Beruflich Dokumente
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This three-volume publication entitled Towards
Understanding Peoples of the Cordillera: A Review of Research on
History, Governance, Resources, Institutions and Living Traditions
contains papers, posters, commentaries and discussions of the First
National Conference on Cordillera Research held 9-11 November
2000 at Teachers Camp, Baguio City. It results from the collaborative
effort of several institutions and many individuals. Through their
unselfish and enthusiastic contribution of time, ideas and resources, the
Cordillera Studies Center, UP College Baguio, successfully hosted the
conference and completed this publication project.
v
Education Assistance Program (EAP) students for their musical
presentations; George Addawe, Antonio Alambra, Annie Bawayan,
and Freddie Gonzales.
Lorelei Crisologo-Mendoza
Convenor
First National Conference on
Cordillera Research
28 September 2001
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Acknowledgement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
vii
Page
LOCAL INSTITUTIONS
COMMENTARIES
Reaction on the Autonomy Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Edna Tabanda
viii
Page
MODERATOR'S REPORT
On Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Alejandro Ciencia, Jr.
DISCUSSION
Cordillera Autonomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Organic Act for an Autonomous Cordillera Region
Local vs. Regional Autonomy
Cordillera Regional Autonomy and Federalism
Autonomy from the Point of View of the Community
Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Local Governance
Intergovernmental Relations
Tax and Boundary Issues
Decentralization of Education
ix
x
Ambivalence Toward The Igorots:
An Interpretive Discussion of a Colonial Legacy
Albert S. Bacdayan
Introduction
It is incredible to contemplate that the indigenous ethno-
linguistic inhabitants of the northern Luzon highlands, hereafter
referred to collectively as the Igorots, received so much attention from
the two most powerful and longest lasting colonizers of the country-
Spain and the United States. For a combined three hundred fifty one
years, these colonizers were driven to effect drastic changes in the lives
of the mountain peoples aimed at their incorporation into the national
society. Despite these efforts, or perhaps because of them, the Igorots
remain culturally distinct from the rest of Philippine society at large,
facing a serious negative image problem that appears to be squarely
and solidly anchored in the stereotype that they are ignorant,
undisciplined and uncouth dirty savages who even have tails. Thus set
apart, the Igorots, [a] strong, virile, hard working, worthy mountain
1
people according to L. L. Wilson , are generally considered among
lowlander Filipinos to be not only different but also inferior. A major
cultural minority bloc second in numbers only to the Moslems of
Mindanao and Sulu, Igorots and their interactions with elements of the
national mainstream are often clouded by stereotyping.
In my experience a negative image and ambivalent attitude
toward the Igorots are widespread among lowlanders generally but
not individually. A bus driver in the lowlands was heard by
acquaintances to say to his noisy and disorderly passengers, Be quiet,
this is not a Dangwa bus. The clients of Dangwa bus are, of course,
predominantly Igorot as those familiar with the Cordillera or Mountain
Provinces would know. An otherwise thoughtful and sensitive fair-
minded California labor leader and writer friend of mine from Lapug,
Ilocos Sur told an interviewer in California, referring to his early
childhood, that after a day of playing in the fields they would return
to their homes dirty as Igorots. Still another acquaintance, a
prominent Filipino community leader in the Central Valley of
California, told me in a discussion of the anti-Filipino discrimination on
the West Coast before the Second World War, that the whites
thought we are as ignorant and primitive as those poor Igorots they
1
See his The Skyland of the Philippines, 2 nd ed., 1956, p.79. Laurence L. Wilson was a
so-called Baguio old-timer who wrote on the peoples of the Mountain Provinces and for the
Baguio Midland Courier for years.
2 An Interpretive Discussion of Colonial Legacy
saw in St. Louis, referring to the exhibition of Igorots at the St. Louis,
Missouri exposition in 1904, to be discussed later on. He said this with
a straight face, despite the fact that before the interview I told him
about my background and Igorot ethnicity!
Experiencing ambivalence and skepticism by lowlanders
towards ones Igorot identity, as well as experiencing the fall out from
the negative Igorot image is discomfiting, embarrassing and
exhilarating all at once. Tell an audience of lowlanders that you are an
Igorot and you will be sure that they will take special notice. You might
even be approached afterwards and asked if you are really one. A great
many self-identifying Igorots have been told, You cannot be an
Igorot, or Why do you say you are an Igorot? It implies that one
should be ashamed of his Igorot identity and should be quiet about it.
The sad fact is that some, indeed, do just that. But the vast majority are
proud witnesses of their mountain identity as clearly demonstrated for
instance in the recently held Third International Igorot Consultation
2
and the Cordillera Cultural Festival held in Baguio in April 2000 .
This paper is an attempt to explain the origins, development
and persistence of this pernicious negative image of the Igorots in
Philippine society. Perspective and insights into this ugly problem are
enhanced by the findings of researchers delving into the history of the
Igorots- a field that has been receiving scholarly attention in recent
decades. Toward the end of the paper some thoughts about approaches
to correct the situation are offered. This is a worthwhile endeavor,
given the more than one million indigenous inhabitants of the
Cordilleras that are affected and the desirability of a strong national
foundation knitting the elements of the nation together into a social
system in which everyone counts and is appreciated for what he or she
is.
It is my contention that the negative stereotyping of the Igorot
which is at the root of the ambivalence toward him in Philippine
society at large, is a legacy of colonialism, particularly Spanish
colonialism. Records of early colonial Filipino society do not reveal any
ill-will and radical cultural separation between lowlanders and
highlanders. There apparently was free and easy movement through
trade between the two groups relating as equals. There were cultural
similarities: head taking, family organization, animism, and use of the
2
Among the most interesting sessions during the Third Igorot International
Consultation held at the Green Valley Hotel and Resort in Baguio City from April 26-29, 2000
was when the title Igorot International Consultation was affirmed as the name of the meeting,
defeating the motion to change or modify the title to include the wo rd Cordillera. Igorot rather
than Cordillera was the overwhelming preference of the people at the Consultation.
Bacdayan 3
3
In his well-received posthumously published work called The Ethnohistory of
Northern Luzon, Felix M, Keesing offered the stunning hypothesis that the Cordillera mountains
were settled by refugees from Spanish pressure in the surrounding lowlands. If so, then, the
separation of the Igorots from the lowlanders was a fairly recent occurrence. Up till then the
accepted view was that the mountains were settled by groups who migrated earlier to the
Philippines from somewhere in mainland Asia and who were pushed out of the lowlands and up
the mountains by later migrants also from Asia.
4
This is a ground-breaking publication on Igorot history. Carefully researched in
archives in the Philippines, Spain and the United States, it is an authoritative work that has been a
major resource for this article as it pertains to the Spanish colonial career in the Cordillera
mountains.
4 An Interpretive Discussion of Colonial Legacy
Christians of the Igorots and meld them with the Hispanicized Filipino
society in the lowlands. There were more than a hundred so-called
punitive expeditions to punish the Igorots for various transgressions
such as the killing of missionaries and converts and the growing and
selling of tobacco which crippled the lucrative tobacco monopoly.
Although there was an intent to use a soft and gentle approach (a
policy of attraction) especially on the part of the missionaries, it was an
essentially coercive career involving the use of as many as 3000 men in
one expedition alone, open confrontations resulting in loss of lives on
both sides, the burning of houses and villages, the collection of tribute
and forced labor without pay.
The Igorots for their part reacted to this long sustained
pressure with a multiplicity of tactics such as feigning to accept
Christianity and then abandoning it when the situation was deemed
right, and even killing the priest as well as converts. They paid tribute
only to appease and lull the authorities so as not to become vassals;
they let expeditions run out of food, attacked these, and then
negotiated to temporize and to buy time. A long-lasting highly charged
situation like this was apt to breed frustration, anger and charges on
both sides but especially on the part of the Spaniards who assumed a
right to the obedience of the people. This was the breeding ground for
the formation of the negative image or stereotype of the Igorot. The
more they resisted Spanish aims by force and pseudo-diplomacy, the
more they were vilified as treacherous, recalcitrant, and bloodthirsty
heathen.
The first statement of the Spanish anti-Igorot view was
occasioned by the effort of the governor general to legitimize the
launching of the first major expedition in 1618 to search for the mines
from whence the Igorots got their gold. The Spaniards got wind of
these gold mines shortly after establishing Spanish authority at Cebu in
1565. Since the return of Juan Salcedo to Manila in 1572 from his
expedition to the Ilocos which established the existence of these gold
mines, Igorot gold had come to be seen by the crown as a lucrative
source of revenue. Thus, when the royal treasury was depleted by the
Thirty Years War, the King sent a Royal Order on December 19, 1618 to
the governor general in Manila commanding him to go after the Igorot
gold with all due speed and by whatever means he thought best,
including offering economic incentives to participants in the effort and
enlisting the help of the religious orders. An expedition to expropriate
Igorot gold was in order!
Appreciating that the Igorots would resist such an undertaking
and perhaps feeling awkward about striking the first blow, the
Bacdayan 5
5
See W. H. Scott, The Discovery of the Igorots, pp.26-28 for a detailed discussion of
the issue of a just war against the Igorots.
6 An Interpretive Discussion of Colonial Legacy
6
For a discussion of the reduccion of lowland Filipinos, consult John L. Phelans
noteworthy book, The Hispanization of the Philippines, Madison: Wisconsin University Press,
1959.
Bacdayan 7
7
Among the Spanish governors-general to be shocked and scandalized by Igorot
independence had been Primo de Rivera in 1880. He found out the extent of this independence
when he went to northern Luzon on an inspection trip in December 1880. The day after his return
he filed a letter to the Overseas Minister in Madrid stating that the situation is humiliating for
Spain.
8
I have not come across any mention of Visayan troop involvement in the Cordillera
mountains which is probably because of the distance involved. But it is curious that in my
association with Filipino agricultural workers in California, it was among the Visayans that it did
not matter at all that I am Igorot. This may be due to the fact that there has been no tradition
among them of loss and suffering attributed to the Igorots.
8 An Interpretive Discussion of Colonial Legacy
9
For statement and discussion of this policy see William Cameron Forbes, The
Philippine Islands, Boston and New York: Houghton & Mifflin, 1928; also Dean C. Worcester,
The Philippines Past and Present, 2 nd edition, New York: The MacMillan Company, 1930.
10
Robert R. Reed, City of Pines: The Origins of Baguio as a Colonial Hill Station and
Regional Capital, Baguio City: A-Seven Publishing, 1999 is a well-documented and very readable
account of the founding of Baguio. Forbes and Worcester in their respective works already cited
first-hand accounts of the establishment of the city.
Bacdayan 9
consideration, of course, is the fact that they were only a fraction of the
total Philippine exhibit. There were other representative groups of the
Philippine population included. The Americans who were against the
independence movement considered that the non-Christian would not
receive proper attention and consideration from the Christian majority.
Dire warnings from such Americans focused more attention on the
Igorots, and by extension their separateness from the mainstream. It
should be said that in the Mountain Province, the Filipino officials who
took over from the Americans served the people just as fairly and as
well as their American predecessors.
The Americans officially arrived in the Cordillera scene in 1900
when two members of the Taft Commission and a party consisting of a
meteorologist, two military doctors, an engineer railroad executive,
and a military escort came to look at Baguio as a possible site of a
summer capital and sanatorium for the emergent American Colonial
rule in the Philippines. This was a pressing issue because there was so
much concern within American colonial officialdom about the
healthfulness of Manila as a year-round residence and as a place to
regain ones health when sick. Worcester, a member of the Commission
and the leader of the trip heard about Benguet and Baguio from a
Spanish officer whom he met in Mindoro earlier during the waning
days of the Spanish regime when Worcester came to the Philippines for
zoological fieldwork. Worcester was then a young member of the
zoology faculty at the University of Michigan. Impressed by Baguios
temperate climate, location and beauty, he and Wright recommended
its immediate development as a summer capital.
The construction of what is now Kennon Road was a
particularly hotly debated issue both inside and outside the
government. The Americans were eager to build the road to have an
easy access to Baguio. Composed mostly of Americans, the Philippine
Commission was then the legislature of the Philippines. It freely and
speedily appropriated money for the project. Construction started in
January 1901 and after two engineers failed it was completed in 1905
by a third, Major L. W. V. Kennon, at the staggering cost of $2,000,000.
It was originally thought to cost only some $75,000. The enormous
expense in building the road was severely criticized by the Filipino
nationalistic press which saw it as a case of the government being
stingy toward the people and lavish toward itself. The project was
further viewed as benefiting the Americans at the expense of the
Filipino people.
But the development of Baguio was not the only interest of the
Americans in the northern Luzon highlands. Since they had sole
10 An Interpretive Discussion of Colonial Legacy
deeply committed and for the most part, still are, to their age-old
animistic and ancestor-worship beliefs and practices.
While the exclusion of lowland Filipinos from Igorot
administration was a sore point, it was the establishment of the
Mountain Province in 1908 that caused much concern among the
lowland Filipinos. Together with the development of Baguio, it looked
11
suspiciously like divide and rule . Initially the Americans had
organized the different ethno-linguistic groups into provinces or
subprovinces, some of which were attached to adjacent lowland
provinces (for instance Apayao with Cagayan and Ifugao with Nueva
Vizcaya ). In 1908 all the ethno-linguistic groups were put together as
one political unit, the old or former Mountain Province, in the interest
of better coordination and supervision of their administration. It was a
huge and elongated province which included portions that are now
part of La Union and Ilocos Sur with a sea outlet in the port of
Tagudin and a northernmost boundary in Apayao, not very far from
the sea. With the stroke of a pen, the Igorots were all together in one
political unit which to some may have looked like a rather formidable
ethnic and territorial grouping as well as a blatant instance of divide
and rule. Although this was reminiscent of the former Spanish
designation of the highlands as El Pais del Igorrotes with its own
Commandante del Igorrotes during the early part of the 19th century, the
birth of the Mountain Province under the Americans was regarded
with dire suspicion of American ulterior motives. Ultimately the
boundaries were adjusted starting in 19l7. Tagudin and the mixed
Igorot portions were taken from La Union and Ilocos Sur and restored
to their neighboring lowland provinces. Also, control of the non-
Christians including the Igorots, Baguio and the Mountain Province
eventually passed on to the Filipinos who continued the development
begun by the Americans - roads and bridges, schools, and agricultural
and economic initiatives.
Conclusion
Colonialism created a cultural chasm between the lowlanders
and the highlanders and set the conditions for the destructive
stereotyping experienced even today. It seems clear that the origin and
persistence of the stereotypical lowlander view of the Igorot grew out
of the resistance of the Igorots to the pressures of the Spaniards and the
11
Consult Howard T. Frys worthy book, A History of the Mountain Province,
Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1983. An entire chapter is devoted to the establishment of the
Mountain Province. Worcester, op. cit., also contains first -hand information on his, Worcesters,
own role in the process.
12 An Interpretive Discussion of Colonial Legacy
12
Bishop Francisco Claver addressed the Consultation on April 28, 2000. See the
proceedings of the conference compiled by the Philippine Task Force of the Third Igorot
International Consultation, Baguio, 2000.
14 An Interpretive Discussion of Colonial Legacy
into sipat with the CPLA. Since the CPA and the CPLA had radically
different projects in mind, the narrative of Cordillera regional
autonomy became severely disjointed at this point. Meanwhile, the
middle sectors, led by Cordillera professionals, caught in a choice
between two unacceptable projects, found themselves aligning with
others behind the proposal for regionalization without the urgency of
autonomy as espoused by CPA and CPLA. My reading in 1990 was
that this position indicated a reaction to the fiercely ideological
positions of the CPA and CPLA.
I put forward three points regarding the CPA position in 1990.
The first was that the CPA initially argued for autonomy on the
premise of a novel construction of a Cordillera identity, calling it
Kaigorotan. As indicated by the CPAs own retreat from this concept
later as the centerpiece of their position on regional autonomy,
Kaigorotan was not well-received, running into the fact that Cordillera
natives self-identity is anchored in their village. There was, and is, no
pan-Cordillera identity. While it is true that there is a Cordillera
experience that is distinct from that of the majority of lowland
Filipinos, it is also true that this distinct common experience is rooted
in diverse social realities, particular to different Cordillera villages and
areas. Thus, I pointed out in my second paper (Phil Studies Assn
Conference July 2000) that what is common and distinct is not to be
seen in the diversity of customary laws and practices, but rather in the
fact itself of customary laws and practices.
Secondly, I pointed out, in regard to the CPAs concept of
Kaigorotan, that they had built this concept by a subtle, albeit
unwarranted inference of a Cordillera ancestral domain, that is, the
ancestral domain of Kaigorotan, from their premise that there are
Cordillera ancestral lands. This was a patent fiction, to the extent
that Kaigorotan was a novel construct, and Kaigorotan consciousness
was still to be generated.
Third, it was evident in CPA rhetoric that the project of
Cordillera regional autonomy was conceived within the larger politics
of national democracy. Even more than the patent fiction of
Kaigorotan, the specter of nat-dem (national democratic) politics
spooked the majority of the Cordillera voters. To this date,
notwithstanding the advances they have made in fostering empowered
peoples organizations in the region, there will not be enough electoral
support for an autonomous Cordillera region that has been principally
defined by the CPA for this reason. The CPA will have to engage in
coalition politics to collaborate in the articulation of a vision of
Cordillera autonomy that will have a foreseeable future.
20 Failure of Autonomy
References
1990 Casambre, Athena Lydia. Interpretation of the Debate on
Cordillera Autonomy, Baguio City: Cordillera Studies
Center. 60pp.+Bibliography of References cited.
2000 Casambre, Athena Lydia. The Frustrated Discourse on
Regional Autonomy in the Cordillera (Northern Luzon,
Philippines) and Notes Toward a Productive Discourse. Paper
presented at the 16th International Philippine Studies
Conference, Diliman, Quezon City, 11 July 2000. 21pp.+
Bibliography of References.
Republic of the Philippines. Republic Act No. 6766. An Act Providing
for An Act for the Cordillera Autonomous Region.
Republic of the Philippines. Republic Act No. 8438. An Act to
Establish the Cordillera Autonomous Region.
Introduction
When the idea for this conference was first conceived who
would have known that fundamental issues of governance would, as
we gathered, be such a prominent feature of the national discourse? As
political and constitutional issues loom large in Manila, current debates
once again highlight the importance of Cordillera Studies for
understanding Philippine society from a different perspective (cf. Scott
1985). It is for this reason that, despite the recent demise of the
Cordillera Administrative Region, I believe it is useful to give some
attention to the issue of indigenous institutions for governance in the
Cordillera and Philippine nation state.
During the 1980s organizations such as the Cordillera Peoples
Liberation Army and the Cordillera Peoples Alliance stood tall in the
face of the Marcos regime by advocating creation of a Cordillera
Autonomous Region. As most of us can recall, the idea emerged out of
a long and costly struggle to resist implementation of the Cellophil and
Chico dams projects. Village-based leaders such as Macli-ing Dulag
and hundreds of other rural highlanders with minimal formal
education worked in concert with younger highlanders, many of whom
had graduated from the finest universities in Baguio and Manila, to
successfully defeat the governments plans.
Subsequently, President Corazon Aquino, early in her term
thirteen years ago, signed a rather remarkable document that offered
the prospect of allowing the Cordillera to move toward a system of
governance which embraced features of traditional institutions similar
to those found prior to American colonization and direct rule.
