Big Brother BSU

CULTURAL NOTES

Richard Kinnud

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- A notable park within the Benguet State University (BSU) La Trinidad campus is called the Centennial Park.  It was a park established as landmark for the centenary of the institution in the years 2016 and 2017.  It has been more familiar to the public as the site of mini Christmas village every December since a few years ago.
    The park features at least thirty markers that give capsules of the story of the institution through its hundred years.  The one nearest the exit gate, easily inviting interest had the header “A BIG BROTHER TO SMALLER SCHOOLS” and is datelined 1966. 
    The ensuing text says “The Bureau of Education gave MAC some kind of jurisdiction over small schools like the Benguet Vocational School in Balakbak, Kapangan (now GBDAIS), Tadian National Vocational Trade School in Tadian (now TSAT), Buguias-Loo Agro-Industrial School in Buguias (now BSU Buguias Campus) and Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural College (now part of NVSU).  The Payon Bugan Vocational School in Lamut (now IFSU) was attached to MAC earlier than this period.” MAC is Mountain Agricultural College, one of the former names of BSU.
    In a conversation among friends who works at BSU, one said “Mayat dayta nga image ti BSU ah! Big brother!” (Tha image for BSU looks good! Big Bother!).  But another one protested saying that its application to the institution is already passé and should not be used. 
    He cites that the phrase big brother is a metaphor to mean one controlling another which is no longer the case.
    Then another interpolated to side with the worthiness of the big-brother tag.  This friend said that “brother” indicates membership to a family.  BSU is a member of the education community particularly here in the Cordilleras and neighboring regions.  To bolster the idea, it was cited that the university is a member of two associations of state universities and colleges which are often described as family - the Cordillera Administrative Region Association of State Universities and Colleges (CARASUC) and the Association of State Colleges and Universities – Solid North (ASCU-SN). 
    The adjective big, this friend adds, hints at being an elder.  In cultures in the Cordillera, someone who is an elder signifies being charged with certain responsibilities towards other members of the family especially siblings.  It carries with it elements of leadership, care, concern, cooperation and other good standards. 
    An elder is someone who is looked up to for certain value that it can share to others.  This friend closed his argument by saying that the university is not just the first state university in the Cordilleras but is trailblazer in many areas such as on promotion and development of culture, and in the areas of instruction, research and extension in the field of agriculture. 
    Someone in the group concluded the conversation on the topic saying as an example that up to this day, researchers from other institutions and schools are still looking up to researchers in the university for help and guidance.
    Benguet State University is celebrating this month of September the 107^th anniversary of its beginning.  It used to be celebrated every June but historians found out that the institutions initial stage was when learners from the then  Baguio Industrial School (now the Baguio City National High School) where exposed to an area now occupied by the university for some demonstrations on scientific farming in September 2016. 
    The area was then an experiment station of then Bureau of Agriculture and was just transferred for use by the then Bureau of Education.   In June 2017, the Trinidad Agricultural School opened and has evolved to become BSU.
    The theme for this year’s celebration is “Beaming with pride, Sustaining engagements and excellence, Unfolding medical futures today and beyond.” 
    The third line is alluding to the opening of a College of Medicine.  Bills are now in Congress for such purpose and with conviction that the new college will materialize, the celebration will be started with a groundbreaking ceremony and unveiling of the billboard of the College of Medicine. 
    For sure, when the college will be realized, it will be another way by which the university can be a big brother – member of a family charged with certain obligations and values to uphold.
    This corner greets the leadership and management of the university, faculty, staff, students, alumni and the many other stakeholders on this happy occasion.  Happy Founding Anniversary! 

