Notes from the North

by Estanislao Albano

In compliance with a previous agreement, one dusk I went to see an old acquaintance at the Tabuk Public Market to hear his story on certain encounters with some bodong-practicing people. Jay Cabuyadao who just like me resides in Casigayan, Tabuk, but tends to a store at the market had told me earlier that he wanted the story published for people to ponder upon.

Jay began by expressing his appreciation of the Kalinga system of redressing grievances and settling conflicts but that it should also treat immigrants who were born in Kalinga and have been living under the system all their lives in the same way it does the natives. “What is good for them should also be good for us. There should be no discrimination. They should also respect their provincemates regardless of their ethnic background. The traffic should be two-way There should be a provision in the bodong recognizing immigrants who were born here and are complying with it. We belong to the same place and therefore should walk hand in hand,” he said.

Jay then cited two instances when their family willingly complied with the bodong way of doing things. Some four years ago, the passenger jeep of an aunt which just stopped for a passenger to get off accidentally bumped a native Kalinga in downtown Tabuk who suddenly crossed the street. The victim who was drunk fell on the ground but sustained no injuries. The family of the victim asked chicken for the songa, a ritual intended to give an injured person swift recovery done at the expense of the person who caused the injury the performance of which means the party of the victim is ready to forgive the offender. Jay said that on top of the chicken, they also gave a regular-sized pig “tapno awan makunkunada.” (So that they will not say anything.)

Two years ago, the same jeep figured in a mishap where the passengers belonging to different Kalinga tribes suffered very slight injuries. They were all brought to the hospital. Hearing this, some friends of the owner suggested that to ease the feelings of the tribes of the victims against them, they should send each of the passengers a chicken for the tingiting,  ritual to make the victims of an accident regain his normal spiritual bearing.  The family complied. When the tribes of the victims asked for animals for the songa, the family likewise agreed. Jay related that just to make certain that the accident did not inflict any serious internal injury on the victims, the family also footed the bill for CT scan which was done sans the recommendation of the attending physicians. Finally, two of the victims, one a teacher and the other a police applicant, also demanded for amounts to compensate them for the days they lost due to the accident and to defray the fare of relatives who visited them at the hospital. Jay said that all in all, the family spent P160,000.00 on account of the accident.

Jay related that last December 9, the shoe was on the other foot. While his wife Nelda and his grandmother were walking home on the street, a motorcycle with two men on board accidentally hit the latter. The old woman fell on the street with her face hitting the pavement. She lost eight teeth. One of the men alighted and helped the old woman to her feet but when Nelda asked them to bring the victim to the hospital which was just in the other block, they said they are going some place. She then asked for their identities and the only told her they belong to a certain Kalinga tribe.

With the help of the plate number of the motorcycle, Jay was able to find out the identity of the owner. In an effort to get from the offenders what is due for the victim, the family of Jay sought the help of some members of the subject tribe with whom they are related by consanguinity and also known peace negotiators in the community. Those approached sent messengers to the two men who admitted their involvement in the mishap and promised to attend to the victim. But the family of the victim waited in vain until the fourth day when the offenders sent an emissary to ask what the family wants. Jay said that he told them reimbursement of the medical expense which amounted to P16,000.00 will do “because asking for fine is not our practice.” Despite their word to attend to the victim, however, the men have not done so to date.

Asked why they are not bringing the matter to court, Jay said: “We are busy with our business. Furthermore, we are not ready to go to war because when you seek justice here, you will be threatened. On the other hand, they are ready to go to war because that is their practice. We are not taking legal action because of fear and also in deference to relatives who are married into their tribe.”          

“What we want to see is for the traffic to become two-way. If we immigrants are the victims of accidents, they should willingly attend to us like we do when they are the victims. In the specific case of my grandmother, they should not hesitate to come to us because we are not warlike and the medical expense incurred is not so high,” Jay said.

At the end of the interview the question that came to my mind was how would the subject Kalinga tribe which is known for its ferocity have reacted  had the victim belonged to their tribe and the culprits immigrants? Nearly every immigrant family in this province know the answer from their own experience and from observation.