Anticipating the creation of a constitutionally authorized Cordillera
Autonomous Region, Executive Order 220 established the Cordillera
Administrative Region (CAR). The new region largely followed the
geographic contours mapped by Dean Worcester as he set up the
Mountain Province in the early 1900s (Sullivan, 1992). However, unlike
Worcester, who sought to bring highlanders out of what he saw as a
backward state by importing new forms of governance from America,
President Aquinos Executive Order envisioned the possibility of
innovations that would draw upon old institutions of governance
indigenous to the Cordillera. Specifically, section 4(h) of EO 220 called
for development of indigenous laws and political institutions,
Finin 29
by the school system, selling basi and tapuy instead of commercial gin
in local stores, fostering of the bodong or peace pact system over a larger
area because it provides the fundamentals for a peaceful tribalism,
promoting the gamal or obob-ob system of communal cooperative action
among villagers, and authorizing divorce in situations where a just
cause exists because this would be more realistic than the provision of
the Civil Code of the Philippines which prohibits absolute divorce
(Wilson,[ed.] 1956:32).
The acculturation conferences were interesting for what they
revealed about educated highlanders desire to retain, and indeed be
proud of, their constructed Igorot identity. However, at this time, the
ideas were not yet seen as being viable in the foreseeable future by
more than a small circle of educated highlanders. Far from worrying
about the possible ill-effects of acculturation, the vast majority of
educated highlanders in Baguio were actually intensifying their efforts
to be the generation of Igorots that would make good in the larger
Philippine society.
In more specific terms, the Constitution then spells out how the
fourth branch of government functions.
Section 16. A certified copy of every bill which shall have
passed the Legislature shall be presented to the Council of Pilung and
Council of Tamol for consideration. The Councils shall have the power
to disapprove a bill which concerns tradition and custom or the role or
function of a traditional leader as recognized by tradition and custom.
The Councils shall be the judge of the concernment of such bill.
Section 17. The Council of Pilung and the Council of Tamol
may disapprove a bill by returning the certified copies of the bill with
their objections within thirty days after it is received from the
Legislature. A disapproved bill may be amended to meet the Councils
objections and, if so amended and passed, only one reading being
required for such passage, it shall be presented again to the Councils.
The veto power of the councils pertains to any matter within
their realm of authority over tradition. In everyday affairs, this power
has been interpreted broadly. For example, in one well remembered
instance in the 1980s the Council of Pilung vetoed a transportation
proposal to run a bus to a certain municipality on the grounds that it
was not traditional to run a bus to just one municipality and not to
36 Indigenous Institutions for Governance
Conclusion
In April 2000 Cordillera-born anthropologist and Bishop
Francisco F. Claver presented a paper to the Third Igorot International
Consultation held in Baguio. Having been away from the Cordillera for
some years before returning in 1995 to lead the Catholic communities
in the Bontoc-Lagawe area, Bishop Claver decried changes in our
peoples way of life, in their culture that in his view had very much
been for the worse. Using the term cultural deterioration Dr. Claver
recalled how in 1986, shortly after EDSA, he had visited his relatives in
Bontoc and encountered one of his kailian.
Elections had just taken place. An old man, more than 80 years
old, g-stringed, illiterate, uneducated (at least in terms of the education
your august selves went through in schools), came by the house and in
the course of our conversation he spoke about all the post-election
problems roiling the sceneaccusations of fraud, vote buying,
tampering with ballot results, etc., post-election troubles which I
accepted as matter-of-course problems in other parts of the country but
had not believed would be rife here too in our mountains.
The man went on to ask the Bishop in the vernacular, Why do
they [the cheating winners] do such things. They lose, thats it. Thats
what the people intended in their voting. Why should they change the
peoples will?
Finin 37
References
Barton, Roy F.
1949. The Kalingas : Their Institutions and Custom Law.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Introduction
Decentralization or the dispersal of power and authority from
the center to the locally based institutions of the politico-administrative
system, (Brillantes, 1992: 2) gained its currency as a response to
problems caused by over-centralized political and administrative
systems in many developing countries trying to institute reforms.
Efforts to decentralize as a mechanism for improving governance may
be found in the Latin American and Caribbean countries, as well as in
other parts of the world.
In the Philippines, the 1991 Local Government Code or
Republic Act 7160 signed in October 1991 was a significant legislation
as it set up the legal framework for the operationalization of the
principles of local autonomy and decentralization in the
Philippines. It sought to institutionalize people empowerment
through NGO participation in local governance (Brillantes, 1992: 1)
Since then, there have been efforts to document and track the
progress of decentralization and local autonomy. Scholars and
practitioners alike were interested to know about the unfolding saga of
Local Government Units (LGUs) slowly trying to experiment on the
powers given to them so as to improve the quality of life in their
communities. There was also curiosity about the prospects of
partnerships between the LGUs and the private sector (NGOs, and
POs), given the history of mutual suspicion between them.
In 1997, Steven Rood wrote a paper as part of an on-going
effort to understand experiences at the local level under the 1991 Local
Government Code (Rood, 1997). He noted the wealth of case studies
on the subject conducted by many local agencies and offices in the
Philippines 1 and the need to combine methodologies in order to arrive
at general conclusions (Rood, 1997: 17). He added that the way to
1
Rood refers to case studies done by the Philippine Business for Social Progress
(PBSP), Asian Institute of Management (through the Galing Pook Awards), Local Government
Academy of t he Department of Interior and Local Government (LGA -DILG), Department of
Health (DOH), Caucus of Development NGOs (CODE-NGO), Center for Social Policy and Public
Affairs (CSPPA, ADMU), ARD-GOLD, as well as the surveys done by the Social Weather
Stations (SWS), AIM, and ARD-GOLD.
Colongon 41
2
The writer considers this preliminary in the sense of the limited number of cases
considered in this study. See notes on method.
42 State of Decentralization
3
Putnam, Robert. Making Democracy Work: Civic Tradition in Modern Italy,
Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1993.
Colongon 45
carried out a larger variety of tasks than usual, and often voluntarily
out of a vision of the public good; (4) despite greater discretion which
would seem to provide more opportunities for rent-seeking
misbehaviors, the workers performed better with pressures for
accountability that did not come from supervisors or formal
monitoring bodies but from the information campaigns; and (5)
decentralization is not simply a dynamic between local government
and civil society, but a three-way dynamic involving activist central
and state governments, helping create an environment conducive for
better governance (Tendler, 1997:14-16)
Thompson, et al. (1997) studied the case of Haiti.
Decentralization is one of the two institutional innovations
incorporated in the 1987 Haitian Constitution, the other being
separation of powers, both of which are departures from past practices
(Thompson, et al., 1997). The unitary state is kept but the new
constitution prescribes decentralization of decision-making authority
and action capacity to three subnational levels: the communal section,
the commune, and the department (Thompson, et al., 1997: 2).
Decentralization involves (1) devolution which is the transfer of power
and authority from higher to lower level jurisdictions (e.g. national to
communal or communal section governments); and (2) deconcentration
which is the downward shift of operational decision-making authority
within ministries and other central government agencies(Thompson,
et al., 1997: 1).
In Thompsons preliminary evaluation of the context of
decentralization in Haiti, he observed that capital mobilization
strategies commonly employed focus on short-term gain rather than
investment to promote long-term growth (Thompson, et al., 1997: 4).
Moreover, many Haitians see politics as a zero-sum game (If you
win, I must lose) and thus does not predispose them to collaborate
with each other on joint efforts (Thompson, et al., 1997: 4)
In the study of the Haitian decentralization efforts, Thompson,
et al. compared Haitian experiences with those from the Philippines,
Latin America (Bolivia) and Caribbean (Mali and Madagascar)
countries. They said that the forces for/against decentralization in
Haiti are also essentially similar to the social, economic and political
forces that have fostered/resisted decentralization in other LAC
countries (Thompson, et al., 1997: 32).
Not unlike other LAC during the eighties, Haitians have
concentrated their initial energies on debating and developing the
legal, fiscal, constitutional, and political arrangements that must be put
46 State of Decentralization
A Note on Method
This paper utilizes data from the regional reports I have
generated from cases in the Cordillera Administrative Region as part of
the Rapid Field Appraisal (RFA) of Decentralization in the Philippines
in 1996 to 1999.4
The RFA focuses on the local perspective. Consultants and
researchers familiar with their regions observe, investigate, and report
on local opinions and experiences of the decentralization process
(ARD/GOLD, 1999:17). It yields very different information than do
conventional evaluations that rely on reports to central government
from government field representatives, or studies which attempt to
portray local reality by interpreting what should be happening as a
result of policiesemanating from the center. Instead, RFAs
emphasize yielding the field perspective as feedback to the progress of
decentralization (ARD/GOLD, 1999:19). The latest round of RFA in
1999 covered 16 regions, 40 provinces, 27 cities, and 90 municipalities.
Interviews (using Key Informant Interviewing and Focus Group
Discussion) were conducted (ARD/GOLD, 1999:19).
While the sample may count for a reading of the national
situation, the number of LGUs covered for the Cordillera
Administrative Region (CAR) is limited in number, that for the
moment would allow tentative formulations about decentralization in
the region. These tentative formulations could start a dialogue for
understanding the state of decentralization in the region. The LGUs
included in this appraisal belong to what is called the Cordillera
Administrative Region (CAR):
4
The RFA is part of the Governance and Local Democracy (GOLD) Project and was
made possible through the support provided by the US Agency for International Development
(USAID).
Colongon 49
the general leveling off of revenues that have gone to the LGUs since
1992.
The fact that the towns of Bangued and La Trinidad are at the
same level as Baguio City gives clues as to the capabilities of the said
LGUs to generate resources outside of the IRA. Baguio City is known
to be a business, educational, and tourist center in the region. It is thus
expected that Baguio City has resources to mobilize, and this is yet
without the implementation of the new tax code, which was rendered
null and void by courts due to some technicality. A new tax code
would increase the citys sources of revenue even more.
It is an advantage that the towns of Bangued and La Trinidad
are the capital towns of their respective provinces, where most of the
business activities are located. But it must be pointed out that without
innovations in the implementations of existing laws, the revenues
would not come naturally. For instance, collectors in the town of
Bangued are given incentives to ensure greater collection coverage.
This ensures additional revenue aside from income from the operation
of a Public Market (which was constructed from a loan from the
Philippine National Bank [PNB]). The town of La Trinidad is
maximizing its local enterprises, like the trading post and the new
public market. Rental fees ensure maintenance and additional income.
Nationally, it has been noted that local governments continue their
gradual increase in locally generated revenues as a percentage in total
receipt (ARD 9th RFA Synopsis, 1999). If we judge the figures in 1997
using 1993 as the base, we could say that the trends in financial status
52 State of Decentralization
*Computed as total tax revenue less the cost of collection and operation of Assessor and
Treasurer.
5
CHCA is a program that gives assistance in the form of medical supplies and funding
to LGUs. It requires a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the DOH and the LGUs and
is renewed annually. According to the respondents at DIRFO-CAR, all assistance to the LGUs is
practically channeled through the CHCA. According to respondents from the Regional Office, the
CHCA has changed in approach since the first time it was implemented in 1993. Up until about
1995, the CHCA was offered as a package to the LGUs, implying that the latter had no say in what
the provisions were in the agreement. In short, the key players and stakeholders were involved
in the planning process where they define the substance of the agreement. Renewal of the
agreement is almost automatic. There are no criteria for renewal (say, based on previous
performance). Given the nature of the service, the DOH cannot be selective in its support.
56 State of Decentralization
6
Before the MOA between PHIC and Benguet (or any other province) was signed, the
requirement was for the constituent municipalities to pass resolutions regarding: (1) acceptance of
the (PHIC) plan; (2) allocation of the counterparts of LGU; and (3) intent to sign MOA with
PHIC. In this agreement, the annual premium of P1, 188 per indigent family will be paid by the
LGU year. In identifying the beneficiaries, a technical working group takes care of gathering the
list of indigent families from Barangay Health Workers and social welfare workers. The
Barangay Captain certifies the list, which is endorsed by the mayor, then endorsed by the
governor, after which it is sent to PHIC. The PHIC takes care of validating the list, finally
targeting 10% of indigent families in the municipality. The sharing is 50-50 between the national
and local governments for 1st to 3 rd class LGUs; and 90% from national and 10% from local
government for 4 th to 6 th class LGUs. The LGU share will still be divided between the province
and the municipality; 30% from the province, and 70% from the municipality.
Colongon 57
to focus on the big families.7 The list was given by the barangay
captains directly to the provincial government without passing
through the municipal governments. The program was implemented
in August 1997.
In general, the LCEs are very supportive of health-related
programs. In Abra, the governor supported the construction of ten
new private rooms for the provincial hospital to generate additional
revenues for hospital purposes. Almost all of the governors and 75% of
the mayors have given incentives to Barangay (village) Health Workers
(BHWs), the health volunteer workers. Many LGUs in the region are
already giving incentives to BHWs in the amount of 50 pesos to 100
pesos as monthly allowance.
4. Environment and Natural Resources
It must be noted that environmental functions are a partially
devolved concern since the DENR is still basically the main agency
tasked to plan for this aspect. To start with, the LGUs have relatively
less powers when it comes to the environment. This is obviously
complicated by issues on Ancestral Domain and Land claims in the
region.
Creating a local ENR office is optional, with functions limited
to implementation of community based forestry projects (Integrated
Social Forestry) and management and control of communal forests
with areas not exceeding 50 sq. km., tree parks and greenbelts for cities
and municipalities. The provinces are tasked to enforce forestry laws,
pollution control law, small-scale mining law, and the operation of
mini-hydroelectric projects for local purposes.
Both provinces of Benguet and Abra have created local
environment and natural resource offices (which are directly under the
office of the governor). In other LGUs, the environment-related
concerns are either left to the field offices of the DENR (Provincial or
Municipal Environment and Natural Resource Office), or are addressed
by other local offices of the LGU. (In Baguio City, for instance, the City
Engineers Office takes care of drainage; while the General Services
Office takes care of solid waste management.)
7
According to Vice-Governor Culangen who heads the AHIP, the expense of every
person in a hospital is 2, 500 pesos. The health insurance guarantees 90 hospital days for each
family every year. If each of the five members of a family spends 10 days in the hospital, this
means only fifty days. The provincial government saves considering that this means only a little
more than 500 pesos (as per the 50/50 counter-parting). He says that it is more expensive to
personally pay for the medical expenses of the constituents on a person-to-person basis than when
they approach for personal help. The savings can be used to expand the clientele.
58 State of Decentralization
Participation
One of the significant indicators that decentralization is
working is the degree to which there is peoples participation in
governance. Participation could happen in all possible aspects of local
governance. For instance, the NGOs and POs could theoretically be
sitting in any of the LSBs and give inputs for resource generation,
health, social welfare, agriculture, and environment related concerns.
However, private sector involvement in governance is still very
minimal. NGO participation in LDCs is limited to attendance in
meetings, but not in actual implementation of projects. In the LGUs
covered, the only notable NGO participation that could be noted is that
of the CCAGG (Concerned Citizens of Abra for Good Government) in
Abra. The CCAGG is involved in many monitoring and evaluation
activities of ongoing projects in the province. In Baguio City, the
Church is involved in stopping the entry of gambling in Baguio City. It
is also active in environmental activities (the eco-walk and the cleaning
up of the Balili River are worth noting).
But generally, despite the number (there are more than 200
NGOs in Baguio City alone), the LSBs have remained non-functional.
Meetings are held only to meet the minimum requirements of the code.
60 State of Decentralization
The enthusiasm for participation, which might have been present at the
beginning of the implementation of the Code, seems to have cooled
down. As such, there is very little change from a generally lukewarm
relationship between the NGOs and the LGUs observed since the start
of the LGCs implementation.
Certainly, a separate paper could be written to explain the
various reasons why the NGO community suspects governmental
activity in many areas in the region.
Summary
As in other parts of the Philippines, LGUs in CAR are in
various stages of operationalizing local autonomy and decentralization
by way of implementing the provisions of the LGC of 1991. There is
unevenness across LGUs as well as across sectors or services within the
LGU.
1. Slowly and with caution, the LGUs are trying to expand
the base of sources of revenues. This is understandable.
On the one hand, new taxes are not the sort of projects that
would attract votes during election. On the other hand, the
LGUs need technical assistances to be able to explore other
opportunities for revenue generation.
Conclusion
There is appreciation among the LGUs for the value of local
autonomy, at least as enshrined in the LGC of 1991. However, there is
unevenness in the understanding as there is also unevenness in the
operationalization of the code. As LGUs attempt to implement the
provisions of the Code, a deepening and approximating of a common
understanding of the LGC is imperative.
Some officials have expressed the need to understand the Code
better. Until now, however, very few (if at all) of the LGUs have tabled
the discussion of the Code on its agenda. This was the observation
even during the mandatory review of the Code two years ago. At that
time, the closest that the LGU had come was to gather comments from
concerned officials with the mayor validating and clarifying the issues
raised regarding the LGC.
There is not much difference in the level of decentralization if
we compare provinces and municipalities. It seems like there is more
evidence of advancing decentralization according to the leadership
skills and management style of local chief executives. Even
prioritization of basic services does not necessarily depend on the
income classification of the LGU. There are indications that LGUs are
seeing the value of political and fiscal autonomy.
Based on these preliminary observations, some insights
mentioned in the decentralization efforts in other countries may also be
found. First is the importance of leadership. Tim Campbell (1997)
mentioned that the new governance model is characterized by, among
others, a new leadership style. In the cases cited, leadership is most
important. But by leadership, I would refer to the initiative exercised
by all sectors concerned. It includes the political will mentioned by
Blair (1997) which refers to the role of the executives, as well as the
leadership of department heads in the LGU, the heads of NGOs and
POs, and even those from the NGAs.
Colongon 63
LGU NGO/POs
Community NGA
satisfaction should be done. Rood (1998) has shown how survey data
was used to measure citizen opinions on service delivery.
Second is the role of citizen participation. Blair (1997) talks
about inclusiveness or the inclusion of formerly marginalized sectors
into decision-making. Similarly, Peterson (1997) talks about
decentralization as having produced a remarkable variety of local
experiments in citizen participation in governance (Peterson, 1997:31).
While a few cases of citizen participation could be cited as good
practice, this remains to be seen more widely in the Cordillera Region.
Civil society has to emerge as a source of inputs for LGU and
community activities.
Finally, intergovernmental relations are a particular dynamic
that bears upon the LGUs efforts to operationalize decentralization,
while intergovernmental relations may also include cooperative
activities between LGUs in addressing common problems. I would like
to zero in on the relationship between the NGAs and the LGUs.
The way NGAs have or have not redefined their roles in the
context of a decentralized setting has bearing on LGU activities. As
mentioned earlier, the NGAs could assume, as Tendler puts it, an
activist stance. This, however, remains to be seen more
systematically in the region.
From the LGU perspective, there is not much change in the
way the NGAs relate to them. As one respondent said, we do not
really expect it to change since we are dealing with the same people in
the regional offices. Under the Estrada Administration, national
programs continued to be implemented by the NGAs through the
LGUs. Some respondents expressed that this was good for the sake of
continuity in government programs. While additional incentives for
devolved personnel come with many of these packages, this reinforces
the sentiment of the devolved personnel to want to be recentralized.
