THINKING along the theme, "becoming a Cordilleran," had me confronting my past, present, and future. It brings me to my origins and an understanding of my identity as a citizen in this mountainous region of Northern Luzon.
It may yet take our experts to look into the history of this concern and its ideals, but here is how I have experienced being both human and Cordilleran, thus far.
To be a Cordilleran and what I must become is an ongoing process that flooded my mind as Atty. Alexander Bangsoy led us into a review workshop on the IEC program for the Autonomous Region of the Cordillera (ARC) last February 26 at the Neda-RDC Hall, Baguio City.
Atty. Bangsoy was among the many prominent personalities from the Cordillera that comprised the technical working group (TWG) that drafted House Bill (HB) 5343, an act creating an Autonomous Region of the Cordillera (ARC).
Chaired by former Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan, the other members of this august body of experts and leaders in their own professions include then former Neda-CAR Director Juan Ngalob as Vice-Chair, Dr. Gil. Bautista, Peter Cosalan, Director Clarence Baguilat, Peter Dumaguing, Atty. Laurence Bayongan, Atty. Thomas Kiwang, former La Trinidad Mayor Edna Tabanda, and representatives from civil society, local government units (LGUs) and national government agencies in the region. I represented the Department of Agriculture-CAR to this body who were kind to engage my naiveté and participation in the discussions of relevant issues and concerns on the Cordillera autonomy quest throughout our sessions that lasted several months.
That period was rather challenging for me. Many of us went to the sessions, mostly at the RDC Hall in Pacdal, Baguio City, on government or private cars. I commuted, which was an indication of my status in the group. But the guys are good, encouraging and inspiring during the sessions that were for me, a time of learning and re-learning my identity as a Cordilleran.
To be honest, I initially considered myself as an Igorot. I am still one and I look at this identity in terms of domicile, ancestry or origin, and culture. During our sessions, we argued about collectively identifying ourselves as Igorots rather than Cordilleran.
The proposition has deeper historical bearing and claim but in terms of its acceptance, not all indigenous peoples (IPs) and other groups in the region are favorable to being identified as Igorots. They would rather call themselves Ibalois, Ifugaos, i-Kalingas, Isnegs, Applais, Bontocs, Kankanaeys, Ilocano, Tagalog, Bisaya, etc.
But there are many among us while retaining our ethnic identity, would also readily call ourselves Cordilleran, as in taga Baguio-ak, Cordilleran (I am from Baguio and Cordilleran), or I am an Isneg and a Cordilleran. I believe that was how the tagline, "Many Tribes, One Cordillera," was introduced and promoted in and by our circle.
So who is a Cordilleran? During the review, Atty. Bangsoy narrated his struggles as an Igorot growing up in Manila and even in Tadian and Besao, Mountain Provinces, his places of origin. The way I understood his story, he was hardly accepted in both worlds as an Igorot.
I can empathize with Atty. Bangsoy's struggles, having grown away from the ili (village) of my parents, myself. Eight of us out of nine siblings in the family were born and raised in the mines of Benguet and some either continued our education in Baguio City and Metro Manila. Our knowledge of the Igorot culture and traditions were limited to what our parents shared with us.
But we are not alone. I have gone to various places in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, and discovered groups of people who come from the different provinces of our region. Many of their children visited their roots of origin but they could hardly relate with their kin and their ways. Similarly, I discovered there are many lowlanders who migrated to the Cordillera, who are also struggling with their identities, the way we are experiencing the loss of "our Eden."
"The Eden," that is the "ili" to me is associated to how I perceived early the days of my youth visiting my grandparents in Northern Sagada -- verdant hills and vales, dark forest, low-lying clouds, and golden rice terraces around the village where you also harvest fish, shells, frogs and water fern vegetables, rivers and waterfalls teeming with fishes, and seeing deer in the uma, or "swidden fields." Incorporated in the way of life and/or culture of the people, is a system of learning and training for the young, that venerates Kabunian (god) and ancestors (dead or living). This way also puts emphasis on the roles of men and women in providing for the needs of their families, supporting community labor, helping those in need, and being models of what is right and good for the young and other people. To me, this culture was largely responsible for defining the character or identity of the Igorot. In a sense, it can evolve or be lost altogether, depending on how the people learn from their experiences, and understand why they must continue to nurture and enhance their good practices.
Much of the culture and traditions of the old folks are gone now, replaced by modern ways that are materialistic if not individualistic. The dark forest, natural resources, and the region's rich biodiversity are also disappearing.
The youth, according to Atty. Bangsoy, comprises the majority of our voting population today. I realize they would hardly identify with the ways of our ancestors and with the way we view things.
In our review of the IEC program for Cordillera autonomy, Atty. Kiwang maintained that the autonomy quest is about the devolution of the power of governance from the national government to the regional government. This will only be possible with the passage of the autonomy bill and ratification by the people of the same in a plebiscite. He reiterated that "enhanced Cordillera identity" is one of three identified aspirations to be gained when we become an autonomous region.
A man's identity is about his character with its own ideals and virtues that he strives for. What then is our collective character, the target of our continuing information and education campaigns (IEC) now and even long after we have achieved autonomy for the Cordillera? We must find it in the culture of the people and that, I believe is what is to be continuously enhanced -- an evolving process.
We recognize that the term Cordilleran is recent and its meaning and usage must be deepened by the people under the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) governance structure and later when the region becomes autonomous. The responsibility and role in realizing it as a collective identity for the local residents are in the hands of our leaders, advocates, institutions, and information, education, and knowledge workers.
The depth and shallowness of this identity can be found in how we work together in the cultivation of mind and morals, the training and care of the health of our people, the protection and conservation of our natural resources, or simply about "what is in the ARC for me."
But really, if autonomy is more about governance, it has to be seen and pursued by its stakeholders in the light of rearing and educating the ideal Cordilleran as a responsible member or citizen of the autonomous region.
In light of the creeping problems and challenges that now confront the region, its people and our neighboring regions, the autonomous region must be a popular movement of programs and activities of excellence in various areas by Cordillerans for the creation of the ideal person, families, communities, businesses, and livelihoods in our abodes.