CULTURAL NOTES

Richard Kinnud

Civil service and an anecdote on civil servants

In a casual storytelling session among friends, who are all civil servants, I began an anecdote “There was once an American civil servant who died and found himself evaluated to be going to hell.”  One of them immediately registered his protest saying, “Apay gapus ta civil servant iman yan hell ay dagus?” (Why is it hell immediately just because it is about a civil servant?)
    I replied, “Adi ka et madanagan ta is-sitorya anggay!  Ya Amelikano met.   Yan maaspo nan to isan istorya nan kadwa na ay Filipino civil servant ay umey ed langit!”  (Don’t worry, it is just a fiction!  And the he’s an American.  Also, our character will soon meet a fellow civil servant who is a Filipino who will be going to heaven.)
    Then I went on tell a tale which had developed in the mind adapted from something I read somewhere.  The civil servant, who found himself at the gateway to hell, asked the attendant what the punishments would be.  He was informed that there are actually different hells representing each country and he would be lucky if he chooses the least painful one.  He asked about the American hell and he was informed that once he enters the gate, he will be walking a path of steaming asphalt continuously being heated by a machine.  A witch will be accompanying him to make sure that he will indeed be walking on the steaming asphalt.  The witch will also be beating him with iron blades while they walk.  At the end of the path is a tank of briskly boiling water and where some plastic IDs are.  He should find his identification card, and if he does so, that is the time he will be taken out from the boiling water before he will be led to the  assigned lot at Hell Mountain.”
    There is no queue to the American hell. And he reckoned that it must be because it is the most painful.  He can’t imagine being beaten with iron blades while walking a steaming hot asphalt path and swimming in a boiling hot tank.
    Beside the American hell is one marked “Philippine Hell.”  He asked the attendant what is in it.  And the attendant said.  “You will walk a steaming hot asphalt while being beaten by a Filipino witch with iron blades until you get into a tank of extremely hot water where you will stay until you find your ID with your lot number, then you will be led to Hell Mountain.”
    It was basically the same as the American Hell, he thought.  But he was curious about the long queue which included many other nationalities and so he joined the queue.  When it was his turn, he found out that the machine that was making the asphalt steaming hot has broken down and it might take years before a replacement machine will be in so the asphalt is hardened, full of holes but is not steaming hot.  The witch assigned to do the flagellation asked for some pay off so he won’t do the beating up with iron blades.  The witch just signed a certification that he walked the asphalt and that he was flagellated.   There was water shortage that it was impossible to operate the hot tank.  There too was a shortage of plastic IDs and he was immediately granted a temporary paper ID and walked off to Hell Mountain.
    He discovered that Hell Mountain was just near Mountain Heaven and at some point cross path with those going to heaven.  At the crossway, he saw someone resting on a shed.  The soul was apparently from the Philippine Heaven gateway.  The soul greeted him saying, “Good Day, sir!  Anything I can do to help you?” and then introduced himself as a Filipino.
    “Good day too!  But it seemed you are the one in need of help yet you are on the heaven gateway?”replied the American.
     “Ah!  Yes because the Executive Coach where I am supposed to ride has broken down and might take years to replace.  So I have to walk instead the asphalt highway.  The angels who are to accompany me are busy accomplishing attachments for their performance evaluation but for sure they are with me in spirit” said the Filipino servant.
    Nobody among my friends laughed when I wrapped up telling my fiction and so I diverted with the question, do you still have that vigor to be of service.
    “Aw et adi ta siya nan pan-ublaan,”  (Yes because it is the source of income!), one said.
    And then another expressed the idea that it lessens enthusiasm when equipment used for work breaks down and it takes sometime before requests for replacement are granted; or when back-handed  behaviors works everywhere; or when there are deficiencies in resources that are observed but not addressed.
    Another agreed to the observation but gave the thought that even as some fellow workers see these as drawbacks, there are those who turn these situations to favorable ones.
    I was smiling because I though, all along they were listening to the story.  And even if they hadn’t laugh in the end, it led them to some realizations.
    September is Civil Service Month as declared under Presidential Proclamation 1050, series of 1997 by President Fidel V. Ramos.  According to this proclamation, it is a time for civil servants to “reaffirm their commitment to this (the) public trust by commemorating the establishment of the Philippine civil service.”  Phillippine civil service, defined as the body of government officials and employees giving public services such as health care, education, security, and many others to citizens including those in the remotest villages, was formally established through Act No. 5 of the Philippine Commission which was effective September 19, 1900 which became basis for the Proclamation.
    In celebratory tarps hanging in government offices is the theme “Transforming Public Service in the Next Decade: Honing Agile and Future-Ready Servant-Heroes.”  It was a theme that has been introduced in 2021 and was intended to be the theme up to 2030.  This is mirror “the collective experience of the government workforce in the new normal, and in pushing for digital transformation and innovations to uphold public service excellence and continuity” according to the Civil Service website. It further said that the focus of this year’s commemoration is dynamism.  The website further explained that “A bureaucracy marked by dynamic employees, sustainable management/leadership, and a resilient organization is one that can adapt to abrupt changes and is capable of withstanding difficulties without compromising on service delivery – (is) a truly future-ready civil service.”
    This corner wishes all fellow civil servants a meaningful and reaffirming commemoration.  May dynamism be on fire in us and lead us to delightfully meaningful life.
 
 

CULTURAL NOTES

Richard Kinnud

Happy Foundation Day, Hingyon!