Blair (1997) call this reverses in decentralization.
Also, while most of these national programs require a
community-based approach and community empowerment, many of
these remain wanting in practice. Deadlines of donor agencies may
sometimes bring the project implementers to resort to short cuts.
It may be significant to note that the DENR and DOH were
reorganizing beginning late last year (1999). The DENRs services,
namely FMS, LMS, EMPAS, and ERDS, have their own administration,
operations and technical services. This means that these are operating
separately from each other. Under the proposed reorganization, these
services would be merged to service the different areas mentioned
Colongon 65
References
Associates in Rural Development, Inc.-Governance and Local
Democracy (ARD/GOLD) Project. 1998. Synopsis of Findings,
8th Rapid Field Appraisal of Decentralization.
Associates in Rural Development, Inc.-Governance and Local
Democracy (ARD/GOLD) Project. 1999. Synopsis of Findings,
9th RFA of Decentralization.
Blair, Harry. 1997. Democratic Governance in Bolivia. CDIE Impact
Evaluation, Number 6. USAID
Boyer, William W. 1990. Political Science and the 21st Century: From
Government to Governance. PS: Political Science and
Politics.
Brillantes, Alex. 1992. Essay on the Local Government Code of 1991
and NGOs. CSC Issue Paper No. 1. Cordillera Studies Center,
University of the Philippines College Baguio.
________. 1997. Decentralized Democratic Governance under the
Local Government Code: A Governmental Perspective. Paper
prepared for the 3rd European Conference on Philippine
Studies. Aix-en-Provence, France, 19-27 April.
Campbell, Tim. 1997. Innovations and Risk Taking: The Engine of
Reform in Local Government in Latin America and
Caribbean. World Bank Discussion Paper No. 357.
Institute of Governance, Ottawa, Canada. 1999. As cited in Mobilizing
State-Society Partnerships for Effective Governance: Lessons
from Six ASEAN Pilot Projects. Development Academy of the
Philippines.
Panganiban, Elena. 1999. Emerging Trends and Issues within a
Devolved Framework of Local Governance. Paper prepared
for the RPG Policy Study Group Meeting, Hyatt Regency
Hotel, Manila, 18 March.
Peterson, George. 1997. Decentralization in Latin America, Learning
Through Experience. Viewpoints. World Bank Latin
American and Caribbean Studies, The World Bank,
Washington D.C.
Colongon 67
In Beyond Orientalism:
Alternative Writings on Cordillera
History the author focuses on alternative
interpretations to Philippine history and
re-presentations of the Cordillera Past.
Abstract
Since the publication of Edward Saids Orientalism in 1978, the
analysis of colonial discourse has become a popular area of academic
inquiry (Williams and Chrisman, 1987). Though colonial
historiographies have been the dominant histories, these
representations by the west of their subject populations have not
resulted in despondence. Third World peoples have challenged these
with re-presentations and post-colonial discourse has become the arena
for alternative inquiry. Are these productions adequate alternatives?
There are issues though that have been posed regarding the
process of reconstructing the histories of subject populations. As a
postcolonial intellectual Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak asked: Can the
subaltern speak? Can the subject population reclaim its place in
history?
A survey of post-orientalist historical writings on the
Cordillera would show that the foci have been on resistances and
culture. Who has done the problematizing of Cordillera history? Since
representation of the past is a source of power, has the body of
historical scholarship on the Cordillera achieved empowerment
through praxis (historical writing)? In contesting colonial
historiography, have the alternative versions of Cordillera history
appropriated the peoples/peoples control of the past?
1
In August 1999, the Cordillera Studies Center through the Discipline of History-UP
College Baguio convened the 1st Seminar-Workshop on Cordillera Historiography. In November
1999, a roundtable discussion on Cordillera local history and indigenous institutions was
conducted. This paper takes off from the results of the said activities.
72 Beyond Orientalism
2
Peter Burke, Overture: The New History, its Past and its Future, in New
Perspectives on Historical Writ ings edited by Peter Burke (Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State
University Press), pp. 1-23.
3
F.R. Ankersmit, Postmodernism and Historiography, in The Postmodern History
Reader edited by Keith Jenkins (London and New York: outkedge, 1997), p. 148.
4
Ankersmit, p. 148.
74 Beyond Orientalism
5
I hope this paper does not create the impression that postmodernism is not one chunk
of a definition. Keith Jenkins in his introduction to The Postmodern History Reader (1997)
classifies post-modernism according to the posture of its practitioners: the radicals, the
traditionalists and the undecided/nuanced others. This will no longer be elaborated in this paper
since the purpose of this presentation is simply to provide an idea of the effect of postmodernism
in the reconstruction of Cordillera history.
6
Ankersmit, p. 152.
7
Gyan, Prakash, Writing Post -orientalist Histories of the Third World: Perspectives
from Indian Historiography, in Comparative Studies in Societies and History 32 (April 1990:
383-408).
Florendo 75
8
The concept of post -colonial could either be epistemological or chronological. For
this paper, the following general definition from Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin,
The Empire Writes Back (Routledge, 1989), p. 2 is used: post -colonial covers all the cultures
affected by the imperial process from the moment of colonialization to the present day. The
authors describe the commonality in the literatures produced from these regions and areas as
literatures that emerged in their present form out of the experience of colonization and asserted
themselves by foregrounding the tension with the imperial power, and by emphasizing their
differences from the assumptions of the imperial center.
9
With apologies to Benedict Anderson who authored Imagined Communities:
Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism , (London: Verso, 1983).
76 Beyond Orientalism
10
The book Social Construction of the Past: Representation as Power (Routledge,
1994) edited by George Clement Bond and Angela Gilliam has been most useful. The materials
for this section in clude: the papers that were presented at the 1st Seminar on Cordillera
Historiography, August 1999; proceedings of the roundtable discussion on Cordillera local history
and institutions, November 19999; graduate theses mostly in the field of education produced in
Baguio; occasional papers produced by organizations courtesy of friends from Tebtebba, the
Cordillera Resource Center for Indigenous Peoples Rights, Cordillera Peoples Alliance, the
Cordillera Womens Education and Resource Center and other organizations; surveys of available
Cordillera histories and related studies conducted by individuals usually from academe; discussion
and papers read during the Third Igorot International Consultation, April 26-28, 2000, Baguio
City. I have been most fortunate to have acquired 2 more recent works that feature the Cordillera:
Annales del Museo Nacional de Antropologia Numero V (1998) courtesy of Patricia Afable; and
Lynn M. Kwiatkowski, Struggling with Development: The Politics of Hunger and Gender in the
Philippines (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1999), which features Ifugao society. My recent
involvements in the Ethnoarcheology Project and the Indigenization of Education in the
Cordillera, both sponsored by the University Center for Integrative and Development Studies
provided me insights on Cordillera prehistory and culture respectively. A personal research
undertaken during my sabbatical leave in 1998 Collective Memories from the Periphery
provided me the opportunity to review available literature. The works of the late William Henry
Scott are a must when reviewing Cordillera historiography. There are only a few works that just
focus on Cordillera history, thus I have included in this review works that have attempted to
include historical narratives.
Florendo 77
11
Bond and Gilliam, Social Constructions, p. 11 and fully discussed in the contribution
of Michael Rowlands, The Politics of Identity in Archaeology in the aforementioned book.
78 Beyond Orientalism
Diagram I
Innermost circle: The subject matter is the Cordillera past
Middle concentric circle: The purposes of reconstructing the
Cordillera past
Outer circle: Contributions of the reconstruction of the
Cordillera past
Florendo 79
Diagram II
Innermost circle: The activity is the problematizing of Cordillera
history
2 nd concentric circle: The subject matter of the problematizing of
Cordillera history
3 rd concentric circle: Problematizing Cordillera history has led to
defining ethnicities and identity
Outermost circle: Issues that have arisen from the problematizing
of Cordillera history
Spheres of etic and emic problematizing of Cordillera history
80 Beyond Orientalism
In Closing
Any historiographic work should produce a historical
narrative with some amount of theorizing. Regardless of social
purpose any historiographic work should meet the minimum demands
of historical scholarship. If it has to play the role of appropriating
power to the Cordillera peoples in terms of ensuring the peoples
control of the past, Cordillera historiography should include
empowerment and self-reflexivity as its social purpose. It is only in
this manner of approaching history that a marginalized past could be
reclaimed. This may instigate debate, but partisanship is not
necessarily antithetical to historical scholarship.
Problematizing Cordillera history is not just the domain of the
academe, historians and scholars. It should be the effort of the people
who wish to define their identity, assuming that their history is not a
foreign country 12 to them.
12
David Lowenthal, The Past is a Foreign Country, (Cambridge University Press,
1985).
Prospects, Perspectives and Problems of
Chinese Studies in the Cordillera
Anavic Bagamaspad
A. Theoretical Framework
Several scholars stand out as having significant contributions
in the study of Chinese integration in the Philippines. One is Fr.
Charles J. McCarthy. He refers to integration as a process of making a
social system one well-knit whole. He stated that:
A society is integrated when its members, regardless of their race,
creed or place of origin, move freely among one another, sharing the
same opportunities and privileges, bearing equal concern for one
anothers needs and assuming equal duties in promoting the
common good.
82 Chinese Studies in the Cordillera
B. Methodology
Two methods of securing data were employed: the interview
and the gathering of primary data from written sources. Interviews
were concentrated in gathering family histories. First, genealogical
charts or family trees were constructed, then corresponding family
histories written. Through this method information on significant
developments per generation were obtained and data on key
personages and important events were secured. The family tree
provided benchmarks in the informants memories. Family members
were interviewed. The choice of families was based on the following:
(1) prominence in the community (2) leadership (3) length of stay (4)
extent of family relations. Notable Chinese residents in the City were
asked to list down the names of twenty leading families. Local Filipino
84 Chinese Studies in the Cordillera
residents were likewise asked to list leading Chinese families. From the
list informant families were chosen.
The written sources include records from the 1950s to the 1970s
of the Chinese in the Alien Registration Section of the City Hall. From
the data gathered from the alien registration cards of about 1,200
Chinese registrants, graphs and maps pertaining to the composition,
migration patterns, residence, occupation and legal status of the
Chinese were prepared. The records of enrolment statistics of the
Baguio Patriotic School were significant in pointing out trends in the
composition of the Baguio Chinese. The news accounts of the local
paper Baguio Midland Courier were invaluable in forming a picture of
the local Chinese from 1947 to the time the study ended. The books
locally published Baguio and Mountain Province in the Making (1955)
and Baguio Memoirs (1964) were important records that make mention
of the early Chinese residents and their achievements in the City.
Government records, souvenir programs, school annuals were
important sources of data. Other written sources that were used were
books, journals and magazines dealing with national events that
affected the local Chinese.
From the oral and written sources, a composite history of the
Baguio Chinese was written.
C. Historical Periods
The discernible historical periods are (1) the period of the early
Chinese (2) the American period (3) the War Years and (4) the period of
the Philippine Republic. A conclusion provides the analysis on the
integration of the Chinese into the Baguio community.
No clear division is made between the pre-Spanish and
Spanish periods. The use of the term early is to denote the period of
time prior to the effective Spanish colonization in the Cordillera
characterized by continuing relations between the Chinese and the
natives. The short period of Spanish occupation in the Cordillera also
falls under the period of the early Sangley. Effective Spanish
government in the Cordillera only began in the 1840s. However,
Hispanic influence in the economic and in the socio-cultural life of the
natives had begun prior to this date. The Chinese had been of
significant influence to the native highlanders in pre-hispanic and
Hispanic Cordillera. Trading was conducted and a commercial system
between the Chinese and the Cordillera people was developed.
Through the efforts of the Spanish government quite a number of
Chinese were brought into the Cordillera. A company so-called
Sociedad Minero-Metalurgia Cantabero-Filipina de Mankayan was
Bagamaspad 85
Part II.P
II.P r o s p e c t s , P e r s p e c t i v e s a n d P r o b l e m s o f
Chinese Studies in the Cordillera
This section takes off from a) the historical study on the
integration of the Baguio Chinese presented in the first part of the
paper, b) various sources on the Philippine Chinese and c) various
sources on the overseas Chinese in different parts of the world.
The following section presents possible areas of research, new
perspectives and selected problems of Chinese Studies in the
Cordillera:
2. Socio-Cultural Studies
Gender Relations and Family Strategies
The Role of Migrant Chinese Women
Demographic Changes
Acculturation and Cultural Transformations
Minority-Majority Relations
Integration
3. Ethnicity and Identities
Inter-ethnic relations
Chineseness: Self-ascription and ascription by others
Positive and negative content in the search for identity
Inter-ethnic marriages
4. Political and Structural
The role of the state and local government in legislation
Impact of Political Expediencies and Lack of a national
policy towards the Chinese
B. Perspectives/Approaches
1. A Perspective Inclusive of a Variety of Histories
There are levels at which a meaningful history for the Chinese
could be viewed. For the ethnic Chinese the question to ask is: What
does it mean to identify ones present with history? What does it mean
to identify ones future with history? Wang Gungwu, noted scholar on
the haquiao (overseas Chinese) presents four ways for the Chinese to
link the past with the future. The first two are (1) looking back at
various aspects of history and identifying with selected parts of that
history; (2) seeking a new history together with their fellow citizens,
mostly of different cultural and historical backgrounds. These two
present an exclusive, either/or basis for choosing ones history. Apart
from these, however, Wang Gungwu offers two more inclusive ways of
seeing the past: (3) that the ethnic Chinese reach beyond all national
borders to embrace a common human history, as befitting an era of
globalization, and (4) that they will weave their own personal pasts in
an inclusive way. This is something that modern education and
technology have begun to make possible. An example of this is
concentrating on their personal memories and being flexible in
choosing which of the pasts available to them to include in their own
personalized past. (The point is that a personalized and inclusive past
could be enlightening and liberating without threatening ones
loyalties to community and nation state.)
Studies on the ethnic Chinese usually preclude identities
outside the dominant Chinese communities. An approach that is open
to studying varying ethnicities enriches the field of inquiry and
provides greater understanding of the dynamics of inter-ethnic
relations.
2. Multi-Factoral Approach
A multi-factoral approach takes different factors into
consideration to explain complex issues. Consideration of as many
factors to explain a single issue/issues brings clarity to the research
concern. This prevents narrow, ethno-centric tendencies. An example
of a lack of multi-factoral approach resulting in ethnocentrism is the
regard for the Chinese as inherently good in business.
3. A Multi-Vocal Approach
A multi-vocal approach is quite a new approach. It brings to
the fore the voice of individuals or groups involved in the history. It
makes sure to give space to different ways people see their place in
90 Chinese Studies in the Cordillera
References
Alip, Eufronio M. 1993. The Chinese in Manila. National Historical
Institute.
Ang See, Teresita and Baviera, Aileen S.P. 1992. China Across the Seas:
The Chinese as Filipinos. Quezon City: Philippine Association
for Chinese Studies.
Ang See, Teresita. 1997. Chinese in the Philippines Problems and
Perspectives. Vol. 1. Manila: Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran.
Ang See, Teresita, ed. 2000. Inter-cultural Relations, Cultural
Transformation and Identuy: The Ethnic Chinese. Manila:
Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran.
Bagamaspad, Anavic and Hamada-Pawid Zenaida. 1985. A Peoples
History of Benguet. Benguet: Baguio Printing and Publishing
Co., Inc.
Cheng, Charles L. and Bersamira, Katherine V. 1997. The Ethnic
Chinese in Baguio and in the Cordillera, Philippines. Baguio
City: Unique Printing Press.
Fry, Howard. 1983. A History of the Mountain Province. Quezon City:
New Day Publishers.
Go Bon Juan. Translated by Joaquin Sy. 1996. Myths About the Ethnic
Chinese. Manila: Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran.
Reed, Robert. 1999. City of Pines: The Origins of Baguio as a Colonial
Hill Station and Regional Capital. 2 nd ed. Baguio City: A-Seven
Publishing, 1999.
Scott, William Henry. 1974. The Discovery of the Igorots: Spanish
Contacts with the Pagans of Northern Luzon. Quezon City:
New Day Publishers.
92 Chinese Studies in the Cordillera
Assorted glazed pottery sherds or various colors found during the field
practicum along grasslands, trails and backyards.
E t h n o a r c h a e o l o g y a n d C o r d i l l e r a R e s ea r c h
It is crucial that efforts be directed towards archeological
research in the Cordillera, considering the current commercialization of
the regions material culture. This should be done before archeological
data is either lost or distorted. This will certainly help in the
reconstruction of settlement patterns, prehistoric way of life, economic
patterns, etc. And even if prospects are bright for ethnoarchaeological
research in the Cordillera, there is also a demand for proper
collaboration and expertise on archeological research and its related
fields. This is the challenge put forth.
100 Mankayan Prehistory and Ethnoarchaeology
Introduction
Media coverage of court cases has tremendously increased
since the latter part of the 1980s. The Filipino public has been
constantly bombarded with news about on-going trials, emerging legal
battles, and court verdicts. This phenomenon has extended to the last
decade of the century, and as a new millennium dawns, it is evident
that the trend continues.
Media's preoccupation with legal matters has unavoidably
raised in the consciousness of some Filipinos questions about the
Philippine legal system and its ability to ensure justice. Undeniably,
there is among Filipinos a prevailing feeling of dissatisfaction with the
existing system of justice in the Philippines.
Perfecto Fernandez argues that the dissatisfaction is rooted in
the fact that the existing legal system is a mere western transplantation
of legal concepts which are not wholly compatible with traditional
Filipino beliefs and values. Any effort to address the dissatisfaction
therefore requires an understanding of the incompatibilities between
folk legal culture and the western-style legal system.
This incompatibility is most evident in the Cordillera where
both national law and customary law are recognized and used.
Incidentally, Schlegel contends that the indigenous peoples of the
Philippines (like those in the Cordillera) are, to some extent, still
practicing the kind of culture that was representative of all pre-colonial
societies. Conflicts arise from the adherence to separate legal systems
the national and the customary in indigenous communities like those
in the Cordillera. Such conflicts resemble the uneasy relationship
between folk legal culture and state law in the lowland areas of the
Philippines.
If the aforementioned claims are accepted, an examination of
dispute-settlement practices among Cordillera groups can,
therefore, provide information regarding pre-colonial systems of
justice. It is then possible to arrive at some explanation for the
dissatisfaction with the system and to obtain an understanding of the
incompatibilities between the traditional and contemporary legal
systems. Needless to say, any effort to fuse or link both systems should
first consider the issue of incompatibility.
104 Notions of Justice in the Cordillera
Research Objectives
The aim of the study is to abstract the key elements which
constitute the notions of justice from the ethnographic and other
secondary data in the Cordillera.
Ciencia 105
Research Method
The researcher conducted an analysis of secondary data on
Cordillera groups. Data for the study were obtained from three
sources: (1) ethnographic studies, (2) survey results, and (3) findings
of key-informant interviews.
Note on Materials
Using materials that are available at the U.P. College Baguio
Library and the Cordillera Studies Center, the researcher relied
immensely on the more exhaustive and earlier ethnographic studies.
This preference for the "earlier" ethnographic works is rooted in the
researcher's desire to have an understanding of Cordillera customary
law and practices at a time when colonial western influence on
traditional life was not yet very pervasive. However, for the sake of
brevity, only the analyses of ethnographic studies on the Ifugao,
Kalinga, and Bontok will be discussed in this paper. Nonetheless, such
presentation should suggest the prevalence of diversity in the
Cordillera.
