Thursday, May 08, 2008 So: A missing tribe By Michelle P. So Caught in the Net
AN Igorot tribe, the Ibaloi, is reported missing in Palawan.
They can’t be accounted for during a recent “inventory of tribes” from Benguet that had been displaced by the construction of the Binga hydroelectric power dam in the 1950s and then relocated to Palawan.
I asked Jane Cadalig, an Igorot and the reporter of Sun.Star Baguio who wrote the story, to describe the Ibaloi just in case I sit beside one in the movie theater and not know it.
Jane has described the Ibaloi as “very shy” and don’t look any different from the other Igorot tribes: Bontoc, Ifugao, Isneg, Kalinga and Kankana-ey.
The Ibaloi possess pleasing physical features: chinky eyes, wide nose bridge, fair skin, straight black hair, average Filipino height and small but muscular build. They look somewhat Japanese, only with less fair and smooth skin.
The Igorot association in Palawan is doing an inventory of the Benguet tribes in the province because of a recent development in Itogon and Boklod, the towns that host the Binga and Ambuklao dams.
The management and operation of the Ambuklao-Binga hydroelectric power complex are expected to be turned over next month to SN Aboitiz Power Hydro Inc. by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (P-SALM).
The hydropower complex covers hundreds of square meters of tribal lands, which heirs of the Igorot families that were displaced and relocated, now want back. Some 14 families belonging to the Ibaloi tribe were among the 50 Igorot families that were migrated to Palawan.
Palawan is not anywhere near Benguet and the Cordillera Mountains, located north. Palawan is in the southwest, close to Western Visayas.
I don’t know how the Igorots were transported from Benguet to Palawan, but if they took the land and sea routes, it would have taken them ages to arrive at their destination.
Anyway, the heirs of the displaced families from Itogon and Boklod now want their land back and seek financial settlement. It seems the heirs cannot exercise their claim unless they show proof that they own the land. That’s why they are looking for the 14 Ibaloi families, who probably hold some documents that they can use in their claim.
The problem is, they can’t find the families whose last known address is Palawan. Palawan is a big place and has forests and mountains that one can get lost in.
Benguet Provincial Board Member Juan Nazarro is puzzled over the unaccountable whereabouts of the tribe. The help of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) has been tapped to help in locating the Ibaloi families.
The Igorots will hold a kanyaw, a ritual of supplication to their gods, in Palawan in the hope of getting clues to the whereabouts of the missing Ibaloi.
How can a tribe be lost without a trace?
A tribe can evolve in 50 years: inter-marry, adapt to its new environment, join the reality show “Survivor,” open and run a beach resort in Coron, become crocodile hunters, become cast extras in the Judy Ann starrer “Ploning,” and many other possibilities.
The probability that the tribe has been kidnapped for ransom is .009 percent, I think. It could be that the Ibaloi may not have found Palawan to their liking and relocated to Cebu. Let me look at my seatmate. Oh no, it's Glenn Soco!
