Speedo

Been shooting with the "no credit photographers" lately. Here's Mr. Speedo wearing almost yellow, passing over signs that are yellow, overtaking a parked car that's not yellow.

Igorots: The People Behind the Name

In many parts of the country, the word Igorot is used as a derogatory term for idiots. In 1958, Even the former representative Luis Hora of the Third District of the Old Mountain sought to prohibit the use of Igorot in a house bill he presented. But what does the word really mean and who are these people who are proud to be called as one.

As far as the meaning of the word Igorot itself is concerned, Dr. Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, eminent Tagalog scholar at the turn of the century stated that it was composed of the root word golot, meaning “mountain chain” or “mountain ranges” and the prefix i, meaning “people of” or “dwellers in.”

It probably has the same use with the old tagalog word "golod" found in a 1613 Tagalog dictionary. The fact that golot is a place has still survived in the speech of those “Bagos” living in the outskirts of the Ilocos provinces who are decendants of the igorots. To people who just arrived from the Cordillera Provinces some would still say “Nagapodad Golot” – They came from golot.

The word Igolot therefore appears to be perfectly indigenous Filipino origin, and it is in this form that it first appeared in Spanish records. The substitution of R for L in the word did not become popular until the 18th century when Antonio Mozo used the word in his 1763 Noticia Historico Natural changing the letter ‘L’ into letter ‘R’.

There is no record if the people in question called themselves Igorots (or Igolots) in the olden days. It would be more likely that this is what they were called by non-mountaineers in the lowlands. But they did not call themselves by any other one name either.

The name was imposed on the mountaineers by American Authority in the present century in accordance with the American ethnological surveys. The people of the old Mountain Province (namely Bontok, Ifugao, Benguet, Apayao and Kalinga) started using the term as their unique identify.

Presently, some people from the Cordillera Region refuse to use Igorot as their own identity. Some wanted to be called Cordilleran instead. However, the word Cordillera is not an indigenous but a foreign (Spanish) term. It would then defeat the purpose to identify the culture as unique. Igorot therefore is still the perfect word to call these distinctive people of these mountain ranges or “golot”.

Street Children

I still wonder how many street children there are in Baguio. I don't know what the local government can do to help them or do they really want to be helped? During holidays specially Christmas and Holy weeks, their numbers increases. Not only the street kids, they even have their parents with them. They come here to take advantage of the generosity of the people during these holidays.

But they're not the ones I want to talk about for after the holiday they will be gone. I am more concerned about the street children that do live in our neighborhood. Some of them are trying their best to survive by selling bags, cigarettes or candies on the streets.

However, many of them have relied on stealing to survive. Police have reports that many of them are committing crimes from pickpocketing, snatching to prostitution. These things has become normal daily chores to them. Can the society still do something to help them?

The photo you see here is just one of the photos I took of them. In here, they rely on the cheapest drug available, probably to escape from reality or perhaps they just don't have anything better to do.

Looking at them I feel lucky that despite of difficulties, I still have a place I can call home and a family to turn to when hardship is in the offing. I don't know if there is still hope for these street children. I am not one of the privileged so what I could give them is be just enough to feed one for just one meal once in a while. These kids had been surviving like this always depending on the little extras people can give them. But I believe that's not what they really need.

I believe what they need is a place they can call home, a decent job and someone to guide them. And who can possible provide that? I thought at first that it should be the government as part of the services they should be doing for the taxes we pay, now I don't really know if they even care.

I've seen many non-government agencies helping many of them but there seem to be no end of them. When will these problems be solved?

A Legacy Worth Remembering

Carl Cariño Taawan

Igorot, a name that has many faces. Their unique traits are different from those who have lost their culture and customs to the western world. People who are uninformed of their history branded them as ignorant and backwards and the name Igorot became a derogatory term for stupid people. Even some of those who are related to the name have changed it into something else. Many shunned using it to avoid the mockery.

