“Immabbal”?
>> Saturday, July 30, 2022
Richard
Kinnud
Roads turned into a raging river. Mudflows and strong water current pushed motorbikes, tricycles, and automobiles or made boulders bump onto them. A building under construction became a waterfall after flood entered its floor levelled with the road-turned-river. These scenarios of a deluge happened right at the middle of known tourist spot, Banaue, Ifugao on an ordinary day last week. Social media platforms immediately beamed these state of affairs to the world. News organizations picked it up. And the surge of information triggered several and varied reactions.
“Wahna ne di immabbalana!” expressed an elderly of what might have been the root of the unordinary happening while we were watching while it was flashed live on Facebook. “There is some commiseration to something that happened.” This is the nearest direct translation of that statement. “Immabbal” is an Ifugao concept wherein unusual occurrences, such as this deluge which according to some is a first of its kind in that vicinity in recent memory, during a wake for a person especially if it is on the initial days of the vigil, is understood as a way by which unseen beings or worlds other than the human world commiserates with the relatives of the deceased.
“So what should be done?” I asked.
“If it’s true then it will certainly be felt by the parties concerned. In the olden times, the party should be performing a ritual,” was the answer. Underlying the conversation of course was just an assumption that “wahna di immabbalana” implying that we do not know of any wake happening in the vicinity of the disaster.
That incidences are often caused by the otherworldly or the mystical is something that many would find invalid nowadays. It is thus not surprising that rare it is to read a reaction on social media or in the news that the deluge was an act of unseen spirits or of mystical worlds that co-exists with human.
The more frequent rejoinders were that it is a result of people’s activities. Some cite the unplanned mushrooming of houses where nothing is supposed to be built. Others blame government projects that may have caused blockages of canals and culverts. And many pointed to people not caring about the environment such as the case of cutting of trees to be sculptured into artifacts for tourists and for other purposes.
There were also those who said that this is simply a natural happening. And the weather authorities of course agreed saying that there was heavier downpour than the usual. But then again it boils down to the scientific explanation that the more torrential rainfall is caused by more water vapor in the warmer atmosphere that of course is mostly attributable to destructive human-activities, one of which is deforestation.
Some have wondered what happened to time-honored cultural practices that produced what used to be known as the Eighth Wonder of the World. Is it not time to go back to the “muyong system”? This was one comment on social media that somehow struck me. The muyong system, if we may call it so, in a simple way of understanding is that manner of stewardship in which a household who inherits from forebears a forested land is charged with the responsibility of taking care of it including not converting it into a residential area or allowing it to be destroyed by others, instead should replace trees that may have to be cut for valid purposes. It struck me because I think people still let their heirs have “muyong” but the concept of stewardship may have changed to ownership. And when you own a thing, you can just do anything of it.
But would it be right to blame people of the bad experience they may have had? My thoughts went back to “immabbal.” Granting that it is “immabal”, the old belief is that something has to be done. If I have heard my elderly right, the term is “onnongan.” This can be directly translated as “to make it right” or “to pacify” or “to respond.” Soon, my thoughts conceded that it should be the same if it is a natural occurrence or a man-induced occurrence. Parties involved had to respond, to pacify, or to make right whatever is wrong. This should include indeed a people’s review of what may have been done in the past to mitigate unusual occurrences this such as going back to stewardship of land. This is a good human way of commiserating (umabbal) to this thing that happened in this time.
Roads turned into a raging river. Mudflows and strong water current pushed motorbikes, tricycles, and automobiles or made boulders bump onto them. A building under construction became a waterfall after flood entered its floor levelled with the road-turned-river. These scenarios of a deluge happened right at the middle of known tourist spot, Banaue, Ifugao on an ordinary day last week. Social media platforms immediately beamed these state of affairs to the world. News organizations picked it up. And the surge of information triggered several and varied reactions.
“Wahna ne di immabbalana!” expressed an elderly of what might have been the root of the unordinary happening while we were watching while it was flashed live on Facebook. “There is some commiseration to something that happened.” This is the nearest direct translation of that statement. “Immabbal” is an Ifugao concept wherein unusual occurrences, such as this deluge which according to some is a first of its kind in that vicinity in recent memory, during a wake for a person especially if it is on the initial days of the vigil, is understood as a way by which unseen beings or worlds other than the human world commiserates with the relatives of the deceased.
“So what should be done?” I asked.
“If it’s true then it will certainly be felt by the parties concerned. In the olden times, the party should be performing a ritual,” was the answer. Underlying the conversation of course was just an assumption that “wahna di immabbalana” implying that we do not know of any wake happening in the vicinity of the disaster.
That incidences are often caused by the otherworldly or the mystical is something that many would find invalid nowadays. It is thus not surprising that rare it is to read a reaction on social media or in the news that the deluge was an act of unseen spirits or of mystical worlds that co-exists with human.
The more frequent rejoinders were that it is a result of people’s activities. Some cite the unplanned mushrooming of houses where nothing is supposed to be built. Others blame government projects that may have caused blockages of canals and culverts. And many pointed to people not caring about the environment such as the case of cutting of trees to be sculptured into artifacts for tourists and for other purposes.
There were also those who said that this is simply a natural happening. And the weather authorities of course agreed saying that there was heavier downpour than the usual. But then again it boils down to the scientific explanation that the more torrential rainfall is caused by more water vapor in the warmer atmosphere that of course is mostly attributable to destructive human-activities, one of which is deforestation.
Some have wondered what happened to time-honored cultural practices that produced what used to be known as the Eighth Wonder of the World. Is it not time to go back to the “muyong system”? This was one comment on social media that somehow struck me. The muyong system, if we may call it so, in a simple way of understanding is that manner of stewardship in which a household who inherits from forebears a forested land is charged with the responsibility of taking care of it including not converting it into a residential area or allowing it to be destroyed by others, instead should replace trees that may have to be cut for valid purposes. It struck me because I think people still let their heirs have “muyong” but the concept of stewardship may have changed to ownership. And when you own a thing, you can just do anything of it.
But would it be right to blame people of the bad experience they may have had? My thoughts went back to “immabbal.” Granting that it is “immabal”, the old belief is that something has to be done. If I have heard my elderly right, the term is “onnongan.” This can be directly translated as “to make it right” or “to pacify” or “to respond.” Soon, my thoughts conceded that it should be the same if it is a natural occurrence or a man-induced occurrence. Parties involved had to respond, to pacify, or to make right whatever is wrong. This should include indeed a people’s review of what may have been done in the past to mitigate unusual occurrences this such as going back to stewardship of land. This is a good human way of commiserating (umabbal) to this thing that happened in this time.
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