CAR solons hit flawed portrayal of Igorots in classroom textbooks

By Erlindo Agwilang, Jr.

QUEZON CITY – All Cordillera congressmen led by Rep. Allen Jesse C. Mangaoang of Kalinga, who chairs the House committee on indigenous cultural communities and indigenous peoples,   filed a House resolution condemning erroneous portrayal of Igorots in textbooks, learning modules and instructional materials and directed the Dept. of Education to make a thorough review of all instructional materials and to correct any text which depict in a discriminatory manner Igorots and IPs.
    The resolution asked DepEd to instruct authors and publishers of these materials to withdraw them from circulation to stop the discrimination and misleading information about Igorots.
    Mangaoang filed the resolution along with Reps. Maximo Y. Dalog, Jr., Mountain Province; Eric Go Yap-ACT-CIS Party List and Legislative Caretaker, Benguet; Solomon R. Chungalao, Ifugao and Elias C. Bulut, Jr. of Apayao.
    In House resolution 1552 filed Feb. 8, the Cordilleran lawmakers cited section 31 of Republic Act 8371 (Indigenous Peoples Rights Act) which endeavors to uphold dignity and diversity of the cultures, traditions, histories and aspirations of the ICCs/IPs in education, public information and cultural-educational exchange.
    The IPRA law also provides that the state shall take effective measures, in consultation with ICCs/IPs concerned, to eliminate prejudice and discrimination and to promote tolerance, understanding and good relations among ICCs/IPs and all segments of society.
    The congressmen said such portrayal and depiction of Igorots have immeasurably alarmed, offended and annoyed the people in the Cordillera. “Because of incorrect information about Igorots, they continue to suffer discrimination and if not immediately corrected, erroneous notion of mainstream Filipinos about Igorots or the IPs of the Cordillera Region will be perpetuated and may result to further discrimination and abuse,” they said.
    As the institution of basic education in the country, the resolution specified it is the responsibility of DepEd to ensure textbooks, instructional materials, and learning modules provide accurate information.
    After the DepEd’s response and action over public outrage because of discriminatory description of Igorots in books, modules and other learning resources, a publisher followed suit and apologized for the erroneous printing of a portion of a kindergarten textbook entitled, Masayang Buhay (Binagong Edisyon) depicting indigenous peoples of the Cordillera as having dark and curly hair.
    This was one of learning materials discovered by Igorots which went viral on social media instigating anger among IPs wordwide.
    Rep. Dalog, Jr. earlier assailed portrayal and description of Igorots as having dark and curly hair, looking differently from the Filipino majority in terms of appearance, fashion, attire and capacity to finish education and immediately called the attention of Sec. Leonor Magtolis Briones.
    The DepEd apologized particularly the DepEd Division and the region where another discriminative learning material originated.
    The DepEd Central Office said it has already introduced an error watch and promised that it will hire a third-party quality assurance team in one major university in the country to help in the swift correction of these errors.
    In a letter to Dalog, Ruth Valerie Catabijan, vice president of St. Matthew’s Publishing said the book in question was published in 2001 and has long been out of print and was withdrawn from circulation.
    She added subsequent publications of Masayang Buhay (Binagong Edisyon) previously authored by Dr. Felicidad Remo and Avelina Espelita released in 2004, 2009 and 2016 already contain modifications to the issue being raised.
    This, as DepEd Cordillera said   DepEd regional offices and school division offices that have wrong and biased depictions of Igorots are now complying with requests to rectify their modules.
    This came following the appeal of the DepEd-CAR to the public to report and make corrections on incorrect information about Igorots on learning materials.
    The DepEd is encouraging the public particularly those who see  incorrect materials online to send errors on modules to the DepEd through bit.ly/DepEdErrorWatch or by email through errorwatch@deped.gov.ph, text and messaging through Viber at 0961-6805334; Facebook messaging through DepEd Error Watch account and the DepEd Tayo Cordillera page.
    DepEd Cordillera regional director Estela Cariño urged the public including Cordillerans or her fellow Igorots to report and possibly provide corrections with regards to erroneous learning modules and materials circulating on social media which are  maligning, discriminating, and wrongly depicting Igorots.
    As an Igorot herself, Cariňo urgently called on the attention of the DepEd regional offices and schools division offices using such modules to make the necessary and urgent changes if their learning modules and other school materials contain these  wrong information  about the  Igorots.
    Cordillerans may also contribute to the wrong concept and incorrect depiction of Igorots if they keep silent.
    She said that not all can be seen or monitored by the Learning Resource personnel or the Curriculum and Learning Management Division especially for self-learning modules developed locally in other places.
    She also called on all education stakeholders to help in creating awareness on indigenous peoples and to be part of the system that correct these learning materials not by bashing or ignoring it but by calling the attention of the basic education department through its proper channels like the DepEd Error Watch, the official Facebook Pages of DepEd, and even her Office directly. – With a PIA report