My own family has had its own experience with the one-way traffic in Kalinga. In 1984, the jeep owned by my brother-in-law but driven by someone else accidentally sideswiped a boy from a Kalinga tribe. The victim suffered a sprain in his hand and was brought to the hospital by my late father. Jeeploads of people from the tribe came to our house to negotiate for settlement so we had to butcher a pig. Aside from the pig, the family footed the medical bill amounting to P3,000.00 and also paid a fine of P8,000.00. Then sometime in 1993, an aunt was one of the passengers of a jeep owned by a Kalinga which fell along the road to Tuguegarao. She was hospitalized for more than a week. Understanding that she was just one of  the many of the passengers who were wounded with one even dead, she did not complain when only a portion of her hospital bills were answered by the owner.  

by Estanislao Albano

Sometime in 2005 while attending a journalism training in Baguio City, I met this reporter of the Bombo Radyo in Cauayan City, Isabela who shared this joke or what he thought to be a joke about Kalingas. According to the joke, a Coca-cola delivery truck hit and killed a chicken in a road in Kalinga. Hearing that in Kalinga, drivers who kill chicken will be made to pay the chicken that are still to be hatched from the unlaid eggs of the chicken aside from the chicken itself, the driver did not stop. Sometime later, a Pepsi delivery truck was stopped in the barangay where the chicken was killed and the crew were asked to pay the dead chicken. The crew reminded the man who stopped them that the truck which hit the chicken is owned by Coca-cola while they are of Pepsi. The man allegedly declared that they should pay because Pepsi is the cousin of Coca-cola.

The first part of the story is not a joke among non-Kalingas and even non-warlike Kalinga tribes because indeed, as I have told you before, the word accident has yet to enter the vocabulary of most Kalinga tribes. Up to this day and age, to most Kalinga tribes, accidents are still a golden opportunity to get money you did not labor for from others. Just to tell you how pervasive the practice is, several years ago, a lawyer who was the victim in a minor traffic accident tried to collect a settlement grossly disproportionate to the damage incurred. Fortunately, the immigrant tribe targeted for extortion stood their ground.

Worse, accidents could also occasion a reversion to barbarism. At least three drivers who accidentally hit pedestrians in Nambaran and Lacnog, Tabuk City, have been lynched through the use of bolos and spears right then and there so much so that the policy now among drivers who figure in accidents in those two barangays is not to succor the victim but drive as fast a possible to the next police station.

So  it’s really a cause of amazement and celebration when a Kalinga who gets the receiving end in an accident only asks for what is reasonable just like this professional from the Taloktok tribe did. While driving to the office in a motorcycle the other  Monday, the professional accidentally collided with the tricycle owned by LGOO V Mayer Adong, a member of the immigrant Bago tribe. The Taloktok professional sustained cuts in the left hand and the sole of his left foot and his right  leg knee would later swell although the X-ray would show that there was no fracture. The driver of Adong admitted it was his fault because he entered the lane of the Taloktok professional without making sure that it was clear.

Upon hearing of the accident and the ethnic affiliation of  the victim, Adong prepared for the worse. He would tell me later that he expected a settlement or multa of at least P20,000.00  over and above the reimbursement of the medical expenses, cost of the repair of the motorcycle and the pig for the sunga (a Kalinga ritual to fend off a recurrence and also for early recovery of the victim). Adong made the estimate on the basis of a recent case where the owner of a vehicle which sideswiped a child causing an injury that did not require hospital confinement was made to pay a multa of P15,000.00.

So Adong and his wife Hilda were greatly relieved and elated when upon visiting the victim in the hospital, the latter would tell them not to worry because he was not going to demand for multa but only for the payment of his hospital expenses, the repair of his motorcycle and a replacement for his uniform which was torn during the accident. (He would later reconsider the replacement of the uniform saying that his office provides uniform allowances anyway.) He did not even require the customary tingiting (a ritual where a chicken is killed so that the wounds would not swell and cause so much pain and for swift recovery) and the sunga. But party because of their gladness due to the understanding heart of the victim and partly so that the cultural practices would be complied with, Adong volunteered to produce the animals for the tingiting and the sunga. 

During the sunga last Friday, Adong and the  Bago elders who were with him expressed their appreciation for the victim’s unusual decision and also their hope that other Kalingas will learn from it.

When already by themselves partaking of the portion of the sunga they were given to bring home “for those who were unable to attend,” the Bagos were thankful that the victim made the decision on his own because had the professional amicable settlement negotiators whom they termed “negosyantes” went into action, the results may have been different. They speculated that when the “negosyantes” will learn of the case, they will feel insulted and that now, the Taloktok tribe will be ridiculed for not upholding Kalinga practices. They also theorized that the wife of the victim being a Tagalog must also have been a positive factor in the case because had she came from other immigrant groups, she may have urged him to demand the multa “because some immigrants who marry Kalingas sometimes think they too are Kalingas.” They regretted that they have a tribesmate who is married into a notorious tribe who is proud  of and capitalizes on the connection and is also now resorting to squatting himself.   

