and many more are threatened with extinction. In my younger days, I often saw big lizards called Banias that roamed freely on the river banks of Asin and "jojos" (Japanese eels) in the rivers of Guisad. My old folks tell stories of deer and wild pigs. As a child, I remember my grandfather, Dalisdis Ngamoy at Sipitan at the Asin first tunnel. He had a prairie dog that considers banias as its main source of food. These are vanishing animals.

We consider Baguio and Benguet as land for opportunity, for commercial development, tourism haven, now a vanishing place? Is Baguio overdeveloped that we have to consider the Baguio, La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, Tublay (BLISTT) as a solution? We also have problems on buildings and parks that we have to declare Baguio as a special heritage site?

So that Ibaloys with a “vanishing” culture would claim them as their ancestral land. I go with Atty. Jose "Jomol" Molintas who, in our conversation under that Ibaloy hut at the Ibaloy Park last Sunday said, "The only way to solve our present condition of land in Baguio is to apply for a certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) for the entire city of Baguio, and as a way of preservation.

Today, Baguio is crowded with much of its open spaces removed from the public domain and had them privatized mostly for commercial purposes. Since Baguio was originally planned for 25,000 people or more, and with its present 300,000 population or more, the strain on resources should be seriously considered.

We are now on the final stretch of activities at the Ibaloypark. I just want to mention the untiring efforts of our fellow Ibaloys. They have walked the extra mile for the events to make it a success. How could any Ibaloy match the efforts of Errol Tagle and his better half Merlita who stay until dark at the park to see to it that the next day is ready for another activity? "May your tribe increase!"

To all Ibaloys out there, seen or unseen, "Let us build our selves a fire, and we'll let it burn, until the sky folks come from heaven and the world will no longer turn" - from an old country song. Happy Trails to all!