One of the usual question when you are with a new group is where-are-you-from.  When what is meant is hometown, and I answer Hingyon, Ifugao, almost always, the next question, “Where is that Hingyon?”
     My initial reply would usually be with reference to the Nueva Vizcaya-Ifugao-Mountain Province Road or Highway 109 in the country’s road numbering system.  When you are coming from Nueva Vizcaya, Hingyon is the town after the municipality of Lagawe.  The first barangay of the municipality is Barangay Piwong and the barangay before the Banaue welcome arch is Barangay O-ong.
    Some of those who passed by the place would ask, “But there was no town center we’ve seen in between Lagawe and Banaue?”  I would reply that the so-called poblacion which is Barangay Hingyon is more or less three kilometers away from the referenced highway.    The munisipyo  which is located in another barangay, Barangay Bitu, is also more than two kilometers away from that highway.  But there is no network of streets neither in the poblacion nor in the vicinity of the munisipyo.  All barangays though are reachable by vehicles except that the two Cababuyan barangays (North and South) in the northern part of the municipality are reachable by road passing through Amganad of Banaue municipality, and barangay Umalbong in the southern part is connected to a road via Lagawe municipality.  I would always add though that such is better so that the municipality can maintain its forest covers.
    So are there tourism spots in the municipality, some would press further.   My reply is that agriculture is the livelihood for most households.  But it is not the commercial type of agriculture.    It is actually mostly on rice farming on pond fields and swidden  agriculture on mountainsides for other crops such as corn and sweet potato.  As of this time, many of the heritage agricultural practices are being adopted and the produce are mostly for household consumption.  If there is an employed sector within the municipality, they are in government institutions such as the local government unit, the public schools, and the police organization.  It is however noted lately that some are starting to till the land for crops that are traded in centers such as the Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal.  And it was also in recent years that tourism is being tried.
    Mount Atugo, one of the tallest peaks in the municipality overlooking the southern part of the municipality and parts of Lagawe is now a hiking destination.  If lucky, one can catch a beautiful sunrise, the sea of clouds or even both.  If not, the green view would always compensate.  Also in the vicinity of the mountain is a cockpit arena that for the aficionados is a reason to visit the area.
    So is Hingyon neither the least nor the last of the municipalities of Ifugao, others interested ask.  I would answer that it is the second of the latest municipalities to be created in Ifugao, the latest being Asipulo.  It has the same birth year as the municipality of Tinoc in 1982 while Asipulo was created in 1992.  Hingyon is the smallest in terms land area, the other municipalities being more than double up to maybe even fourfold of the municipality’s sphere.  It followed that even in population, it is among the municipalities with the lowest population in the province passing only Hungduan by a few hundreds.  Other municipalities have double up to quadruple as per the latest (2020) population census.
    But even so, Hingyon is competitive with the other municipalities in the province.  For instance, in the political arena, many of the past governors, vice governors, and board members of Ifugao grew up or traces roots from Hingyon, Ifugao.  The list would include Herman Dinumla (former BM and vice governor), Albert Pawingi (former board member, vice governor, and governor), Juan Dacawe (former board member and vice governor), Robert Mangyao (former board member and vice governor), Eugene Balitang (former board member and governor), Pedro Mayam-o (former board member, vice governor, and governor), Dominga Bella Takinan (former board member and vice governor), Nora Dinamling (former board member and vice governor) and David Dumangeng (former board member).  Napoleon Hangdaan (former board member) Carlos Luglug Sr (former board member and vice governor) and Dennis Habawel (former governor) have Hingyon ancestry too.  Ronel Gayamo, Maximillian Luglug, Geraldo Luglug (former mayor of Hingyon), Victor Bunnol Jr. are i-Hingyons who also became provincial legislators by virtue of their election as the president of organizations such as the SK, councilor’s league or the ABC.  (My apologies for the i-Hingyons which may have been missed in the foregoing list but their presence too in the political arena, politika being not just an individual but a community act, is surely a sign of the competitiveness of the Hingyon.)
    It surely is not just within the province that i-Hingyons are known. If a list of pride of Hingyon is to be made, it should include the author of a most often cited book especially in culture and the social sciences.  The Ifugao World.  He is Mariano Dumia  from Mompolia, Hingyon who has retired as a foreign service officer. 
    There is also former Vice Governor of Nueva Vizcaya, Jose Tomas Sr. from Mompolia and Anao, who before entering politics made a name in the cooperative sphere.  His name is now synonymous to Tam-an, the name of the cooperative to which he is among the founder which is now among the top cooperatives of the Cordillera.
    The list would surely also include Carl James Martin, a rising athlete in boxing whos is from Cababuyan.  In the area of beauty pageants, lately a lass of Hingyon ancestry (particularly from Cababuyan), Janah Rhyl Lumidao was recently crowned as Miss Baguio and is to represent the city in a national pageant.
    Surely, the list would be long with names of those in the police and military service, business, and in the many other areas of civic duties and activities.
    Hingyon was created as a municipality by virtue of Republic Act 239 on September 12, 1982.  It was formed from former barangays of Banaue – O-ong, Cababuyan, and Ubuag, and former barangays of Lagawe – Umalbong, Mompolia, Bantinon, Piwong, Anao, Hingyon, Bitu and Namulditan.  Cababuyan has since been divided into two barangays thus at present, the municipality has a total of twelve.
    The Hingyon municipal fiesta is celebrated during the dry season in April and was rebranded as Gotad ad Hingyon during the time of former mayor Alex Kindipan.  Gotad ad Hingyon has always been a cheerful and lively event, especially that it has become lately a tourism.  And certainly it should be in that same spirit to greet i-Hingyons this month of September for the municipality’s foundation day.      Cheers to fellow i-Hingyon!  Happy Foundation Day!