In an interview last Tuesday after he already reported back to work, the victim told me that resorting to the Kalinga practice of demanding the multa never occurred to him. He said: “As a professional and a government worker, it’s not normal and proper to demand the multa. Para laeng kadagiti barbariotik dayta. Let’s follow the standard which is just the reimbursement of the reasonable expenses. Our thinking should develop. Actually, the multa does not benefit the victim but third parties.” He went on to inform that initially, he was ashamed and reluctant to accept the tingiting and the sunga but allowed the rituals in the end because Adong brought the animals and “there might be consequences if we do not do the rituals.”

Asked if he encountered resistance to his decision from his tribesmates, the Talotok professional said that the moment the elders heard his stance, they went along with him. Actually, he did not tell the accident to his relatives so that when an uncle learned of it, he felt sore that he was not informed. The victim would tell the uncle to be thankful that the accident was not worse. The uncle would later approve of his foregoing the multa  because “we have vehicles and in the event that we also figure in accidents, the victims might also demand the multa from us.” The victim claimed that it is not a practice among Talotoktoks to demand multa for accidents except when it results to death.

The victim said that during his student days at the Kalinga-Apayao State College, his friends were Ilocanos and that these days, he sometimes attends amicable settlement or areglo negotiations on the side of immigrants. He sadly noted that even immigrants demand compensation for their  sufferings on account of the accident.

If all Kalingas were as civilized as this Taloktok professional, there would be less disunity and distrust and  there would be better relations between Kalingas on one hand and immigrants on the other. But sadly, he is a  very rare exception. 

By Estanislao Albano, Jr.

The upas are the tribes in Kalinga who do not stand up for their rights through the force of arms. I have said that in the pecking order existent in Kalinga which is based on the relative fierceness or lack of fierceness of a tribe, they are at the bottom. The kawitans who are at the other end of the pecking order look down on them and routinely oppress them. When they are the victims of crimes or accidents with the kawitans as the ones victimizing them, they cannot collect even just one-fourth of the multa imposed on them if the shoe was on the other foot. The kawitans do not take them seriously and  derisively dismiss them with remarks such as I have heard one woman belonging to a kawitan tribe say sometime in the early 90s: “A dan ________? Adida tigammu din pumatoy.” (Oh the __________? They do not know how to kill.)

In short, the upas are the doormats of the kawitans in the twisted scheme of things in Kalinga. Woe unto them if one of their members happen to injure or kill a member of a kawitan tribe even without him meaning to! Woe unto them if they have a rice field which has attracted the fancy of a kawitan tribe! In the first case, if they do not want to lose the life of a member or members to the avengers of the victim tribe, they must give in to the unreasonable multa demand of the victim tribe pronto. In the second case, they might as well sell the land right away or kiss their land goodbye.

But Rev. Luis Aoas says that in one context, being an upa is not really that despicable. He says that there is a need to classify the so-called upas. According to him, there are some non-violent tribes in Kalinga who take the injustices inflicted on them in stride not because they are chicken but because they know that they will gain nothing by going down to the level of the kawitans. They very well understand that if they also arm themselves and fight back, they will lose more in terms of possible victims and lost economic opportunities during the war. They also could not live with the awareness that  having passed the stage of lawlessness, they will  go back there and  with the knowledge that having embraced Christianity, they will return to killing other people.

Earlier, Rev. Aoas mentioned the Sagadas as enjoying the fruits of their sacrifices and labors in times past in this once frontier town. I do believe that had he the chance to elaborate his remarks then, Rev. Aoas would have included in the meaning of the word “sacrifices” the countless times the Sagadas had to forbear injustices wrought on them by the kawitans. In my sketch of Miguel Omengan, one of the venerable men of Tabuk, I have told you the story how at one point during the 80s, the  leaders of the Igorots in Tabuk of which he is one allegedly came together to decide whether to start fighting  back or not. The agreement was that if ever the ethnic group will decide to take up arms and answer fire for fire, the decision should be unanimous. The unanimity was not achieved and the meeting broke up without reaching the decision which could have altered the history of Tabuk because Omengan allegedly told the group that it is contrary to Christian precepts to kill other people.

Rev. Aoas says that had the Sagadas adopted the way of the kawitans and fought every time they were provoked, then it is likely it would not now have the status of being the most economically progressive ethnic group in the locality. Perhaps they would not even be in the place anymore.

Rev. Aoas also lauds the Bagos, another immigrant ethnic group which contributed a lot to the opening and subsequent development of the Tabuk Valley, as one sample of the upas who shy away from violent confrontations not because they are afraid or are incapable but because they have a higher level of understanding and have “vision in life.” He relates that during a recent meeting of Bagos in which he was present, one Bago leader had commented that the tribe is not exactly a pushover. The reverend quotes the Bago leader as saying: “We have a lot of members in the uniformed services. Arms are not a problem. But is that what we came here for?”