The survey results and findings of key-informant interviews
were obtained exclusively from the joint Cordillera Studies Center
(CSC) and Social Weather Stations (SWS) project entitled "Ethnic
Variations in Citizen Attitudes to Government, Dispute Settlement, and
Mechanical Solidarity." The intention in using the survey results and
the key-informant interviews was to obtain data on Cordillera dispute-
settlement practices and attitudes in contemporary times, that is, after
some acculturation had already taken place.
The CSC-SWS survey covered all of the Cordillera provinces
except Apayao which was excluded due to travel constraints. Key-
informant interviews, meanwhile, were conducted in selected
communites in all of the research sites except Bontoc. Key-informants
were asked about contemporary dispute-processing practices in their
communities.
Unlike the presentation of the ethnographic data, the survey
results offer more representative and recent information regarding
dispute settlement behavior. On the other hand, while the community
data offer an in-depth look into dispute-settlement procedures and
behavior in the Cordillera at the barangay level, only the communities
in four provincial sites will be included in the presentation. Only
communities where the dominant ethnic group is large are considered
in the presentation. Thus, only the community data (results of key-
106 Notions of Justice in the Cordillera
Concept of Offenses
Offenses in Bontoc are, to a large extent, understood as
offenses against the ili or village. An offense is a public offense
inasmuch as it injures the village. This is shown by the fact that the
fines in Bontoc go to the elders who are the decision-makers in the
community. The aggrieved individual and his family members rarely
benefit from these fines given the taboo against eating the food of an
enemy. It must be qualified however that this taboo actually allows the
aggrieved and family members to seek private settlement or, in earlier
Ciencia 109
times, to exact personal vengeance on the offender. The mere fact that
the whole family is forbidden from partaking of the fines means that, to
some extent, the whole family has been offended and is allowed to
avenge the offense. However, unlike the Ifugaos and the Kalingas, the
Bontok do not treat offenses simply as offenses against the kinship
group.
The Bontok village is, however, divided into wards or ator and
a villager is necessarily affiliated to a ward. Now, an injury to a
member of the ator is handled both as an injury to the ator and to the
village. Nonetheless, in Bontoc violations including theft are generally
seen as offenses against a collectivity and against honor, i.e. not simply
against property.
In Ifugao, offenses are seen as offenses against the individual
and the kinship group. This means that the kinship group can seek
redress for any injury inflicted upon any of its members. Injuries are
also seen as violations on the honor of the kinship group. As Barton
contends, Ifugaos tend to regard petty offenses like non-payment of
debts as an insult. Conversely, the indemnities paid to the aggrieved
person must also be shared by his kin. Unlike the Bontok, the Ifugaos
have a vague notion of a political community and do not recognize a
territorial leader or a common authority. The Ifugaos therefore do not
also understand offenses as offenses against the community as the
Bontoks do.
The Kalingas, meanwhile, view offenses as offenses against
both the kinship group and the region, i.e. the territory traditionally
occupied by kinsmen. While the pangat or Kalinga chieftain is a
spokesman for his kinship group, he also endeavors to fix disputes and
maintain peace in the region. In fact, he may even injure his own
kinsmen if it would restore peace in the region. The handling of inter-
regional disputes highlights the distinction between the Ifugaos and
the Kalingas. Among the Ifugaos, an injury inflicted on the kinship
group by an outsider is still an offense against the kinship group.
Among the Kalingas, an injury inflicted by an outsider is punished as
an injury to the district. Any member of the opposite district can
expect retaliation by merely being a member of the offending district.
The Kalinga practice of forging peace pacts reinforces this
understanding of collective offense. The pact holder is an agent of the
other district and also the protector of the home region. He can punish
offending village mates as an act of retaliation in behalf of the other
region. At the same time, he also punishes these offending village
mates in behalf of his home region for placing its security and
constituents at risk.
110 Notions of Justice in the Cordillera
One can therefore argue that while there are differences in the
way offenses are viewed, these are generally seen as directed against a
collectivity. An injury is ultimately seen as directed against the kinship
group, the village, or the region, and rarely treated as the sole injury to
one individual. While one can argue that offenses are committed by
individuals, under Cordillera custom law, the individual is not the
reference point but rather the collectivity - the kinship group, the
village or the region, especially when third parties are excluded, e.g.
go-between, community leaders, etc. In fact, even in private
settlements or instances of vengeance, individuals other than the
aggrieved or the aggressor may be involved.
It must be qualified however that the above should not be
taken to mean that since offenses are generally directed against a
collectivity, Cordillera groups have an impersonal understanding of
law and offenses. On the contrary, the opposite is true. Offenses are
"personal." They are directed against persons. Violations under
modern law, like illegal possession of weapons for instance, would not
be regarded as an offense under custom law in the Cordillera since
there is no person (or group of persons) who is clearly the aggrieved
party.
Offenses must necessarily involve persons. When a person
feels aggrieved, he or she can bring the matter to the kinship group or
to the community for the leaders to determine whether a conflict case
exists. This suggests that custom law is flexible and can consider new
offenses as they arise.
Concept of Remedies/Punishment
Remedies are understood in relation to offenses. If the injury
of an individual is taken as the injury of a collectivity then that
collectivity, and not only the offended individual, must be appeased by
the remedies. In the same token, if the fault of one individual is the
fault of a collectivity then that collectivity should be punished
alongside the individual.
It can be gleaned from the ethnographic data that the
assessment of fines has replaced vengeance as punishment or remedy
for injuries inflicted on the aggrieved. Obviously, there are variations
in the way fines are determined and who should receive them. In
Bontoc, in petty cases of theft the victim secures replacement for his
stolen property from the offender. In serious cases, the offender is
usually fined a pig or a chicken which is butchered and eaten by the
elders. Again, the victim does not partake of the fines. Fines accrue to
the elders inasmuch as it is the village which has been offended.
Ciencia 111
fearing more severe fines should it lose the case. A fair go-between is
indispensable then. Compensations for go-betweens serve as checks on
the actions of go-betweens. Fewer cases would be brought to a go-
between who has a reputation for being unfair. Thus, his
compensation would not be large. Of course, an unfair go-between can
also expect the wrath of a dissatisfied party.
Throughout the Cordillera, the primary aims of punishments
and remedies then are the appeasement of the aggrieved, the
restoration of friendly relations between disputing parties, and the
deterrence of future offenses. Whether disputes are settled privately
between disputants or settled through the intervention of a third party,
the initial purpose for seeking redress is appeasement. This can mean
compensating the loss of the offended. When third parties are asked to
facilitate the settling of disputes, reconciliation and deterrence become
the aims of remedies. It must be stressed that punishment is rarely
employed for its own sake. Punishment results either in compensation
or some gains for the aggrieved or in reforming the offender and
deterring future offenses.
Concept of Procedures
Apart from private settlements or personal vengeance, i.e.
remedies not involving third parties, there are two basic procedures
used in resolving disputes: (1) face-to-face hearings or trials, and (2)
private negotiations involving a go-between.
In face-to-face hearings, the disputing parties and their
witnesses are cross-examined by a council or by an interrogator
mutually selected by disputants. A verdict is issued at the end of the
cross-examination and exchange of claims and counterclaims. In places
where a council has the sanction of the community, either arbitration or
adjudication is employed. It must be stressed however that the verdict
is the collective decision of the council. In places where an interrogator
is employed by the disputing parties, the verdict is still subject to the
approval of both. Some form of negotiation then takes place until an
acceptable settlement is reached.
In private negotiations involving a go-between, negotiations
also occur but these are not made in face-to-face meetings. The go-
betweens move to and fro between disputants, bringing news of new
demands or compromises. Again, the final settlement must be
acceptable to both. When negotiations are involved, mediation is the
procedure used.
The use of ordeals and oaths is a matter of interest. The use of
such tests or rites are prevalent across the Cordillera. Although there
are differences in the objects used, the manner in which tests or rites
were conducted, and the way the results were interpreted, these were
resorted in cases where suspects deny their guilt or where there are no
suspects at all.
Yet, despite the belief that the gods are on the side of the
innocent, case handlers see to it that contestants are more or less evenly
matched as is the case in wrestling contests. With regard to the Bontok
practice of consulting the omen of the chicken gall, it must be
remembered that it is merely a confirmation of a verdict arrived at,
given the testimonies of parties involved. It can be expected that the in
most cases the gall is normal. On the other hand, it has been argued
that certain ordeals have scientific basis. In the rice-chewing ordeal,
the nervous offender is most likely to have the driest chewed-rice and
is thus pronounced guilty.
It must be stressed that the ordeals have significance only
when people believe in their results. There are reports of suspects
being caught putting certain applications on their hands and arms so
they would not be scalded, knowing that otherwise they would be
Ciencia 115
very precise. Although it has been noted that in some areas in the
Cordillera like Malin-awa, Buaya and Magnao in Kalinga, the
community participates in the settlement of disputes, it is not clear
whether the body as a whole makes the final decision, or community
members only offer suggestions while final decision is issued by other
individuals, or whether decisions by leaders of the community are
regarded as decisions by the whole community. Still, the fact that the
"community" is explicitly mentioned in almost 15% of the responses, at
the very least, means that the welfare of the community is important in
some areas in the Cordillera. One can, in fact, compare the percentage
of respondents who identified "appeasement of the aggrieved" (1.3%)
as an important element of a just decision with the percentage of those
who mentioned "harmony in the community" (6.6%). Those who cite
"harmony in the community" are five times more than those who speak
of the "appeasement of the individual." Coincidentally, data on Bontok
reveal that the community is regarded by respondents as the aggrieved
in 51% of total cases of theft, land dispute, personal injury, murder,
rape and wife-battery.
That justice is viewed as reconciliation suggests that justice is
viewed as benefiting a collectivity, whether it is the community or the
disputing families. Justice is rarely understood as benefiting only
the individual. This notion is still consistent with customary practices.
Comparing the Cordillera data with data on the Ilocanos in
Abra, one however observes that reconciliation of disputants and
neutrality in the handling of disputes are not exclusive to the Cordillera
peoples. In fact, majority of respondents in Ilocano Abra speak of
justice only in terms of these two: "reconciliation" (42.4%); neutrality
(33.4%). This suggests a common understanding between Cordillerans
and non-Cordillerans with regard to the proper consequences of "legal"
decisions and as to how disputes should be handled.
Ciencia 119
IFUGAO (n=111)
disputants reconcile 25 22.5%
made by state authority 13 11.7%
made by community 10 9%
neutrality/fairness 10 9%
KALINGA (n=56)
made by the community 13 23.2%
made by state authority 10 17.9%
made by trad'l&state leaders 7 12.5%
actually believe in it. The reason for this paradox is simple. The sapata
is rarely resorted to because people fear its consequences.
Fines in Kalinga and Kankana-ey Mountain Province are
standard. It cannot be ascertained, however, if the standard is a
traditional one or based on the barangay ordinance. Nonetheless, in
Kalinga the offender pays cash fines which go to the aggrieved. He
also furnishes animals to be butchered for a feast. In Kankana-ey
Mountain Province, fines, whether in cash or in kind, go to the
aggrieved. In Tingguian Abra, there is no standard for determining
fines. Fines, whether cash or in kind, are shared by the aggrieved and
the elders. In Ifugao, fines are negotiated by disputants. Still, cash
fines go to the aggrieved while animal payments are butchered for
feasts.
Vengeance is generally not allowed in most of the communities
in the provincial sites. Apparently, vengeance does not usually happen
in Kankana-ey Mountain Province. Almost half of the key informants in
Kalinga say that vengeance is allowed. The rest say that vengeance is
not allowed but is unpreventable. Vengeance thus happens. Kalinga
informants say that vengeance is done by the family members of the
aggrieved. The Ifugaos say that vengeance is not allowed but it still
occurs and is carried out by family members. In Tingguian Abra,
vengeance is either allowed or is unpreventable in places where it is
not allowed. Apart from family members in Tingguian Abra, friends
can avenge the aggrieved. Among the four, the Tingguians are
apparently most traditional with regard to their view on vengeance
while the Mountain Province Kankana-eys are least traditional.
There is greater variation when it comes to the law preferred
by disputants when their cases are being processed. Among the
Ifugaos, the disputing parties have a choice with respect to the type of
law to be used in their cases. Among the Kankana-eys of Mountain
Province, most prefer customary law for cases of theft and land dispute
and national law for cases of murder and physical injury. In Kalinga,
most prefer customary law for grave cases especially murder. National
law is preferred in all other cases especially the petty ones. In
Tingguian Abra, customary law is preferred for the handling of all
cases especially the grave ones while national law is used for petty
offenses. The last observation concerning the Tingguians strengthens
the claim that among the four they are most traditional in terms of their
attitudes toward dispute-settlement.
As to which venue, e.g. barangay council, elders, or a
combination of both, is deemed effective, the Kalingas and the Kankana-
eys of Mountain Province say that the combination of the barangay
124 Notions of Justice in the Cordillera
council and the elders is effective. The Ifugaos say that the barangay
council is effective whether it handles disputes with or without the
elders. In contrast, the Tingguians say that the elders are effective with
or without the help of barangay officials. Again it must be pointed out
that in Tingguian Abra, more people prefer customary law in the
settling of disputes.
Conclusion
An examination of the ethnographic data and secondary data
obtained from the Social Weather Stations-Cordillera Studies Center
Project: "Ethnic Variations in Citizen Attitudes to Government, Dispute
Settlement, and Mechanical Solidarity" suggests that while dispute-
settlement practices in the Cordillera vary from one ethnic group to
another, from village to village, and have evolved through the years,
some commonality may be gleaned with regard to the key elements
that constitute "justice." Arguably, the ethnographic information is, to
a large extent, consistent with the survey results. The results of the
survey can be explained by the ethnographic data.
The ethnographic data have shown that offenses are almost
always viewed as injuries directed against a collectivity. The data also
show that the individual is not the primary subject of custom law. A
collectivity assumes responsibility for individual actions that are
injurious to others. Kinsmen or village mates aid an offending member
fix disputes with other kinship groups or villages. The kindred or
village mates of the offender may also assist in the payment of the
fines. At times, kinsmen or village mates are punished for the
wrongs of an offender. Conversely, the kinship group or the village
benefits from indemnities paid to the aggrieved individual.
This however should not be taken to mean that the individual
has no place under custom law. It has been noted that individuals are
allowed to exact personal vengeance or to seek private settlement
with the offender. (Still, in these instances, the kinsmen or village
mates are expected to offer assistance.) While the individual is
recognized, he is understood in relation to the larger collectivity. The
reason is basic - without the kinship group or the village, the
individual would not survive. To a large extent, rights and obligations
are bestowed on the individual by virtue of his membership in a
kinship group or a village. Rights enjoyed by an individual are exactly
the same rights possessed by kinsmen or village mates.
With regard to the family or kinship group, their importance in
Cordillera society is manifested by the fact that these primarily serve as
economic units tasked with providing for the basic needs of the
Ciencia 125
Jules De Raedt
* This article also appears in the December 1990 issue of the Saint Louis University
Privileged Ascendancy
In Philippine culture, there is a pervasive belief (and practice)
that people in a position of ascendancy (mannakabalin in Ilocano;
makapangyarihan in Tagalog; powerful in Filipino English) can bully
and abuse those below them. This comes with the concomitant belief
and practice that the criminalized have little recourse, and are helpless.
This is the most poignant in the cases of rape by fathers, guardians and
other ascendant family members (including women who do the
facilitating) of youngsters, mostly, and sometimes very young, minors.
When I express the opinion that, in the Philippines, rape is a
cultural phenomena I refer to culture as a body of shared beliefs and
concomitant practices. By this is meant not just the frequent occurrence
of rape as an act, but with it, and mainly, the underlying, pervasive
belief in a privileged ascendancy manifested in rape and other forms
of abuse, including the victims silent acceptance of their fate. This is
observable in numerous instances beyond rape, such as one jeepney
driver bullying another, because the abuser has connections (higher
up, of course), intimidation during elections, etc. Like capital
punishment, the cultural trait of a privileged ascendancy has
prehistoric roots. I have witnessed it repeatedly in northern Kalinga. As
noted historian, Dr. William H. Scott, with several decades of residence
in the Cordillera, succinctly and perceptively put it, the Cordillerans
are our contemporary ancestors.
Only persons of equal rank can afford to confront each other,
as was dramatically demonstrated when two macho Northern Luzon
De Raedt 135
(i.e., cultural) system is not a case of becoming soft on crime, but rather
a realization that killing is no longer the imperative remedy for a grave
crime. It was a decision not to be savages anymore. As a nonagenarian
head-hunter and past leader, who had killed eight during his lifetime,
simply put it around 1950: We cannot keep on killing anymore.
Nobody will be left. There is a lesson here to be learned from these
primitives, so called. (This later became a degrading term, such as
natives to refer to their simple, primitive technology, and their
mainly kinship-based, simple social organization.) Such people have
their own way of becoming advanced, on their own initiative.
They precede our much-touted civilization. Moreover, some
of them are democratic, deciding matters by consensus-seeking, instead
of the colonial-introduced division of the house with victory of one-
half plus one. In northern Kalinga, the process of resolutions through
consensus takes less time than the protracted, adversarial debates by
grandstanding politicians in Congress, ultimately ending in the
simplistic division of the house a very revealing term for the
adversarial approach. The abolition of the death penalty for grave sex
crimes was arrived at through consensus, plain and simple. Both the
revision of the law and the process in reaching it were eminently
civilized.
Nave Overkill
After all has been said, the embarrassing fact remains that we
have too many rape convicts on death row, not to mention the total
number of death convicts, now over one thousand in three years time,
and rising. The apparent hesitancy to execute seems to bespeak this
embarrassment.
In the course of the preceding, two related cultural traits have
been exposed. First, the cultural trait of privileged ascendancy; and, the
second, the cultural response to this and other heinous crimes, both in
popular sentiment and opinion, and in law Kill the bastards!
The great number of convicts for all heinous crimes currently
on death row, more than half of them for rape, and probably more in
all the categories if the law were always properly implemented, is not
only embarrassing for the country, but also baffling to law makers and
law enforcers alike. It projects a distorted picture of a country of
rapists, and makes it a leading country in per capita death convicts. For
this reason alone, the furor against death penalty is not surprising. This
widens the scope of the present inquiry.
De Raedt 137
The fault does not lie with the prosecutors and judges. They
have to implement the law. The question can be raised whether
Congress, both the Lower and Upper Houses, did not overshoot the
mark when it declared a number of type of crimes as heinous crimes
with an automatic death penalty attached. It was a once and for all
solution, with scant regard for proportionality. Literally, an overkill.
The law does provide for proportionality in crimes, including
rape, but this leaves two common sense questions: (1) does the
maximum penalty always have to be death; and (2) are the categories
of guilt always properly conceived? Since the first question implies the
second, they are best treated together.
Take for example, the extreme case of a man who abuses his
ascendancy and the familial trust of a four-year-old girl. Will his death
cure the childs trauma? On the other hand, his death is an easy
punishment from which he does not suffer, without the imposition of
any material compensation. Would it not be better for him to live in
shame, with enough time for him to come to his senses, develop sincere
remorse and repentance, and return to civilization with the prospect of
a legal pardon? Will the childs hurt not be cured better by forgiving a
living, repentant offender face to face? Does resentment against a now
dead person cure the hurt? Does his death restore the victims psyche
to normal living? I leave these questions for discussion by experienced
child psychologists and members of the judiciary.