One brave young man came out to join a talent search that will be scrutinized by millions and boldly put in his Igorot lineage. Although Marky Cielo is half Igorot and has spent years away from the Cordilleras, he courageously used the already humiliated term and faced the challenge the world will throw at him. True enough, using the name of his origin gave him the expected ridicule and the famous remark, “he should be eliminated because he’s an Igorot” came out. He stayed to the end of the competition not only to win but to educate these uninformed people of his unique origins.

His forefathers fought for freedom and independence against a European race that wants to enslave them. And while the rest of the country had been colonized, the Igorots fought losing many lives but they never lost their independence. They also defied the American colonizers when they hide the Filipino revolutionary leader in their midst. And when their existence was once again threatened by the waves of hardened armies of Samurai descents, they united and prevailed that even the great country of America was awed by their courage. They fought for their freedom and cultures and they were able to preserve it that up to the present these people still have their own unique culture and identity. Yet only a handful remained who admired them for the courage they’ve shown.

These are the people Marky represented. He may have fought in a different battlefield our forefathers faced but with the similar goal. In the end he taught not only the uninformed but also us, his kinsmen. He brought us back what many have taken for granted, the courage to fight for our unique culture and identity and the power to unite as one to defeat all the odds. We united to back him up and he won.

But what he won is not just a place in the world of showbiz. He won for all of us a place in the limelight of the real identity of the Igorots. He inspired us to keep fighting and keep teaching the world of what we really are. This is his legacy. His memory will remain not only to his fellow Igorots but to all of the people who saw and heard of this young man’s talents and courage both on and off the camera.

Cultural Retreat

Returning home feeling sick after an extended coverage in the Mountain Province. Exhaustion, having to get up early and sleep late, the heat, and eating mostly meat. But in those mountains you get a lot of time for yourself. No cell phone signal, no internet, and no noisy traffic. Just friendly people still following the old Agricultural Calendar. That's why Sadanga was dubbed as "a living museum".

Not much photos, mostly video is what I got coz the LGU and NCCA wanted a video documentary of their Fvegnas. The rest of the Media people weren't able to come so my coverage would be what a one man team can get. Not a complete angle and just using a power shot for the video but I guess I got the most important parts and the result came out ok. The video tittle, Fvegnash 2008, a Sadanga show of undying legacy will be out next week. It showcases their different customs they presented during the event.  Karareng (nose flute), Ullalim, Uggayam,  Tinaroyod, Darngek/Ayegkha and other cultural presentations.

Watching them perform revives an old passion I gave up years ago. To create a documentation of our dying cultures before they are completely forgotten, while there are still people practicing our customs.

I started a book on “Igorot Mythology” six years ago after I read the Aenid of Virgil and the Greek Mythology. I believed there was a way our story can be told also in such a manner by collecting all the myths and legends throughout the Cordilleras. And true enough, each place has a story to tell that are consistent to other tribes. All what’s left is to stitch them together and correlate each story to find out what we Igorots really believed in in the olden days. 

Studying our mythology and our diverse customs will help us understand what we are as people. And if you try to live in those places, if you look hard, you will find out that we were not as ignorant as the first travelers and conquerors labeled us to be. In the urban areas, we are adopting the segregation of garbage that our ancestors had been doing for centuries. And that’s just one of their systems that are very orderly. The most important of those is when they follow their stablished agricultural calendar that blends well with nature.

Coming up soon in my blog will be the Agricultural Calendar cycle of the Mountain Provinces and the difference in every municipality.

Paypal Philippines At Last

I believe this is something a lot of us had been waiting for. There had been a lot of potential online businesses in the Philippines but there was one big problem. That's how to receive credit card paymets for our local products or services. I actually missed this email I received last January 29. I stumbled upon it when I was cleaning up my spam messages.

All you need is your credit card. If you can't open a credit card, just open an account and apply for a debit card. In some banks, debit card account is only Php2,000.00. Next you open an account with paypal and include your debit or credit card number.

Now you can receive payments through paypal. You can transfer your payments from your paypal to your bank account online. You can then withdraw the money from your bank.

For more infomation click this link. You can also use xoom, moneybookers. If you want to know how to setup your website just pm me.