Smiles, chants and food inspired by Alapos

>> Wednesday, December 17, 2014

HAPPY WEEKEND
By Gina Dizon

SAGADA, MOUNTAIN PROVINCE-Alapo is a general term addressing older women and men in their senior and elderly years and so younger ones of  Sagada call them ‘alapo’ whether they are directly related or not by consangunity.

And so with with alapo’y  Luisa ‘Dagwanay’ Cotoong  and her infectious smile I recalled  when I visited Dr Jacqueline Dominguez at their house at  Sabangan three years ago. Alapo’y Dagwanay then 95 years old was still able to sit up being nursed by her daughter Imelda C. Dominguez, and so she smiled and still able to converse though in her already senile stage. She died of old age at age  98  November this year.

I recall that fascinating smile and what it could have meant  in the presence of one she saw for the first time and that was me. Whatever that twinkling smile meant,  alapo’y  Dagwanay must  have seen a resemblance to my mom who then  taught at Ankileng Elementary School.

Then in her birthing stage and heavy with her first child who is my older brother, alapo’y Dagwanay who lived near the school accompanied my mother supposedly to give birth at St Theodore’s Hospital together with the principal of the school  Mr Simon Abad in November 1962. The rest is history with my mom not able to reach the hospital and instead delivered her first born with the assistance of alapo along the road at Ambasing a kilometer  away from the hospital.

Traditional birth attendants have always been there to attend to birthing women. And because of their presence they have managed to help pregnant women deliver their babies in far flung communities  where  health facilities  are lacking and wanting.

Alapo’y  Luisa Dagwanay Coto-ong is a living story of TBAs where for one in the village of  Suyo-Ankileng,  she helped a number of pregnant women heavy with  child deliver their babies. Theirs is a child and mother -concern which if  she  was not there to  have attended to my mother could  have been an otherwise imagination  of whatever could have happened.

The trend of the government now to discourage and prohibit traditional birth attendants from practicing their knowledge equally forwards the question of what could have happened if  TBAs are not there to attend to birthing women. While it is a known fact that childbirth complications happen, the concern is more of  assisting and supporting TBAs rather than prohibiting them.
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The last time I saw Alapo’y  Flora Bondad Abeya, 104, was a visit to auntie Nellie Abeya Pit-og at their house at  Nangonogan,Sagada  some years ago. She was then nearly 99 years old that time and we were joking she will reach a100 years old before going to the Great Beyond. As we conversed at her bedside, I especially liked her heart-warming and twinkling smile which seemingly made her staying up in bed not a problem.
And so during her wake October this year, her children and grandchildren, friends and relatives attributed this  heart- warming disposition during her vigil. Alapo’y Flora died at age 104.

A smile speaks of a thousand words, a thousand meanings. Whatever the smile means in alapoy Flora’s  face evokes that accommodating and positive spirit, a moving and perceptive relationship with people I especially saw in her son Manong  Jerry fondly called Page8.

Former teacher and an active women leader in the Episcopal church, I directly call her alapo’y Flora, spouse of alapo’y Ricario ‘Kulot’ Abeya the first cousin of my grandfather.
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Alapo’y  Emiliana Tebyed Solang from Sagada  on the other hand was not one I remember who smiled most often, but she evoked a face strong and resilient face  who made life able  to be lived with despite what it is.
One thing that I admire is her ability to chant naturally with that freely flowing  extemporaneous way which must be a gene passed from one to the other I saw in her children Padi Marion, Padi Eduardo and Pastor Engr Romualdo Solang in their chants and endless witty conversations.

This ability to relate and chant and tell of  life and people speaks of one who equally communicates with  people, with community and belong as well.  Alapo’y Tebyed who died at age 105 October this year comes to be remembered as one who reminds life is community and communication.
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Alapo’y Maximina 'Danunan' Pangda, the mother of an alitao (uncle) who married an ikit (aunt) by consanguinity was aged 104 when she departed from this material world March this year. Really made me curious  to know how she reached her age and what she could have been eating. And so during her wake, I asked her daughter Mng Annie and granddaughter Caroline who told me that she ate  pising  (taro) and ubi (camote) and  drank sabeng made of corn soup. I came  to know later that pising called taro in English is an anti cancer food.

The four women in their  superlative elderly years  speaks of  longevity and have none of the lifestyle diseases people have today as cancer and diabetes. How they could have lived a 100 years and nearly a hundred years speaks of what kind of food they ate. The kind of  organic food that  alapo’y Danunan ate must have been food that alapo’y Dagwanay, alapo’y Flora and  Alapo’y Tebyed could also have eaten- organic food that nourished the soul and the body.  This, along with the drive to live and relate to further humanity.
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Just this December 2014, another elderly in his senior years joined his Maker. Manong Nelson Yocogan who traces his roots from Besao and Sagada is remembered for his smiling and joking disposition I always saw during meetings and seminars especially so when discussions encounter gaps in explanations.  Manong Nelson as he is fondly called by friends and relatives, with a strong disposition for human rights and indigenous peoples concerns, teacher by profession reminds  young people that age does not matter if you want to get involved  in community concerns and contribute to humanity. 

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