There are further, admittedly delicate, questions to be raised.
According to current jurisprudence, it is sufficient that the penis only
partially penetrate or merely touch the vulva (labia majora), and not
the labia minora (the vagina proper) for the crime to be committed.
Does such an act committed on a prepubescent girl qualify for rape,
instead of, perhaps, grave molestation? Is the penis, as an
instrument, under these conditions, very different from a finger? It
would seem that the line between rape, as currently defined, and
molestation is very thin indeed.
On the other hand, the abolition of the death penalty would
make more sense in the presence of other reforms. One is a more
effective system of counselling. The government pays much more
attention to the rehabilitation of drug addicts than the reformation of
convicts.
Another would be the institution of gainful work
opportunities, short of the much resented forced labor, so that convicts
can earn their keep, compensate their victims, and perhaps improve
their living conditions. The convicts present living conditions are a
138 Rape and Death Penalty
Civilization
Keeping things in perspective, the current legal treatment of
rape as one of the major crimes is part of the overall business of nation
building in a developing country. This is an ongoing process that does
not always move or advance in a steady progression, and involves
spurts and double takes. It is a process in maturation with objectives
only vaguely perceived, sometimes misperceived, by the builders in
the absence of a reliable compass.
Furthermore, development is a local product tailor made, in
need of constant fittings and eventual remodelling. Foreign models,
like someone elses tailor-made clothes, do not fit, and hang
awkwardly. It is an ongoing process whose exit-stage cannot be
immediately foreseen with finality. Its success lies in the effort rather
than the outcome.
The ample imposition of the death penalty on a good number
of major crimes, with more under consideration, seems to suffer from
cultural atavism. It was mentioned earlier that in tribal, non-literate (i.e.
without written records and legal codes) communities as still exist in
the Cordillera for one, crimes are dealt with in broad-stroke
categorizations. Small-scale societies, with at most a few thousand
members, cannot afford a fine-comb treatment of crimes. Their social
(not, mental) capacity is constrained. Hence, lump sum categorization,
and a simple treatment death. A modern, differentiated, more
sophisticated society can do better in adopting the cultural change of
more refinement in its legal system.
De Raedt 139
A Human Sacrifice
Always trying to keep things in perspective, it is my personal
belief that perhaps death penalty in the Philippines should not be
abolished in one stroke today or tomorrow, in the way that it was
crudely re-imposed in one stroke in 1994.
I here recall what Emile Durkheim had to say one hundred
years ago. He was an eminent French sociologist/anthropologist, as
egalitarian perhaps as Karl Marx (Durkheim called it socialism, still
the dominant ideological and political force in Western Europe). But,
unlike Marx, he kept his social ideology, about which he produced
many tracts, separate from his scholarship.
Durkheim had something interesting to say. He believed,
stated, that the death penalty for grave crimes, such as murder, was
imposed not so much in order to punish or to take revenge on the
criminal ( an eye for an eye), but to reinforce in the population at-
large the notion of the evil of the crime. The target, he said, was not the
derelict criminal, but the crime. The execution would not, obviously,
reform the criminal, but was a drastic act, a human sacrifice, to impress
and, by its repetition, reinforce in the living the evil of the deed. (The
criminal, after all, does not suffer the punishment for long. He is dead.)
Apparently, it worked eventually for his own society, Western
Europe. Grave crimes, such as murder and rape, have come to be
viewed as national scandals. Having become rare, it puts the people in
shock.
I recall a moving event near my hometown in Belgium in 1969.
A couple, past middle age, modest and honest traders, was killed in
their truck. The killers were amateurs, with no apparent motive except
to kill. Routine police work led to their arrest. Neither the murder nor
the arrests were the main events in the story. When the date and time
142 Rape and Death Penalty
for the funeral for the hapless couple were announced, thousands of
people from neighboring villages, most of them men, took off from
work, and flocked to the church for the funeral rites. It was a religious
rite, as was customary before a burial, but their intentions were not
religious but secular. The small rural church could not accommodate
them all, but they stood together outside in silent, somber grief for the
couple most of them had never known. They stood in solemn, public
testimony to themselves, to each other, and to whoever would later
hear about it, to the evil of the deed. It was a collective peoples event, a
manifest demonstration of their belief and shock. Real cultural
convictions are rooted in and internalised through sentiments known
in psychology as the process of cathexis. It was a moving and
reinforcing event.
Durkheim wrote at the turn of the century. Later, during this
century, one Western European country after another abolished the
death penalty. By now, they are adamant about it, to the extent that
Italy refused to extradite Abdullah Ocalan to Turkey where he was
facing the death penalty for terrorism, and Boris Yeltsin suspended
executions in Russia so that his country could be admitted to the
European Council. The United Nations took the same course when it
instituted the international tribunal for war crimes and other crimes
against humanity, including outright genocide, pressured no doubt by
member countries who reject death penalty for even the most heinous
mass crimes imaginable.
Both the imposition of capital punishment and the demand for
the abolition of executions will definitely not bring down the crime rate
which is our prime concern. We are looking for an opposite sequence
of events. The position taken by some members of Congress, that it is
too early for the abolition of executions, therefore makes real sense. We
have not yet seen their effect in the long term and they have an
important role to play.
The real change that is hoped for, perhaps long in coming, is a
profound, pervasive, commonly shared cultural change a
transformation. Laws, however well intended and articulated, do not
effect attitudinal change by themselves. This reminds me of an old,
fictitious outcry, found in cartoons: There ought to be a law! There is,
of course, no such law, whatever it might seek to cover, because the
underlying common sense demand for it is simply not there. Laws that
have no roots in common beliefs are constantly flouted. We see it on a
daily basis. These laws, as against jaywalking, were not cathected.
Coming back to earth, the people still admire and fear the
smart guys who get away with things. They are powerful beyond
De Raedt 143
Public Executions
Let us go back a little in time. Early during martial law,
Ferdinand Marcos had a drug manufacturer publicly executed by a
firing squad. (He was a Chinese; a poor choice.) It stopped all drug
manufacturing and dealing almost immediately. The people, including
potential criminals were stunned. The message got through. Similarly,
during the Japanese occupation, the Japanese police (kempetai)
apprehended a couple of Kalinga headhunters, and had them publicly
executed on the plaza of Lubuagan, then the main town of Kalinga.
Headhunting stopped for the duration of the occupation, to resume
with a vengeance after liberation. The fear, and government control,
had gone.
Public executions, not the secret ones in a room behind a wall,
do have effect. They strike fear in the potentially criminal and deepen
the convictions of all others.
I have some difficulty with the term punishment as applied
to executions. Punishment has its root in earlier times. During small-
scale, tribal times, grave wrongs were avenged. The rule was to even
the score. It was personal. In Kalinga, for example, all the members of a
kinship group equally shared the guilt for a crime committed by any of
its members. The guilt was communal and so was the intent to seek
revenge on the other group. This made any member of the offending
group an equally fair target. This belief is shared by all, and also
applies in grave offenses between demes/tribes (geographically
different and politically independent communities).
As a notion, punishment embodies the evil attitude of revenge,
which is not criminalized in law. The resolve of a state, ancient or
modern, autocratic or democratic, to execute a criminal is the states
alone. The victims of the criminal, whoever they may be, are not
directly involved, and may be mere spectators at best. A third, neutral
party, the state, enacts the execution through its agencies. The actual
executioner used to wear a hood for the sake of anonymity and one of
the members of a firing squad was given a blank bullet so that none of
them will know if he killed. Anonymity is the foremost consideration.
It is absolutely not personal: walang personalan. Since the motive of
revenge has been taken out, the event should be called by a name other
144 Rape and Death Penalty
than the old punishment. I am at a loss for the proper word if that
exists.
In the old days, the color of the black hoods presented evil,
death and death to, or extermination of, evil. The criminal was seen as
evil personified. An execution had thus become a symbolic act
beneficial to all.
In the preceding, I have tried to articulate the twin, negative
cultural traits of privileged ascendancy (with focus on rape), and the
vengeful demand for the death of the criminal. The first is reluctantly
acknowledged, while the second is vigorously pursued. The latter is
the dark underside of the former. Both are equally evil. The modern
faceless action of an execution by a third, neutral party, the
government, has some redeeming value in that it is not personal.
Executions are still a must in this less than peaceful society. To
be effective, i.e., educational, they have to be public. But they should
be limited to the most horrifying crimes in order to be effective and
within the realm of the humane. The current meaning of heinous,
and the concomitant inclusive categories of such crimes are much too
broad, and smack of the old, vengeful component of punishment.
I expect flack for all this, but I am prepared. I do appreciate the
desire of the more civilized for the immediate abolition of the death
penalty. It is honest and humane. The bottom line in my argument is
that, as a nation, we cannot pretend to be what we are not. Law, also
with regard to the present issue, is not for the satisfaction of the few
who feel, and are, civilized, but for all. It is good to keep in mind what
the President once said in one of his spontaneous, off the cuff, street
level ejections (no pun intended), when confronted with the issue of the
death penalty, that This is (still) a developing country. This one did
not need, and was not given, later emendations by his spin-doctors. His
later vacillations were, no doubt, induced by pressure from nave do-
gooders (and probably his common sense perception that the current
law is a gross exaggeration). Their position, like that of Congress in
1994, is not calibrated.
We remember the by now obscure, but socially very
conscientious Durkheim of a century ago. Public executions, as he
witnessed them, are still a must as forceful reminders, until the arrival
of the hoped for double cultural transformation.
Civilization, the shedding of these traits attained by some, is
still not generally acquired. The two go hand in hand. May they fade
away in history, in the mutual embrace of contractual lover-suicides.
De Raedt 145
Introduction
There are three of us NRMP Fellows, each of whom is given
the assignment to propose a framework to allow comparison among
the three project sites in Sagada. We had worked together in the past in
interdisciplinary teams on natural resource management and are,
therefore, aware that the issues involved have economic, political and
social dimensions. But for the purpose of looking for the policy
implications from the findings of the teams that worked in the three
sites,1 I shall read what are, for me, the data that appear to guide the
economic decisions in the community. I will then draw economic
implications therefrom. I am aware that these decisions are done within
a social and political context within the political and social
framework of law, values and norms, and have consequences or a
feedback loop, if you will on the institutions of the village society in
particular, and the larger society in general. From the same pieces of
information, I shall leave it to Prof. Colongon to address the issues that
are essentially political in nature and to Dr. Brett, the social issues. But
that is only to say that I shall speak from my disciplines perspective,
aware of the ceteris paribus condition that an economist assumes.
I shall first try to locate my place among my colleagues who
have done the empirical work on this program.2 I shall not attempt to
synthesize their work that involves the contribution from the many
people from both the social and the natural sciences. However, I think I
can point out to the members of the NRMP II Team some areas where I
think some discussion among them is necessary, if only to strengthen
the basis of their individual positions, especially regarding their
reading of some of the basic, guiding principles. They must, of course,
correct any misreading of their respective work on my part.
1
In my attempt to locate the niche of a framework for economic policy-making, I
referred to the following: Proceedings of the Annual Conference Year 2, NRMP 2 Ancestral
Domain and Natural Resource Management Program in Sagada, Mountain Province; An Analysis
of the Social Arrangements in Natural Resource Management: Demang, Sagada; Social Relations
in Natural Resource Management Co Management of Natural Resources of Fidelisan, Sagada, Mt.
Province; Final Report on the Institutional Arrangement Analysis and the Ancestral Domain Issue,
Barangay Ankileng, Sagada, Mt. Province; and the reports on the three barangays from the
Community Profiling Project: Participatory Action Research in Community Resource Accounting.
2
Refer to Research Report No. 2: Community Studies on Resource
Management, 2001.
Tapang 147
C o- Management in NRMP 2
NRMP 2 uses the Community-Based Natural Resource
Management approach to the program, the objective of which is: To
develop and transfer technical, methodological, analytical, social/
institutional and policy innovations for more productive, equitable and
sustainable natural resource use ... (IDRC, 1977 cited in the
Proceedings). Ultimately, this is so that a community-based, co-
management system between local and national groups could be
instituted.
Let me now address the range of interpretation of the natural
resource that is subject to co-management, and the scope of
management according to NRMP 2 reports. I will probably keep
repeating myself when I say that the party or parties to a co-
management agreement from a community and the terms of a co-
management agreement will depend on how we define the parameters
of what constitute resources and management.
148 Economic Transaction Flows
Demang
In Demang, cultivation areas, i.e., the rice field, the vegetable
garden and the residential lot are owned by individuals or single
households. My impression is that there is no communal forest the
forests being sub-divided into saguday or clan forests. They are
jointly owned and managed by clans and, therefore, take on the
character of being corporately owned. Swiddens, grazing lands, and
water sources, together with the sacred places are communally owned.
Fidelisan
In Fidelisan, the rice field is clearly an individually-owned
property. Pine forests are claimed based on the principle of the saguday,
although there are two types of structures and each is subject to its own
set of rules. A dap-ay saguday is, historically, once a part of a communal
forest that was awarded - by whom? The report does not say - to a dap-
ay. Is it, then, communal? But only to the level of the dap-ay? Or is it
corporate? With the households in a dap-ay as the corporate members?
In addition, the mossy forests, pagpag, are communally-owned by the
members of the Fidelisan ili.
The other type of claim on the pine forests is the sinpangapo
saguday. It is family- or kin-owned and was alienated from the dap-ay
saguday. It seems to me that it corresponds to the Demang saguday; its
corporate membership is confined to families that belong to the clan-
owner.
Since the swiddens or uma, are located within the forests, and
there are three types of forests according to ownership, is the claim to
an uma consistent with the classification of its location? The report
does not say. Water, likewise, is communally-owned and its
distribution mechanism, the lampisa, is the most elaborately presented.
Fidelisan has gold ore reserves. The mineral areas outside a
saguday are identified as communal - the community with the right of
access to the Fidelisan mining area consists of six barangays. Logically,
Tapang 149
Ankileng
In Cabalfin, 2001 is found a list of land uses in the community,
viz: forest, water, pastureland, rice field, bangaan/home lot gardens,
and swidden/uma.
As far as I can make out, forests are either communal, clan-
owned, or individually-owned. Clan forests appear to be corporate,
although a forest of this type could be tax-declared in the name of an
individual member of the owning family introducing a potential land
claim disputation in the future, based on historical precedents.
Corporate and individual forests were, before their aforestation
communal grasslands.
Grassland used as a pasture, at least before those lands were
aforested, therefore, was communal. But there are now also clan-
owned pastureland. It is further claimed that former communal
swiddens are now tayan, which are forest areas owned by private
individuals. The other type of swidden is the bangaan/homelot that,
like the ricefield that is also used to cultivate vegetables, is tax declared
and privately-owned.
150 Economic Transaction Flows
in a course of action, it does not always follow that the recipient of the
benefit and the payer of the cost are always one and the same.
(Imagine, for instance, the consequences the externalities to the
community of the separate, but many, individual decisions to engage
in small-scale mining operations in Fidelisan.)
It is interesting to note that despite the divergences in
interpretation of certain aspects of co-management among the writers,
they arrive at something common at the end: the implications of the
operation of market forces on resources that are now still corporate and
communal.
In Demang, for instance, if the operation of custom law on the
saguday were pursued to its logical end, Cruz (2001) claims that a
scenario can be created of the saguday being fragmented into pieces of
individual property and she correctly raises potential management
problems such as economies of size and externalities. But Cruz also
points to the new incentives that will emerge once the clan forest
becomes individual. Reciprocity will be replaced with more market-
oriented exchanges.
In Fidelisan, the residents say that the present generation
cannot even use up the existing pine forests. But there is an implicit
ceteris paribus assumption to that statement: that the current uses of
lumber and other forest products and the rate of forest exploitation are
constant. However, as San Luis (2001) says, we have to recognize what
could impinge on the forests the worth of lumber in the market.
Introduced in Fidelisan, therefore, is a new social value the
economics of the forest. In Ankileng, the writer asks: Are the people
ready to enter a truly market-driven economy?
Therefore, when any of the recommendations above is
considered, investment is a concomitant act. Resources are committed
to it - but only after calculating its net return, the rate of return that
considers all costs and the assurance that the dividends from the
investment are received at the end of some foreseeable term.
There is also a hierarchy of need, and temporal considerations
in making an investment decision. Immediate survival from using the
resources that are accessible to a household precedes the issue of
sustainability of the same resources even if the user is aware that
there are future adverse consequences. NRMP I has taught us the
tension between productivity and sustainability as objectives in
resource management (see Rood, 1995).
In the next section, I shall be asking where resources are
currently being invested. The economist always assumes that the
152 Economic Transaction Flows
Figure. I. The Typical NRMP Farming Household: Its Input & Output Flow
3
In the circular flow of transactions in the market system, the household is the basic
consumption unit according to current usage, other than owning the factors of production. The
formal literature of the orthodoxy, however, still uses the individual consumers utility function to
explain demand behavior - not yet the households utility function, although there are
developments in theory happening along this direction. There is a significant difference there that
begs to be reconciled. (Incidentally, this fuzziness provides a fertile ground for feminist critique,
and research utilizing feminist perspectives. If the family is indeed the basic consumption unit -
and there is a not insignificant distinction between household and family - and its consumption
preference is represented by a single utility function, whose utility function is that, feminist
scholars ask? The household head? But household heads are typically males, yet essentially in
whose domain is determining the patterns of household consumption? Or is the utility function a
composite of preferences? This debate simply means that the family utility function is not a
concept about which the last word has been said.)
Tapang 155
4
The information provided only the number of households with net income from sales
(where net income was obtained by subtracting cost of inputs from sales). Thus, the number of
households that actually sold may be larger, but the rest of the households may have sold at a loss.
156 Economic Transaction Flows
5
Other sources of livelihood for 101 households (70.6%) in Demang were office
employment, rental income, piece rate work, buy -and-sell, self-employment and more other, but
unspecified, sources.
Tapang 157
Service Sector:
Demand:
Supply: Trade, Transport,
Vegetable
Vegetable Producers Communication
Consumers
and Storage
6
Source of basic data: Rowena R. Boquiren, The History and Political Economy of
the Vegetable Industry, Working Paper 14, U.P. College Baguio: Cordillera Studies Center,
November 1989.
Tapang 159
7
The regulatory body introduces a distortion in the market, affecting final price and the
eventual distribution of fertilizer. Distortion is used here in the sense that the final price and
quantity will be different if only the forces of demand and supply are allowed to work. The
regulatory body's main target crops, however, are the food grain staples, not the Cordileera
vegetables.
Tapang 161
Dealers*
They advance cash or
inputs payable on
maturity with interest.
Borrowers may or may
not sell the harvest to a
dealer.
* Source of basic data: Rowena R. Boquiren, The History and Political Economy of the
Vegetable Industry, Working Paper 14, U.P. College Baguio: Cordillera Studies Center,
November 1989.
8
Sources of basic data: Rowena R. Boquiren, The History and Political Economy of
the Vegetable Industry, Working Paper 14, U.P. College Baguio: Cordillera Studies Center,
November 1989; Susan D. Russell, Informal Credit and Commodity Trade in Benguet, Upland
Luzon, Cordillera Monograph 03, UP College Baguio: Cordillera Studies Center, March 1989.
