NCIP on MET lady dancers wearing bahag

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

BAGUIO CITY – It seems the Cordillera regional office of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples found another controversial issue to be involved in.
    After being accused of using “divide and rule” strategy to get IPs of Apayao to approve construction of a large dam, railroading installation of an indigenous peoples mandatory representative to the Baguio City council and a litany of other issues, the NCIP is once again involved in an issue this time -- about an item that covers one’s manhood or a woman’s prized possession.
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The regional NCIP condemned the Metropolitan Theater, popularly known as Met, for presenting women dancers in G-string, the traditional "bahag," loincloth which they said is worn only by Igorot men.
    We call the material which covers one’s manhood “wanes” in Sagada. It is not a sign that one’s virility is waning, it is simply a kankanaey term.
    According to a report, the NCIP was of the opinion that the dance number made fun and ridiculed traditional attire and highland culture. The government agency was reportedly believed it was also an inaccurate portrayal of Igorot women who have never worn or been made to wear the bahag.
    An online presentation, part of celebration of the 50th anniversary of "Order ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Sining" or Order of National Artists, by theater group Alice Reyes Dance Philippines allegedly featured choreographies of National Artist for Dance Alice Reyes and Agnes Locsin.
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Dancers in a number entitled "Igorot," reportedly portrayed indigenous people performing their traditional dances wearing G-strings.
    According to the NCIP, the dance earned the ire of Cordillera indigenous peoples collectively identified as Igorots or people from the mountains.
    The report claimed some Igorots found their culture bastardized when they saw women on stage wearing the “bahag.”
    The G-string, the NCIP said, is worn only by Igorot men while the women wear the "tapis," a wrap-around skirt.
The dance company, they said, should have first conducted a thorough research on the history of the bahag and consulted indigenous communities on how the traditional attire is actually used and who uses it.
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The report said NCIP Cordillera regional director, lawyer Atanacio Addog will formally write the Metropolitan Theater, the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and choreographer Locsin.
    The letter will reportedly demand an explanation why they allowed women dancers to wear G-strings.
    Addog was quoted as saying what the NCCA and Locsin did was gross misrepresentation of indigenous peoples of the Cordillera, especially women.
    Addog said, “heavy penalties should be imposed on individuals, personalities and groups or organizations that showcase indigenous peoples the wrong way and that the practice must be stopped.”
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NCIP Cordillera, through its officials may have finally found its righteous voice to sound off its mandate by yes – protecting use of the bahag. Well and good, if its officials are fired up with fervor in this issue like love for flag, country and people.
    But then, if indigenous women of Cordillera mountains did not wear bahag in olden times until now, it was out of practicality, not cultural mumbo jumbo.  It was much easier to urinate by going on the side of a cliff and simply stretching the tapis behind to bring out body liquid.
    Imagine a woman wearing a bahag to relieve herself. It would be a tedious process. She has to go to a bushy area, take it off, let nature take its course, retie it all over again once more to repeat it for the second time around, as our perennially drunk neighborhood philosopher would say.
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All the men had to do to relieve themselves meanwhile, was simply to loosen the bahag and bring out that thing which makes women happy.
    This is unlike Scottish men who wear a wraparound dress called the kilt or Roman gladiators who had dresses made of leather to lessen impact of deadly strikes from an adversary.
    The Igorot warriors may have had lesser protection by wearing bahag during head-hunting forays, but by doing so, it was easier to strangle an opponent with the loincloth by simply making an adversary kneel in front of them.
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So you see, what the MET ladies did by wearing bahag while dancing may have been outrageous to the NCIP and what they call a violation of cultural norms, but then, everything changes in this world.
    It was art in motion. An exciting moment of ladies performing live in an elegant setting. They were not disgracing anything. They were enriching art and humanity.       
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Kids don’t sleep now in dap-ays like we used to in Sagada, tending to the fire while the old men slept. Kids nowadays sleep in their cozy homes with expensive cell phones that lull them to slumber.
    Those times, we did not wear bahag but pants without underwear. We only wore bahag when we tagged along the old men when they went to the patpatayan (sacred tree) or some other place like the dap-ay  (sacred hut) to perform rituals like asking Kabunian (God) for blessings for a bountiful harvest during babayas.
    We also wore it during “mountain nights” when we competed who performed well playing gongs in ballangbang, takik or palakis (cultural dances. So don’t anybody tell me gongs are played only during rituals wherein the bahag is worn.    
    It was a common thing for old men or anybody to wear bahag anytime. It was what we may call the modern equivalent of a pair of pants which women also wear nowadays.
    We also see some male Caucasians every now and then who wear the bahag along Session Road in Baguio like famed artist and movie maker Kidlat Tahimik and nobody is complaining.
    What I would like to see is a lady who would wear one along the main thoroughfare. That would be the day, but then, the NCIP may complain. Oh well, I might just dare them to a drinking bout of tapey at Luisas Café along Session Road, the undisputed media watering hole in Baguio to clear their heads of abstract thoughts like on wearing a bahag.                            
    So to director Addog, forget that letter to the MET or NCAA. People just want to have some fun or entertainment.