"Communal action" is the call of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to the current political excitement. "Communal action must arise from discernment and prayer, the CBCP counsels.
Communalism is a word I heard from one of my teachers in life -- auntie Briggs Hamada-Pawid.
"We are communalist, Julio. The indigenous person (IP) is." The words ring in one's ears loud and clear.
As sacred as the chimes of the bells the boy-sacristan ring every time the priest raises the sacred host during mass.
And by using a metaphor am not out to exaggerate, only to underscore the substance and reality of communalism in how an IP normally thinks and behave in her/his community.
Communalism is a community value among traditional IP communities in the Cordillera. Communalism is in our synchronized steps as we proudly strut our native dances and strike our gongs.
Communalism is in our songs -- in the lyrics where "we" always almost precedes the "I". "Djitako, tako, am-among, um-mongan, adivay and other equivalences of " we" and "our" dominate our discussions as a people in our tribes, in our ili/villages.
Communalism is in how we, the Ibaloi, Ifontok, Kan-kana-ey, Tingguian, Kalinga and Ifugao, continue to flock to the country bars of Baguio to patronize our oneness with the country songs of the American cowboy.
I keep wondering why. Friends from the progressive groups say its part of our Americanization - our colonization.
But there is something in country songs, which immediately strum the tunes within me. The melodies, the sway and flow of the tunes seem at times all too familiar.
So with the feelings and the images the songs evoke. "Towering mountains, silent lakes, murmuring brooks, passing breeze" and other images familiar to the bio-wealth, we as IPs continue to sustain and live with, are vastly acknowledged and sustained in these country songs.
Just listen to the compositions of our IP country singers who have moved on and beyond the first time I heard Ms. Loudes Fangki belt "Nan Layad Nen Likatan" at 168 Folk Den in the 1980's.
Communalism as a way of life has always produced communal action for our communal good -- the hundreds of tribes in the Cordillera.
Our communalism cut across tribal boundaries and slew tribal parochialism. These communal actions were products of communal discernment and decision by elders and leaders.
A consequent product of these communal actions is the Cordillera Administrative Region.
A document I read decades ago entitled "The Vodchong Conference" detailed the communal decisions and actions of the tribal elders and leaders from the various tribes of the Cordillera against the Chico Dam and the infamous Cellophil Corp.
The Chico Dam was supposed to inundate hundreds of thousands of hectares of Mountain Province and Kalinga-Apayao.
The Cellophil Corp. started to deforest hundreds of hectares in Abra and Mountain Province.
Communal action inspired the clamor for a distinct region of distinct history and culture, providentially embedded in the 1987 Constitution.
Communalism is showing its face in the evolving organizations of the Cordillerans.
It has reared its head in the global community through the various organizations of Cordillerans overseas. It is with the various groups of the Igorot Global Organization.
Communalism is also in the various debates, discussions and movements for autonomy -- the expressed communal vision of the Cordillera Administrative Region.