Tapang 165
is a forest reserve (Rood, 1995). So, the middleman may have no option
but to refinance the next crop.
There is also a risk that is called price risk. It is the risk that at
harvest, output price might plunge. Again, from the studies done the
porsiento system and the supply system look like instances when the
middleman shares price risks. These are methods of providing credit,
and then computing interest due, not on the loan principal, but on the
proceeds of sales at harvest time. Since revenue from sales is the
product of quantity and price, the lower the price, the lower the
revenue from which the interest computation is based. And
middlemen, being rational and astute in reading market information, I
bet that among the financing options, these will disappear sooner than
later.
Since the formal credit market generally screens out the farm
operator from borrowing against crops and documentation of the Real
Estate Mortgage (REM) cannot be perfected, a common recourse is to
use suppliers credit. Still, that is a common, sound business practice.
But that is for a term and at interest. Not all input sales are in cash
terms all the time and, that, too, is common, sound business practice.
Technically, the supplier-creditor can then go to the bank -in
agriculture, typically to a rural bank - and discount the borrowers
promissory note or the suppliers acceptance draft. In effect, sell the
debt at a premium and reduce the risks.
As previously mentioned, when markets are complete and
documents are negotiable in the funds market, the credit risk can be
passed on to financial institutions with progressively greater capacity
to bear those risks. I did that all the time in the bank, discounting for,
say, a supplier of cassava flour to food manufacturers. The bank, in its
turn, rediscounted the same note with the Central Bank.
What do you accomplish through this? The supplier does not
have to wait until maturity to monetize the loan and the immediate
proceeds are then used to replenish inventory and service more clients.
The note that the bank then rediscounts with the Central Bank provides
more loanable funds. That is the service provided by the financial
system. If the lender is stuck with the promise to pay until maturity, he
not only bears the risk; it also reduces the funds flow and the number
of transactions.
Of course, a complication that can arise here is with the
documentation requirements. This discounting facility may screen out
the middleman himself from the formal credit sources if he cannot
perfect the legal requirements documenting the transaction. He, then,
Tapang 167
has to carry the risk burden of the loan to maturity. The features of the
informal sector: flexibility, informality, personalized transacting, crude
accounting system, secrecy, can also screen out the middleman from
the formal sector. It costs.
So, I hope I have given you some idea where the high rates
in the informal sector can come from. A part of them is explained by
the fact that they are a composite of the payments due for the
composite of services provided and the risks involved. The other part
comes from the opportunities for monopolistic practices afforded by
information asymmetry, market imperfections, and missing markets.
How much to assign to the each factor in the face of current interest
costs in the informal market still have no answers. Now.
Concluding Remarks
My assignment as a Research Fellow is to propose a framework
to allow comparison among the three project sites in Sagada. And,
based on my previous involvement in studies on natural resource
management with the CSC, and a reading of the reports of the present
team, I tried to do a schematic diagram of, and elaborated somewhat
on the village economys resource flows.
I organized the economic data from these reports around the
concepts of missing information and missing markets. That is, when a
market cannot do what it is supposed to do allocate resources to
production, and distribute the output of the process most efficiently
there is a market failure. The households in the NRMP research sites
are not exempt from the effects of these failures. We have pointed out
some of their sources.
References
Boquiren, Rowena R. The History and Political Economy of the
Vegetable Industry. Working Paper 14. Cordillera Studies
Center (CSC), University of the Philippines College Baguio
(UPCB), November 1989.
Brett, June Prill; Cruz, Gladys A.; Crisologo-Mendoza, Lorelei; and
Tapang, Bienvenido, Jr. A Comparative Study of Agricultural
Commercialization in Selected Highland Communities of the
Cordillera-Ilocos Region. CSC Working Paper 24. Cordillera
Studies Center (CSC), University of the Philippines College
Baguio (UPCB), October 1994.
Cabalfin, Michael R. An Analysis of the Social Arrangements for the
Management of Natural Resources: The Case of Ankileng,
Sagada. Natural Resource Management Program II Final
Research Report. Cordillera Studies Center (CSC), University
of the Philippines College Baguio (UPCB), February 2001.
Case, Karl E. and Fair, Ray C. Principles of Economics. 4th ed. New
Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1996.
Cruz, Gladys A. The Social Arrangements in Natural Resource
Management: The Case of Demang, Sagada. Natural
Resource Management Program II Final Research Report.
Cordillera Studies Center (CSC), University of the Philippines
College Baguio (UPCB), February 2001.
Tapang 169
Silk, Leonard. The Economists. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1976.
Stiglitz, Joseph E. Economic Organization, Information and
Development. In Handbook of Development Economics.
Edited by H. Chenery and
T.N. Srinivasan. I. Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., 1988.
Tapang, Bienvenido P. Economics of Information: An Introduction.
Professorial Chair Lecture. U.P. College Baguio: Division of
Social Sciences, December 4, 1996.
World Bank. World Development Report, 1993.
History
To begin with a brief background of the adaptive strategies of
the Kankana-eys in the context of their culture is necessary. Small-scale
mining in Benguet Province dates back at least 400 years. Historical
evidence suggests that when the Spaniards entered the area in the 17th
century, gold mining was already a thriving production process in the
municipality of Itogon (Quirante, 1624).
The accounts of Quirante in 1624 describe Ygolotes digging
tunnels in several sites. Some of these sites are still mined today. He
describes wooden pickaxes tipped with iron used by the miners to chip
the ore in the tunnels. A stout rock and other small stones then
crushed the ore by hand until the ore was reduced to powder. This was
then washed in streams where the gold grains were recognized by their
gleam in the sunlight. The large grains of ore were milled and washed
several times until very little of the metal was left.
Many of these traditional practices exist today. The grinding
rocks described by Quirante are still being used by the present-day
Kankana-ey. Earthenware pottery containers (gangi) for roasting gold
into gold beads were found in an archeological site in Itogon, and are
similar to those still being used by the Kankana-ey small-scale miners
(Caballero, 1996; Reynolds and Caballero, 1993).
Ethnographic Data
Ethnographic data indicates that there is a great deal of social
control by the elders (panglakayan) over gold production and
distribution. Consultation and the resolution of conflicts regarding
mining are through the elders.
172 Strategies of Survival
Rituals
Rituals are predominant among the Kankana-eys. Once, a
Kankana-ey told me, There will always be gold. We will never run out
of gold, but you have to mine it the right way. To mine the right way
refers not only to the technological or productive system; it also
involves their social and ritual subsystem. To mine the right way
means management of the resources by the panglakayan who are
present among the living and in the spirit world. The social and ritual
subsystems are interlinked. The deities and the anitos give the gold and
other natural resources to the community. The panglakayan continue to
play a predominant role even while in the spirit world as anitos. As
anitos they are always called upon to guide and manage the community
and are invoked and appeased through rituals so that good fortune
will always abound in all the endeavors of the community.
Technology
The Kankana-ey use physical separation techniques to separate
gold from ore. This method eliminates the use of mercury in the
extraction process which is a major source of pollution emanating from
the use of gold rush mining technology. The Kankana-ey use
painstaking measures to recover gold from all solids and also recycle
the water used in this process. They scrape the surface of the soil
around the work and roasting areas, collect this soil in sacks and
process it for gold content. They crush and regrind the used crucible
and recycle the middling and panning tails. They then re-mill and re-
pan the primary panning tails in the holding tank (Caballero, 1996).
Caballero 173
Following Events
With this brief background on the adaptive strategies of the
Kankana-ey, I would like to explore their response to government
policies that had either a positive or a negative impact on their
communities. I will proceed with an explanation of these policies
and/or laws and the processes that occurred in later events. The focus
of the work will be on the community of Dalicno in the municipality of
Itogon.
Other stakeholders in this discussion include the government,
particularly the Bureau of Mines of the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR), non-government organizations
(NGOs) and the Philippine Social Science Council (PSSC).
174 Strategies of Survival
RA 7076
In the third quarter of 1991, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau
invited the PSSC as a representative of the non-government sector to
the Inter-Agency Committee tasked to formulate the implementing
rules and regulations (IRR) of the Small-Scale Mining Law. I
represented PSSC and Atty. Augusto Gatmaytan, the Legal Rights
Center (LRC). In our examination, the law was found to have a
negative impact on traditional small-scale miners. The law ignored the
existence of traditional small-scale miners as all the provisions of the
statute were premised on the misconception that all miners are gold
rush miners. Utilizing anthropological data, several reasons for the
inapplicability of the law to traditional small-scale miners were cited.
Based on this information, the PSSC recommended for a repeal of the
statute or, at the very least, that necessary and substantial amendments
be made. As this process would entail considerable time, PSSC worked
with the Inter-Agency Committee drafting the IRR. Through the efforts
Caballero 175
to stop operations. To them, the key issues were that the operations of
the mining company threatened the stability of the soil, will reduce
their water supply and is life threatening to some of the inhabitants of
the community. At this time, they were working on their own as a
community trying to get local government support in their struggle to
survive.
efforts a cause for their own advocacy efforts against mining and
environmental degradation.
R e f e r e n c es
Caballero, Evelyn J. 1996. Gold from the Gods: Traditional Small-Scale
Miners from Benguet Province, Philippines. Quezon City:
Giraffe Publishers.
Quirante, Alonso Martin. 1624. Expeditions to the Mines of the
Igorrotes. In The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803, vol. 51. Emma
H. Blair and James A. Robertson, eds. Cleveland.
Reynolds, William E. and Caballero E. J. 1993. An Archeological Survey
in Sitio Dalicno, Barrio Ampucao, Itogon Municipality,
Benguet Province. National Museaum of the Philippines.
Van Willigen, John. 1993. Applied Anthropology. London: Bergin &
Garvey.
Position Paper of Dalicno Proper Traditional Miners Association. May
1994.
Medicinal Plants
Plants certainly play a principal role in the Mayoyao
indigenous health system. They are important elements for remedies
and curing as well as healing. Holo is a common term used to refer to
the medicinal plants in Mayoyao. Medicinal plants can be classified
into two: the introduced and the indigenous. The indigenous
medicinal plants are noted for being dispensed only by a herbalist with
proper incantations and procedures. The introduced medicinal plants
are home-based and can be dispensed by anybody without
incantations. Most of these plants act as pain relievers and remedies to
symptomatic illnesses. Despite the fact that some of these plants are
adopted from nearby communities including lowland areas, the locals
claim that these are traditional. It is because these plants have been
used and promoted in the locality for years. The indigenous health
practitioners however would know which plants are indigenous in the
locality.
184 Mayoyaos Ethnomedicine
M o n - a k h a h: T h e T r a d i t i o n a l H e a l e r s
Traditional healers in Mayoyao may specialize in a particular
healing practice but some would know two or three healing practices.
The traditional healers power is determined not by the number of
healing rites and rituals and herbs he or she knows but by the breadth
of his understanding of the natural laws affecting man and his ability
to utilize them. His functions are not limited to the diagnosis and
prescription of drugs. The healer normally provides the answers to the
adversities imposed on the community by undesirable forces (e.g. evil
spirits) that are beyond the comprehension of ordinary people. (In
general, the traditional healer is concerned with the restoration of
human vitality, wholeness and continuity.) Healing is such a religious
act and is a very important concern to the people. It is a fundamental
belief that a supreme being, deities and ancestral spirits exist. The core
element of Mayoyao indigenous religion is a religious pantheon often
recited or invoked during healing rites and rituals. This pantheon
shows how local people perceive the relationship between the natural
and the supernatural realm. The supernatural commands superiority
over the natural realm. Thus people who are directly in contact to the
natural have to forge a favorable relationship with the elements of the
natural realm in order to insure the appeasement of the supernatural
beings. The pantheon includes the following (Lambrecht: 1938:450-
451):
Wigan is the supreme being and the mythological ancestor. He is the
chief of all supernatural beings and other supernatural beings are
considered inferior to her. The people of Mayoyao believe Wigan and
his sister Bugan as their direct ancestors. The other supernatural
beings are the following: 1) Aninito ad Chalom a female deity of the
underworld or goddess of the earthquake and hell; 2) Aninito ad
Angachar a male deity of the skyworld or the god of lightning,
thunder and heaven; 3) Mapatar a male sun deity who kills people
stealing the neighbors chicken; he also bring misfortunes to the
guilty and is known to cause general body ailments; 4) Lingan ad
Ampfullan a female moon deity, the wife of Mapatar. This deity is
Enkiw e-Abayao 185
believed to help people who are jobless. She is said to use the fog to
cover the eyes and mouth of a person. She causes mental illness; 5)
Milalaphih a constellation deity or gods of the stars and the milky
way responsible for causing ailments to people who despise the
gods. This deity causes mental illness; 6) Aphat the deity of the
wild animals in the forest like deer, boar, birds, etc. This god also
helps women in the cultivation of sweet potatoes, monggo, corn, and
other crops grown in the swiddens; 7) Umichaw the deity of war
who is responsible for the victory or defeat of people in times of
strife. He also helps the hunter in his search for deer and wild
berries; 8) Pfunpfunih the god of the farming system. He is
responsible for the staple food of the people; 9) Namajang the
creator god who made the people, plants, and animals on earth. He
is given the least sacrifice because he stands neutral on human
affairs; 10) Penachang fairy deity; and 11) Chumatong the evil spirit
likened to Satan. He steals the soul of a person in the night. He may
come in the form of a ferocious black dog that hunts for human souls.
ointment and used soap for bathing. The Belgian priest did not give
medicine but asked the patient to go to the convent for medical
attention. The priest could have intentionally done this to make sure
that the medicine was properly applied by the medical assistants. The
people tried more and more medicines until they were already
convinced of the curative mon-akhah (a healer). In the process, the
people adopted the sanitary measures introduced by the priests. Thus,
people especially kids had to take a bath more regularly. Nevertheless,
the people never completely abandoned the performance of rituals nor
did they stop practicing and believing in their own traditional way of
healing. Lambrecht, (1955) also noted this in his research. It also took a
long period until the beliefs and practices gradually declined and some
naturally died out. It was apparent however that they were open to
incorporating modern healing practices.
The introduction of a foreign culture including a new
paradigm of health is seen as a very crucial social input to the local
indigenous health system. The introduction of the Roman Catholic
religion for instance reoriented the value system and the local
ideological perspective, which is the base of the indigenous health
system. Given this reorientation, later health systems changed.
(What makes you say that in Mayoyao, illnesses are drawn from the
changes in the food intake?)
A.Gapo ta hini khun cha anun an khun magninaan ja choor chi
nidnidchum an achi me-annong hi ay tay achor. Omat ay hayhana pee-we
ja corn bits an penpenhod chi ungah. Maphod heto tao ja hemot ngem achih
heto unig chi achor. Choor chi nidchum an bitchin ja ahin agkhuy pay
inilah nu maleneh hini enat chan nagngephod.
(It is because those foods that they eat are processed with foreign
ingredients that give a very good taste but are very incompatible to
the internal system of the body. Just like the pee-wee and the corn
bits that are highly liked by the kids, they may have very good taste
but they bring bad effects to the internal parts of the body. The
ingredients such as vetsin are harmful and we dont even know if
they processed it clean.
grow and for a watershed critical to the rice fields, rivers and creeks
where the marine food was taken. This environment change also
prompted the decrease in the medical herbs.
The elders also mentioned about the negative effects of the
changes in the peoples intake of alcohol that has affected the health
conditions of people mostly with ages thirty-five and above. This
condition may also explain the fact that very few people reach the age
of fifty. An informant claimed that the life expectancy rate is very low.
In the traditional society, the social and cultural meaning of the practice
of ricewine (pfupfud) drinking changed with the introduction of
commercial liquor such as Ginebra San Miguel and San Miguel
Beer. In the past, households normally make their own ricewine as a
necessary drink during occasions such as rituals. Elders say that
ricewine drinking facilitated social interaction and elderly discussions.
It is a traditional practice that young men were not allowed to drink
wine. Even the ancestors are also given a share of the wine. It was
never meant to make people drunk. Nowadays, commercial liquor
could be easily bought from the sari-sari stores in the community and
anybody including the young generation can just buy these drinks.
Furthermore, drinking sessions do not necessarily provide venues for
productive social interaction. Besides, these really make people drunk
and often cause social disturbance in the community.
number of chicken or pigs served in a meal for all those who have
attended. There were cases where they invited the mumpfunih but only
to say a very short prayer and to interpret the bile of the butchered
animal.
Healing References
A simple survey I conducted in 1998 looked into the
preferences of household heads on the type of healing sought when an
illness is experienced. I grouped the type of illness to cover
symptomatic illness, muscular and skeletal illnesses, skin illnesses and
other illnesses (to cover ulcer, kidney trouble, hypertension).
The results show that indigenous healing is preferred in the
non-poblacion areas for all the illness groupings except for the
grouping on other illness. In the poblacion areas, preference for
combined (indigenous and modern) is also evident for skin and
muscular-skeletal illnesses. The tables are shown in the succeeding
pages.
194 Mayoyaos Ethnomedicine
Table 2. Type of Healing sought when household heads experience skin illnesses
in non-poblacion and poblacion areas.
Non- Poblacion Poblacion Areas
Areas
Type of healing sought in experience Percentage Percentage
symptomatic illness
Indigenous healing 26.9 21.4
Combined (Indigenous & modern) 9.0 23.2
Modern healing 1.5 9.6
Did not experience 62.7 35.7
TOTAL 100 (n=67) 100 (n=56)
Table 3. Type of Healing sought when household heads experience muscular and
skeletal illnesses in non-poblacion and poblacion areas.
Non- Poblacion Poblacion Areas
Areas
Type of healing sought in experience Percentage Percentage
symptomatic illness
Indigenous healing 22.4 14.3
Combined (Indigenous & modern) 11.9 14.3
Modern healing 1.5 12.5
Did not experience 64.2 58.9
TOTAL 100 (n=67) 100 (n=56)
Enkiw e-Abayao 195
Table 4 . Type of Healing sought when household heads experience other illnesses
(ulcer, kidney trouble, hypertension) in non-poblacion and poblacion
areas.
Non- Poblacion Poblacion Areas
Areas
Type of healing sought in Percentage Percentage
experience symptomatic illness
Indigenous healing 4.5 7.1
Combined (Indigenous & modern) 35.8 14.3
Modern healing 9.0 26.8
Did not experience 50.7 51.8
TOTAL 100 (n=67) 100 (n=56)
References
Barton, Roy Franklin. 1943. The Religion of the Ifugaos. American
Anthropologist New Series Vol. 48 No. 4 Oct
________. 1930. The Halfway Sun: Life Among the Headhunters of the
Philippines. Brewer and Warren Inc., New York.
________. 1940. Myths and Their Use in Ifugao in Philippine Magazine,
Vol. 37 No. 389, September.
Berger, Arthur Asa. 1995. Cultural Criticism. Foundation of Popular
Culture, Vol. 4 . USA: Sage Publications.
Conklin, Harold. Ifugao Ethnobotany, 1905-1965. 1979. In Studies in
Philippine Anthropology. Alemar Phoenix Press.
De Raedt, Jules. 1964. Religious Representations I Northern Luzon,
Saint Louis Quarterly, Vol. 2 No. 3, September.
Dunn, Frederich. 1979. Traditional Asian Medicine and Cosmopolitan
Medicine as Adoptive Systems in Asian Medical System: A
comparative study by Charles Leslie.
Ember, Carol and Ember, Mervin. Anthropolgy. 1988. USA: Prentice
Hall.
196 Mayoyaos Ethnomedicine
Mead, Margaret, ed. 1955. Cultural Patterns and Technical Change. The
New American Library.
Pion, Antonio, translator. 1966. Mayoyao in 1950. In ACTA
Manilana.
P r e - 2 0 tt hh - C e n t u r y E u r o p e a n A c c o u n t s
In the early 17th century a group of Jesuits issued a statement in
which they described The Igorots living in the mountain ranges of
Luzon [as] highwaymen, murderers, and men who make little use of
their native intellect, and. [possessing] other characteristics totally
barbarian and, indeed, contrary to the natural light. 1 This
description of the natives of the Cordillera as savage and irrational may
be regarded as a typical Eurocentric statement, and its variations may
be found in countless colonial documents whose ultimate objective was
to project the barbarism of native societies and thus to justify their
conquest by the agents of civilization.
Given this thrust of colonial tracts, it is not surprising that very
little attention was given to Cordillera material culture in Spanish
colonial documents, which concentrated on the depiction of the
natives peculiar habits and customs in order to highlight their
inferiority or viciousness. Such is what we find in Sinibaldo de Mas
Informe sobre el Estado de las Islas Filipinas en 1842 in which he devoted a
brief section on pagan Filipinos, 2 with cursory notes on their grimy
hovels and scanty clothes. Even a comprehensive work such as the late
18 th-century compendium Notices of the Pagan Igorots in the Interior of the
Island of Manila,3 consisting of manuscripts and documents written or
compiled by the Dominican historian Fr. Francisco Antolinhad little
interest in material culture to show, providing only a few token
references to metal implements, items of clothing, and instruments of
warfare.
For more substantial accounts of Cordillera material culture we
have to turn to Carl Semper, Hans Meyer, and Alexander Schadenberg,
1
Opinion Signed by Eight Fathers of the Society of Jesus about the Pacification of the
Igorots and Their Mines, in Fr. Francisco Antolin, O.P., Notices of the Pagan Igorots in the
Interior of the Island of Manila , trans. William Henry Scott (Manila: University of Sto. Tomas
Press, 1988), 137.
2
See Pagans, in William Henry Scott, ed., German Travelers on the Cordillera
(Manila: Filipiniana Book Guild, 1975), 1-16.
3
See footnote 1.
200 Configuring the Material Culture of the Cordillera
4
These accounts have been translated into English and put together in one volume by
Scott, op. cit. All references to the German accounts are from this edition.
Tolentino 201
5
Scott, xv.
202 Configuring the Material Culture of the Cordillera
6
The Bontoc Igorot (Manila: Bureau of Public Printing, 1905).
7
The Tinguian: Social, Religious and Economic Life of a Philippine Tribe (Chicago:
Field Museum of Natural History, 1922).
Tolentino 203
Contemporary Developments
The outright reference to Cordillera artifacts as art objects was
to come later, when the category of primitive art became firmly
established, first in the West and later in the Philippines. To
understand this movement from artifact to art, several developments in
the international art scene must be cited.
In 1907 Picasso, then already a leading light in the modern art
movement, discovered African art at the Trocadero Museum in Paris.
Thereafter, there was, as many art historians have noted, a perceptible
change in Picassos art, with elements of African tribal sculpture
influencing his experiments in Cubism. Other European modernist
painters soon followed suit, acknowledging what they considered as
the invigorating effect on their works of the nave or the primal in tribal
204 Configuring the Material Culture of the Cordillera
artifacts.8 It was not difficult after this for Westerners to start looking at
objects coming from non-Western societies as art works in a different
mode. And with this change in perception, non-Western artifacts
assumed a new ontological status. Previously exhibited in museums of
natural history where they were presented as curiosities coming
from uncivilized societies, they moved on to art museums where they
were often de-contextualized, their artistic integrity highlighted so they
could be properly appreciated by a discerning public. Because they
operate on the basis of a different aesthetic, they had to be given a new
name, hence, the appearance of the new category of primitive art.
Specialized museums of primitive art were then established. The
Museum of Primitive Art in New York opened in 1957, and in 1982 one
of the greatest art museums in the world, the New York Metropolitan
Museum, opened its Michael C. Rockefeller Wing of Primitive Art.9
These developments have to be cited because what I have
already suggested as a significant change in the treatment of Cordillera
material culture in contemporary accounts is but a reflection of the
change in perception indicated by these developments elsewhere in the
world. Beginning in the 1970s, there has been an increasing number of
works on the material culture of the Cordillera. Contemporary
ethnographies have largely sustained the mode or pattern of discussion
established by earlier works,10 and recent scholarship on Cordillera
cultural objects continues to focus on these as sociological or historical
artifacts (e.g., William Longacres studies on Kalinga pottery, or the
articles in Basketry of the Luzon Cordillera, Philippines, published in 1998
by the UCLA Fowler Museum). However, one could not help noticing
that many of the more prominent volumes and articles that have
appeared in the last 20 years are primarily interested in the aesthetic
aspect of these objects. Expectedly, most were written or published in
connection with art exhibitions. William G. Beyers article, Ifugao
Art, was published in the catalog of the Manila Oriental Antiques
Exhibition & Auction held in 1981.What is arguably a seminal work,
Arts and Peoples of the Northern Philippines by George Ellis,
appeared in a volume put out by the University of California to
accompany a major exhibition of Philippine art in the United States in
8
A full account of this discovery and the subsequent appropriation of tribal artifacts as
primitive art may be found in Colin Rhodes, Primitivism and Modern Art (London: Thames and
Hudson, 1994); see especially Chapters 4 (Savage Exoticism) and 5 (In Search of the
Primordial).
9
For a synoptic history of the birth and rise of primitive art, see Shelly Errington, The
Death of Authentic Primitive Art and Other Tales of Progress (Berkeley and Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 1998), 64-69.
10
See, for example, Angelo J. and Aloma M. de los Reyes, eds., A People Who Daily
Touch the Earth and the Sky, vol. 1, Ethnography (Baguio City: Cordillera Schools Group, n.d.).
Tolentino 205
11
The selection, accompanied by photographs and annotations, can be found in
William Fagg, The Tribal Image: Wooden Sculpture of the World , 2 nd ed. (London: British
Museum Publications, 1977).
12
Douglas Newton and Hermione Waterfield, Tribal Sculpture: Masterpieces from
Africa, South East Asia and the Pacific in the Barbier-Mueller Museum (London: Thames and
Hudson, 1995).
13
Arts of Asia, January-February 1974, 20-29.
14
Arts of Asia, July-August 1983, 84-93.
15
Arts of Asia, November-December 1989, 142-147.
16
Art as Life: The Ifugao Bul-ul, Tribal Art, Spring 1998, 52-63.
206 Configuring the Material Culture of the Cordillera
17
Arts and Peoples of the Northern Philippines, in The People and Arts of the
Philippines, ed. Fr. Gabriel Casal and Regalado T. Jose, Jr. (Los Angeles: Museum of Cultural
History, University of California Los Angeles, 1982), 182-263; and Ifugao Art, in Islands and
Ancestors: Indigenous Styles of Southeast Asia , ed. Jean Paul Barbier and Douglas Newton (New
York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988), 170-183.
18
Monpaot: Cordillera Functional Sculpture (Manila: Cultural Center of the
Philippines, n.d.), 4.
19
For a deconstructive critique of the discourse of primitive art, see Errington, op. cit.,
and Sally Price, Primitive Art in Civilized Places (Chicago and London: University of Chicago
Press, 1989).
20
Floy Quintos, Whimsy in Wood, Philippines, vol. 2, 42-47.
Tolentino 207
Gallery Dua in 1998.21 Also written by Quintos, the catalog refers to the
Ifugao as the minimalists of the North and describes their carvings
largely in formalist terms (marked by an elegant restraint and by a
strong adherence to surface and suggestion).
In foregrounding these remarks of Quintos, I have chosen a
rather obvious example to illustrate my point, but the tendencies noted
in these articles may be detected in varying degrees in other accounts
of Cordillera artifacts as art. The problem partly lies in the fact that the
notion of primitive art is a problematic one, occupying as it does a
conceptual space that is remote from the original location of the objects
that are so defined. The problem is also rooted in the fact that when we
talk about art, we do so mainly from a perspective that emanates from
a decidedly Western tradition.22 This naturally poses tremendous
obstacles in understanding what is not part of that tradition. If, for
example, we ask the Ifugao carver if he considers his bul-ul a work of
art, he will most likely consider the question meaningless because art,
as we know it, is not part of his native societys network of paradigms.
This is the predicament articulated in the second case that I
would like to citeJoaquin Palencias aforementioned articles on the
Ifugao bul-ul. In the earlier work, The Ifugao Bulul and Its Regional
Styles, the author makes a preliminary attempt to define what we may
call the bul-ul aesthetic. Much is made of the bul-uls traditional form.
These anthropomorphic figures are carved without any precise
reference to body proportions; surface details are kept to a minimum;
parts of anatomy may be distorted depending on demands of
representation (or beliefs, etc.). Palencia also speaks of a collective
sense of rightness in relation to how a bul-ul is to be carved, but fails
to articulate fully what this is all about. In his most recent work, Art as
Life: The Ifugao Bul-ul, he makes another attempt at defining Ifugao
aesthetic through bul-ul iconology. From a Western perspective, he
openly declares, this aesthetic would appear to be an aesthetic of
function, with utility and efficiency as the major criteria. However,
from the point of view of the native, this may not be so. He refers to an
invisibility of aesthetics among the Ifugao which, he explains, does
not represent absence but a complete aesthetic integration [that] is
present in all aspects of Ifugao existence. Palencias effort to bring in a
native viewpoint is commendable, even if it is not adequate.
21
Floy Quintos, In Situ: Masterpieces of Cordillera Tribal Sculpture in Philippine
Collections, Exhibition Catalog, Gallery Dua, Manila, 1998.
22
A brief but enlightening discussion of the evolution of the meanings that have
accrued to the word art may be found in Raymond Williams, Keywords: A Vocabulary of
Culture and Society (London: Fontana/Croom Helm, 1976).
208 Configuring the Material Culture of the Cordillera
23
Aurora Roxas-Lim, Art in Ifugao Society, Asian Studies 11 (August 1973): 47-75.
Tolentino 209
References
Antolin, Fr. Francisco O.P. Notices of the Pagan Igorots in the Interior of the
Island of Manila. Translated by William Henry Scott. Manila:
University of Sto. Tomas Press, 1988.
Barradas, David. Monpaot: Cordillera Functional Sculpture. Manila:
Cultural Center of the Philippines, n.d.
Cole, Fay-Cooper. The Tinguian: Social, Religious and Economic Life of a
Philippine Tribe. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History,
1922.
de los Reyes, Angelo J. and Aloma M. Igorot: A People Who Daily Touch
the Earth and the Sky. Vol. 2, Ethnography. Baguio City:
Cordillera Schools Group, n.d.
Ellis, George. Arts and Peoples of the Northern Philippines. In The
People and Arts of the Philippines, ed. Fr. Gabriel Casal and
Regalado T. Jose, Jr. Los Angeles: Museum of Cultural History,
University of California Los Angeles, 1982.
____________. Ifugao Art. In Islands and Ancestors: Indigenous Styles of
Southeast Asia, ed. Jean Paul Barbier and Douglas Newton.
New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988.
Errington, Shelly. The Death of Authentic Primitive Art and Other Tales of
Progress. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California
Press, 1998.
Fagg, William. The Tribal Image: Wooden Sculpture of the World. 2 nd ed.
London: British Museum Publications, 1977.
Gomez-Garcia, Pynky. Northern Philippine Primitive Wooden Art.
Arts of Asia, July-August 1983, 84-93.
Jenks, Albert Ernest. The Bontoc Igorot. Manila: Bureau of Public
Printing, 1905.
Newton, Douglas and Hermione Waterfield. Tribal Sculpture:
Masterpieces from Africa, South East Asia and the Pacific in the
Barbier-Mueller Museum. London: Thames and Hudson, 1995.
Palencia, Joaquin G. The Ifugao Bulul and Its Regional Styles. Arts of
Asia, November-December 1989, 142-147.
____________. Art as Life: The Ifugao Bul-ul. Tribal Art, Spring 1998,
52-63.
Price, Sally. Primitive Art in Civilized Places. Chicago and London:
University of Chicago Press, 1989.
210 Configuring the Material Culture of the Cordillera
Popular Music
Samson (1981) has defined popular culture, of which popular
music is a part, as the forms of commercial culture that spread via mass
communication and are based on the collective structure and dynamics
of industrialization.
Popular culture has always been considered with so much
condescension because of its commercial nature. Because it follows
successful commercial formulas and is dictated by a few from the
ruling class, it is perceived as escapist and supporting/protecting the
interest of the ruling class in industrialized societies. Repressed and
conservative, pop art is considered as not art at all. For while it hints at
or expresses the felt exploitation of many, it hinders the peoples actual
movement toward change, and leads only to substituted gratification
(Van den Haag 1962 in Samson). Because of these and other reasons,
Samson suggests the need to expand the traditional discourse, research
and conceptualization of popular culture by considering the formation
and direction of the culture of countries which have been colonized
and are being integrated into the capitalist/global system. She says
that it is important to recognize the difference in the status and
problems of the masses in societies that are not fully industrialized. In
a situation where almost everything native has been denigrated by the
colonial masters (Enriquez 1994)), it is important to examine the
poverty of colonized countries in order to assess and understand the
particular features and character, the societal tendency, and part of
popular culture in maintaining and strengthening capitalism as a
deepening global system (Giddens 1999).
Samson says that the masses in these societies are saddled by
extreme poverty and are looking not just for something to do but for
anything to do in order to survive. Here, the need is for material things
more than grappling with the meaning or essence of life. As the new
opium of the masses within a semi-feudal and semi-colonial system
(Rivera 1982), cultural narcotics are peddled, spreading in various
forms, shapes and sizes, Samson notes.
The Ibaloi songs under study only partly conform to this
definition of popular culture. They are commercially available and the
214 Change and Identity in Ibaloi Pop Songs
have been stereotyped by other Igorots as shy and who would rather
be in the sidelines. Many of the songs also demonstrate the
widespread appropriation for personal purposes of materials (in this
case, tunes or melodies) in the public domain. Chandler calls this the
practice of bricolage. This study is also part of the revisionist
postcolonial effort to reclaim traditions, histories, and cultures from
imperialism (Said 1989). Tolentino (1998) has also emphasized the
need to make sense of the everyday experiences of people in this
modern world. Why are they hooked to popular culture such as radio,
TV, cinema, recordings, computers, malls?
Kumpol tod panguduan, inges tod Whether youre the eldest or the
anungosan youngest.
Badeg tayon iyaman, We are indeed grateful
Tayo mowan pandaladsakan. That we can again rejoice together.
Nonta timpon Diyapan During the time of the Japanese
Eg maykinkinay mekan. We could hardly savor our food.
Uway toy entayo nanbakwitan, We had to evacuate somewhere.
Chima esulsuljuan There in the crevices
Chiman, chiman ey chiman. There, there and there.
Kakaasi ebiteg, kinkindat iren bileg, Pity the poor, they were bitten by
leeches.
Kakaasiy ebaknang, nasnaskaw ired Pity the rich, they shivered in cold
diyang. caves.
Nem pangaasin Chiyos But God is merciful,
Eg kito edengbos. We have not been consumed
216 Change and Identity in Ibaloi Pop Songs
The Igorot feast, the most prestigious among the Ibaloi being
the peshit and the kedot, has been interpreted as a form of social
redistribtution of wealth by the baknang or rich. Even relatives from
far villages are summoned. Indeed the ebiteg or poor who cannot
afford to perform the same rituals have their share of the bounty. But
anecdotes and songs (even in Kankanaey) circulate about the poor
being ridiculed for their inability to reciprocate, and receive only the
undesirable meat cuts (such as the thick carabao skin and animal feet)
during meat distribution (see Basatans song and the Kankanaey
Nansidan Kailian Mi by Anne Galiega, Dusty Road Records). It is
common knowledge that the richer folks partake of or take home the
choice cuts. Both old and new songs then demonstrate a clear
consciousness of class.
D a y a n g- D a y a n g ( B e n g u e t V e r s i o n )
Danny Magno
Say Igodot gayam da nontan Among the early Igorot
Peshit I pengamtaan It was hosting the peshit
Ey si-kam ket ebaknang That indicates your wealth.
Kaulnongan kaidian kayman. The community folks gather
Asan pan-aamtaan tan sikatoy pan- To socialize and for
aaspulan
Ni san-aakin ebay-an Surviving siblings to meet
Ono sankapapartidoan Kin from other places.
Shi kompormin ili jen kawad-an.
Chorus:
No pemshit aliven parit The peshit is not forbidden
Eg tayo met ipilit But we do not impose that it be done
Agdalod timpon kifit Especially during difficult times
Makaawat iray kait Others will understand
Tep satan ngoy agas sahit For that is the remedy of the illness
Ja in-ahan ira ni ampasit. Inflicted by the ampasit.
Panajaw ka, pangalsa ka, Dance the tayaw, play the gongs,
Panajaw ka, pangalsa ka, Dance the tayaw, play the gongs
218 Change and Identity in Ibaloi Pop Songs
But community folks recall that feasts were not simply a time
to eat, drink and dance. The key person in such feasts aside from the
host is always the mambunong or native priest (as in Magnos song)
who prays over every animal to be butchered and calls on the hosts
ancestors to partake of the feast and to continue blessing the host. This
reflects a whole native cosmology where the dead do not entirely leave
Fong 219
the earth. The Ibaloi practice of burying the dead under or near ones
house demonstrates a belief where the dead is both far and near. The
well-being of both dead and living is always taken care of. In fact, on
some occasions, the dead is exhumed, the bones cleaned and reburied
or transferred to a new place after being given new clothes, blanket and
box.
Kedot
Roy Basatan
No way mengdot jen kaidian Oh that somebody among us will host a
kedot
Say wara kay kebikatan So that there is an occasion to attend
Pan-aamtaan, pan-aaspulan, An opportunity to meet and to get
acquainted,
Penuntunan ni nay-again. To discover our kin and kindred.
En-ahad kita ni mamashem We go home in the late afternoon
Ebuteng kita ma ni tafey, Drunk with rice wine
Wara pay vatvat jen egshian And carrying our own portions of meat
Say waray kanas jen inkitungtungaw. Our consolation for sitting around.
Egto inges eshan da nontan It was not like before
No waray sahit ni bakdang When the body is sick
Shagshagos sha en-iuhatan They immediately provide
Say waray man-ekan shi kaapuan. Something to offer to ones ancestors.
No bayag kono ira man-isturya In earlier times, they say
Eshahel i eg nan-iskweda Many have not gone to school
Ebiteg konoy edapuan sha Their folks were poor
So kedot da may ukaten sha. They only know how to perform the
kedot.
Nem karakdan may e-Kristianoan Now many have become Christians
Mankaumas mala ira tan Those things are being erased
Mankesadati sigud jen ugadi The former practices are now being
changed
Eshahel mala i mankebuliwi. Many things are changing.
Nem no waray esobdaan shitan, But if somebody has more than enough
Mapmapteng ngo eshan It is still better
No mengibingay ked kaaskang That you share with your neighbors
Say so suwertem ket mamashoman. So your luck abounds.
220 Change and Identity in Ibaloi Pop Songs
Shilos Kaapuan
Rod Danggol
Shilos kaapuan ngata noman Is it because I have transgressed the elders
customs
Kavol ni nak et en epigpigan? That I have become so thin?
Ta ongshoy kon olay shi shokolan I lie in bed all the time,
Ba-do ton ekak met maypiyaan. Still I dont get better.
Pigen doktor malay nak pinshasan Ive tried several doctors
Ebayag ja nak nanpaakasan. That for long I went for healing
Nem edavas malay pigen bulan, But many months have passed
Ultimon ekak met maypiyaan. I have not become well.
Sahey bengat i nak kanemnemnema Theres only one thing I think about
Dinabdavin naha ketagtagi-nepa, Every night I dream about,
Manipud nonta inun-an taha, Ever since I saw you,
Waray sepik tan ayat ko son si-kam I long for you, I love you.
ma.
Igulpim kari ita kaasim Would you pour out your compassion
Fong 221
been born into, that is ones identity that cannot be acquired through a
certification.
Ogadin Ebangonan
Jinggo A. Calomente, Nonta July 16, 1990, 1998
Shahel eg maistorya So many stories untold
Istorya ni ama, Stories of the elders,
Sota ogadi nontan The old practices
Wara pay niman. Still persist.
Jet no waray mandikna When somebody feels ill
Shagos sha paosshong, Immediately the native priest is
consulted
Shagos sha paosshong
Ni apon manbunong.
Jet no asen toy sahit to And when the priest looks at the infirm,
Wara ngon si-kayo It is now up to you
Mesepol ja idaga jo To do that which is necessary
Ta ogadi yo. Because that is your custom.
Chorus:
Shilos kaapuan Observances of the elders
No enmotok son si-kam When they come to you
Eg mo noman disian Do not resist
Mo et pansekitan, Lest you get sick,
Mo et kepikotan. Lest you get thin.
Mesepol maydag-an You have to do something
Ta si-katoy ogadi Because it is the custom
Ja ebangonan. You grew up with.
Ay aray kaapuan O dear elders
Ayshi asi ra no mamingsan. Sometimes they have no mercy,
Angken mansekit ka Even if you are sick
Ma-maen sha ha They make it worse
Mengshaw pay ira By asking for more,
Ni apil ja shutshut. For another kind of animal.
Ta si-katoy ogadi Because that is the practice
Kono ngo ni Igodot. That differentiates the Igorot.
References
Chandler, Daniel and Dilwyn Roberts-Young. 1998. The Construction
of Identity in the Personal Homepages of Adolescents [WWW
document] URL
http://www.aber.ac.uk/mediaDocuments/shorts/strasbourg.
html [07/07/2000]
Enriquez, Virgilio G. 1994. Pagbabangong-dangal: Indigenous
Psychology and Cultural
Empowerment. Philippines: Pugad Lawin Press.
Galiega, Anne. n.d. Sik-a-La-eng. Dusty Road Records.
Giddens, Anthony. 1999. Runaway World [WWW document] URL
http://www.Isec.ac.uk/Giddens/reith_99/giddens.htm
[02/04/2000]
Ileto, Reynaldo C. 1979. Pasyon and Revolution. Ateneo de Manila
University Press.
Littlejohn, Stephen W. 1996. Theories of Human Communication.
Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Magno, Danny Boy B. n.d. Salamat. C.V.H. Records.
Fong 225
Setting.
My aforementioned screenplay, A Voice from the Mountain, is
set against the backdrop of a Baguio-Benguet at the turn of the last
Cario 227
1
Lawrence Lee Wilson, The Skyland of the Philippines, p.34.
2
W.H. Scott, History on the Cordillera, p. 138.
228 The Process of Dramatic Writing
Nabaloi ones. What is now Baguio City was a place named Kafagway.3
What is now called Camp John Hay were places named Ipit and
Lubas.4 And so on. To know this about local history is then to bring
home a most important point, that Benguet as a province is an imposed
geographical definition upon places which existed before then, since
time immemorial, without that said definition. A writer using Benguet
at the turn of the last century as a backdrop has to remember this and
not fall prey to the easy trap of defining Benguet with its present-day
definition, geography included.
Characters.
In dramatic writing, characters are the players in the play,
those who people it. When crafting a play, either for screen or for
stage, a writer assigns roles, traits, and precisely -- characteristics to
his/her players. The writer plays god and says, you, character A will
be named Pedro. You are my hero. You are tall, dark, and handsome.
While you, character B, are the villain. You are named Carlos. You are
short, white, and ugly. While you, character C, are a friend to both. I
hereby name you Juliet. You are charming and lovely outside, but are
as dark as mud inside. And so on.
But in writing a historical screenplay, a writer has not these
freedom because history dictates who the players are, since they really
existed. History also has this habit of ascribing to these historical
players status: hero, villain, accomplice to the crime, etc... As such, the
process of fleshing out my characters for Voice had to be a most, most
careful one. Each one of them had to be singularly defined as the
history books identified them. The dramatic writer has perhaps to be
triply careful even when dealing with history books, checking and
cross-checking numerous sources which are sometimes not one in what
they say about the players of history. One book could say that so and
so was a kind and benevolent man, another could call him a charlatan.
A third could make of the very same man a monster. The dramatic
writer thus has the daunting of job of weighing the reliability of many
sources, and not all of them are written sources, before deciding what a
historical character was most probably like. Add to this the even more
daunting task of making this character talk, feel, act. And then
multiply the number of characters for whom the writer has to do this.
It is far from easy. Neither is it easy to remember that many other
3
Lawrence Lee Wilson, Ibid. See also Sanders A. Laubenthal, A History of John Hay
Air Base, p.7.
4
Heirs of Mateo and Bayosa Carino foundation, The Carino Case Over Camp John
Hay, p.6.
Cario 229
Plot
In simplest terms, plot answers the dramatists question What
happens? (The historian has to answer the question What
happened?) The writer, further, concerns her/himself with answering
the question in terms of a story with three parts: a beginning, a middle,
and an end. The beginning of a play or screenplay is traditionally its
exposition, when setting and characters are introduced and explained.
The middle of the story is generally called the action, where the actual
story plays out, more particularly, plays out in terms of conflict. The
ending, of course, is the resolution of this conflict.
The writer, then, who is reconstructing a plot from the events
of history can be predisposed to researching history with these
elements in mind. The screenwriter writing a historical screenplay is
also busy looking for plotpoints, those spots in a plot when something
happens to move the story forward.
5
Linda Grace Cario
Cario 231
A Voice From the Mountain deals with the legal battle over a
property undertaken by a native Ibaloi chieftain a century or so ago
against the mighty U.S. Army and the government which backs it.
Based on what happened, the plot for Voice runs as follows. The native
chieftain is in 1901 granted possessory title over his said property, 1901
being a time an Insular Government has been set up by the United
States in the Philippine Islands, after the United States annex said
islands. In 1903, the chieftain applies to register his property with the
Land Registration Court in Benguet. After which, in this same year, the
United States proclaims the property a military reservation. The U.S
also legislates in 1903 that Benguet is exempt from land registration,
can you believe it. Still, the Land Registration Court in 1904 rules in
the chieftains favor, over and above the objections of the U.S. Army.
The Insular Government then takes the case to a Benguet Court of First
Instance, where the government wins. The chieftain and his lawyers
elevate the case to the Supreme Court of the Philippine Islands, and
again, they lose. They elevate it even higher, to the Supreme Court of
the United States, where, finally, an American Justice in 1909 pens the
decision in favor of the native chieftain, in a legal promulgation where
the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the doctrine of native title. 6
You can see that I got lucky. The plot line I have just related is
tailor-made for conflict and conflict resolution, respectively, what
comprise the second and third acts of a play or a screenplay. And
certainly I had interesting enough a setting and characters to make for
a good beginning, or first act. The truth is, in terms of insight into
history from crafting plot, I am convinced that any historical account
contains a plot which can be explored and dissected in terms of action
and resolution.
In conclusion, I am further convinced that any historical
account is what might be called a story outline. It contains the barest
bones of a tale. The elements of dramatic writing then make the history
come alive in terms a story made more real, perhaps, when we ask the
questions a dramatic writer asks. For example, look at this account of
an 1899 incident from the history of Benguet:
An atake on the cabecera itself was attempted during the
incumbency of the last resident Spanish Governor. The plan was
known and supported by all of Benguet. Headmen of everyvillage
from Tuba to Kabayan brought in their men for a surprise and final
overthrow of the Spaniards. The revolutionists were assembled in
6
Supreme Court of the United States, Philippine Appeals: 212 U.S. 449. See also
Philippine Reports: 7 Philippines 32, 41 Philippines 935.
232 The Process of Dramatic Writing
7
Anavic Bagamaspad and Zenaida Hamada-Pawid, A Peoples History of Benguet,
p.185.
Cario 233
References
Books
Bagamaspad, Annavic and Zenaida Hamada-Pawid. A Peoples History
of Benguet. Baguio, Philippines: Baguio Printing and
Publishing Company, Inc., 1985.
Barcelona, Santiago and Simeon Villa. Aguinaldos Odyssey. Manila:
1963.
Cordero-Fernando, Gilda. Turn of the Century. Quezon City: GFC
Books, 1978.
Catron, Louis E., The Elements of Playwriting. New York: Macmillan
Publishing Co., 1993.
De Los Reyes, Angelo J. and M. Aloma (eds.). Igorot, A People Who
Daily Touch Earth and Sky, Volume II. Baguio: Cordillera
Schools Group, 1986.
Egri, Lajos. The Art of Dramatic Writing. New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1972.
Fry, Howard. A History of the Mountain Province. Quezon City: New
Day Publishers, 1983.
Grunder, Garel A. and William Livezey. The Philippines and the United
States. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1957.
Gutierrez, Lazaro P. Baguio and Benguet in the Making. Baguio: Summer
Capital Publishing House, 1955.
Kalaw, T. M. The Philippine Revolution. Mandaluyong: Jorge B. Vargas
Filipiniana Foundation, 1969.
Karnow, Stanley. In Our Image. Manila: National Book Store, 1989.
Laubenthal, Sanders A. A History of John Hay Air Base. Hawaii: United
States Air Force, 1981.
Licuanan, Virginia, B. Filipinos and Americans. 1982.
Marcos, Ferdinand E. Tadhana, 1976.
Perez, Angel. Igorots. University of the Philippines College at Baguio
Cordillera Studies Center, 1988.
Press, Skip. Writers Guide to Hollywood Producers, Directors, and
Screenwriters Agents. California: Prima Publishing, 1997.
234 The Process of Dramatic Writing
Other Sources
Cario, Joanna K. The Carinos and Baguio-Benguet History, Folio1
Series 3 and Folio 2 Series 4 (monographs). Baguio: University
of the Philippines College at Baguio Cordillera Studies Center,
1984.
Cario 235
The other point I would like to make is: I would like to see the
day when we see people giving way. Oftentimes, when
Cordillera Autonomy 253
Governance
Local Governance
P. Tinonggong: In dynamic inter-governmental relations, the focus is
more on the relationships between local governments and the
national government. We have yet to see contiguous
municipalities in any of the uplands pooling their equipment. I
have yet to see LGUs in municipalities that are contiguous to
build their commercial centers. We do not have that in the
Cordillera. But the power given by the LGC should be there,
whether it is in agricultural support system or infrastructure or
in health and social services. So that is one that should be
explored.
Intergovernmental Relations
E. Tabanda: In La Trinidad, there are four barangays that help each
other. For example, we have the Halan Integrated Rural
Development Project. It is an integrated agricultural project.
We were to develop a barangay in Bakun, and help nearby
Alapang and Alno with irrigation. They have organized
themselves into cooperatives. Another objective is water for
domestic use. Tawang and the nearby barangays, which do not
have a water source for domestic use, are covered by this
project. The cooperative is being maintained by collecting
money from the recipient households. Another example is the
cut flower growers who organized themselves into
cooperatives. They have a truck, which is scheduled to gather
all the flowers from one to three barangays and bring them to
Baguio or to Manila. The resources come from them.
A. Colongon, Jr.: This is additional information. This points to the
possibility of intergovernmental relations at the barangay level.
They may be at a limited scale but at least they show some
prospects.
satisfaction with the LGU and their belief that they have to pay
more taxes. Prof. Colongon remembers that there is that
correlation at the local and national levels. Satisfaction can
drive people to pay more taxes.
Question: You said that the indigenous institutions should be
incorporated or should be practiced in local governance. The
problem is that we have the Constitution. Therefore, unless we
change the Constitution, real regional autonomy will not come
because some indigenous laws are contradictory to the
National Law.
Decentralization of Education
P. Bennagen: I have not heard anything on education. Im trying to
look at some of the themes that came up since yesterday, like
the revival of local institutions, reclaiming indigenous
knowledge, learning and unlearning, etc. I am convinced that
the focal institution would be the educational system. I have
also asked about the possibility of devolution or
decentralization of education in Visayas and Mindanao. There
seems to be a uniform rejection (of this idea) because of the
experiences with other line agencies that have met problems
with fiscal autonomy. With the upsurge of these demands for
localization, even the educational administrators are
demanding for certain flexibility not just in terms of curricular
changes but also in terms of certain policies. Perhaps DECS
functions should be devolved to the local level.
Local Histories 261
The Igorots in America want the Igorot label because they see it
as the link that unites them together. They see it as a better
label for their group there as a whole than the label
Cordillera, which is a recent term. This is simply because it
is based on territoriality rather than cultural similarity. And
when the Cordillera gets divided, where are the Cordillerans?
Local Histories 263
Language in Research
P. Bennagen: This is addressed to Dr. Nela Florendo. I left the
university in 1989. I used to be an academic but I went instead
into community work. When I went into community work
with indigenous peoples in Zambales and in Mindanao, we
started work with peoples ethnography. The people,
themselves, were doing the work. Then we encountered a
number of problems. The relationship of subject and object is
not so much the problem as long as the communication lines
are open and there is a constant dialogue as a struggle for
empowerment. But the issue of language is a constant
problem. In what language do we conduct research, do we
publish?
Ma. Nela Florendo (UPCB): I wish to acknowledge that there have
been efforts to make the writing and rewriting of history as
participatory as possible. We do have grassroots histories in
contrast to the subject of my paper. Many researches have tried
to sustain traditional paradigms. The use of oral histories and
narratives make the voices of the people of the grassroots
communities heard. I would like to think that oral history has
been a very powerful methodology in serving the people in
history.
P. Bennagen: Yung issue ba ng language in the Cordillera, has that been
resolved? Kasi yung sa experience namin, yung sinasabi ko na
you do it in three languages. That is important kasi it has
implications. (That is) A question of access. I think it has
something to do with basic social science research and applied
research. Pag basic you are supposed to be uninterested but
transparent so that those who will want to access them will
have access. But access is determined by a number of things. I
do not know whether there is discussion in the Center in terms
of the language you want to use. (CSC Director: We use
Ilocano, Kankanaey, and English.) What I would like to know
is if there is an official policy because I think that it is good to
share it with other sectors that are moving in this direction. At
least three - the language of the community, the lingua franca,
and then since you are academics, you need also to
communicate with your fellow academics.
Local Histories 265
the major thrust of the paper I presented earlier, that art could
be reckoned with in many ways. Although for example, in a
forum like this when we talk about art, we usually think of art
from a Western perspective. A native Cordillera can do more.
He can do art work that looks very close to the art mainstream,
meaning to say that a native Cordillera artist can do art work,
which follow artistic traditions in the Western sense. At the
same time, you can also have a native Cordillera artist who
breaks away from this Western mode and follow certain
aesthetic principles that are germane to his/her own culture.
Therefore, we can have a native Cordillera artist by many
ways.
Local Institutions
Resource Management
Question: Is there any possibility that NGO influence was a factor why
the people reacted so effectively to the stress introduced by the
outside factor?
Evelyn Caballero (Insitute of Philippine Center, Ateneo de Manila
University): NGOs do not organize them. They organize
themselves. While I was doing research in Dalicno,
organizations came to the area to understand its present
situation. There is this stereotype of communities that they
will only be able to move and mobilize themselves if there are
NGOs there to organize them. That is not true. We have
organized communities already in place and Dalicno is just an
example of one of those. There are others in the Philippines. It
is just that Dalicno is a familiar case in terms of research and I
was not there during the Itogon resistance. There is always
this policy within donor agencies and government that when
you apply for development projects you have to proceed
through NGOs. But the ultimate goal for them is community
participation. Why dont you go straight and work with the
community directly? We really need to look past the NGOs
and go more to the community level.
Question: Did you undertake expeditions to old mines?
E. Caballero: There was this Spanish expedition in the Cordillera to
look for the gold mines to pay for the galleon trade but they
could not find them. The igolottes (they call them that in
historical records) hid their mines and they were not very
cooperative. It is easy to do that because if you look at the load
mining tunnels and processing areas, some of them can be
separate from each other in terms of location. They were
practicing mining quite effectively. In fact, the abundance of
gold in the Philippines was one of the reasons for the abuses of
the Spaniards. It would be great, in terms of research, to go to
the Mankayan-Suyoc areas to find out more about the mining
technology. And they are miners in their own way. They are
excellent geologists. Conklin has all the classification of
swidden agriculture. They have a very complex way of
classifying their rocks and reading the soil, which is quite
different apparently, from the way modern geologists do it.
Question: What happened to the geological explorations you
mentioned?
272 Discussions
know the IP but they have no idea who the traditional small-
scale miners are or what they do. They know of the IP in
Bontoc but they have no idea as to the wealth of indigenous
political structures and how these relate to rice terraces over
time. They have no idea as to the nuances and intricacies of
customary law.
Frederico Perez (Central Luzon State University): I am not an
economist but I am trying to wonder how people of the
Cordillera cope with globalization. First, when we talk about
globalization, it is competition. Since we are a signatory to the
GATT, we have to compete, whether we like it or not.
Probably, what we could do is to harness what we have. If we
think mining is abundant in the community and we have
ecologically-friendly technologies in the community, then that
should be developed and harnessed.
Salvador Bannawe (ComRel Department, Philex): What concerns us
here in the Cordillera is the loss of the indigenous practices,
considering that we already have globalization forces,
community development, and hi-tech communications. What
can be done so these Cordillera indigenous practices or
knowledge are preserved?
J. P. Brett: We have to be aware of the fact that not all indigenous
practices are good. We should not romanticize. To begin with,
we do not know all. All the IPs in the Cordillera do not know
certain management systems that are found in different
communities. The knowledge in your own community might
not be known in another community. People from Benguet for
example have borrowed from the Ifugaos like rice seeds in the
same way that we from the Cordillera borrowed the glutinous
rice balitinaw from the lowlands. So it is difficult to say
patent that, patent what? That is why it is important to know
how they did things. You have to document. The reason why
some practices are dying is that it is no longer functional.
Some practices have lost their rationale for being practiced.
Nobody has come to tell them not to practice this, but some of
these have been lost over time. My informant in 1968 who is
about 90 years old said that the sunflower was not around
during his grandfathers time. So we know, but if we did not
know, we will say it is indigenous. There are many of the so-
called indigenous medicinal plants but some of them were
borrowed from the lowlands. First, we have to find out what
are these indigenous practices. Are they still viable? We
Local Institutions 275