Like I must have related to you earlier, in the mid-80s, the Bagos momentarily forgot that they came here to try to find a life better than in their mountainous and barely habitable homeland in the Ilocos and fought the Butbuts, a kawitan, giving them the distinction of being the first immigrant group in  Tabuk to lapse to barbarism.

Francisco Gabel,  chairman of the League of Integrated Bago Young Adults (LIBYA), says that the Bagos earned some sort of a trophy from that war explaining that the tribe used to be looked down on by fellow immigrants and Kalingas but after the war, they  were treated with more respect. He has these to say of that episode:  “What other immigrants do not know is that it was not a tribal decision. The Butbuts pushed us to the wall. We value life but even if we did not approve of war, we could not control all members of the tribe. But because of the developments, as though the majority tolerated it because the situation had reached a point when we simply could not condemn the acts of our tribesmates anymore... It was good for our generation because we are braver. If it happens now, our children could not take it. Had we continued on the path of violence, for sure not many of our youth would have earned education in the last two decades. Perhaps by now, we would be like the warlike Kalinga tribes who defer even to unlettered members just because these members are killers. We would have reverted to barbarism by this time… We do not prescribe tribal war as a solution. For one, instead of offering ourselves as good examples, going to war will make us no different.”

Let’s give Rev. Aoas the last word:  “Of foremost value to Sagadas and Bagos is progress while the kawitans remain slaves to their violent culture. The kawitan mindset is satisfy the urges and demands of culture and sacrifices everything to achieve that purpose. To the kawitan, the most important thing when one is violated is to retaliate and get even. Not so among the Sagadas and Bagos. They are in good company because the non-violent in this world usually triumph in the end. Just look at Mahatma Gandhi of India and Nelson Mandela of South Africa. Through non-violence, they ended the oppression of their people.” 

by Estanislao Albano, Jr.

Seems to me that the pursuit of autonomy in the Cordillera is like a vehicle which only runs when it has fuel and the fuel in this case is government funds. The moment the government allocates money for a drive for autonomy, the vehicle moves. The moment the money runs out, all the talk about autonomy being the ideal setup for the region and its materialization ushering in an era of progress for the locality practically dies down until the next allocation comes along. This gives me grave doubts about the brilliance of the idea and the 100 percent conviction of its adherents about it being the correct system for the region. To my mind, a real brilliant idea would not lack for people who are willing to part with their own money and dedicate their unselfish efforts just to bring it to fruition. Sold to the idea, the availability of outside support to keep the drive going is not a condition for them to keep the campaign going. “If there’s a will, there’s a way” is their motto.

My question now is if Juan Ngalob of the Regional Development Council (RDC)  and Baguio City Congressman Maurice Domogan were private citizens, would they still be as ardent in the campaign for autonomy as now?

I know of a non-government group in the region which has been publicly criticizing the RDC for alleged misuse of the autonomy funds released by Malacanang in 2007 and yet at the next breath expresses the wish that it also be given a share in the said funds so that it could revive its own drive for regional autonomy.

Still on government money, granting that it’s true as alleged that  the Cordillera region is not getting its fair share from national government revenues, had the little money which has been coming in been put to good use all this time? I am asking that because not getting one’s fair share is no excuse to waste precious public resources. Who’s to blame for the misuse of the national government funds finding its way to the Cordillera? Will these leeches go out of fashion in an autonomous setup? If not, of what use will the new sources of funds for the region be? Of what use is changing the system?

This brings us back to the bottomline mentioned by Manong Ben two weeks ago. No matter how you change the system if the people will persist with their old attitudes, it will be for naught.

Just look at the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The last story I read in the papers about that region is the sentencing by the Sandiganbayan of former regional chief executive Zacaria Candao and some other officials to long jail terms for malversation of millions in public funds. If I am not mistaken, Nur Misuari, the foremost Muslim freedom fighter who also had the chance to be governor of the ARMM, could also not account for hundreds of millions. I have not read of positive stories about the region making substantial strides towards progress giving me grave doubts if the people of the region are now realizing the supposed benefits of the autonomous setup. Autonomy is supposed to change the life of Muslims and Cordillerans for the better and make them catch up with their fellow Filipinos who had come under the Spanish yoke otherwise the framers of the 1987 Constitution would not have thought of it. Basing on the experience of the ARMM so far, it’s about time we evaluate if indeed there’s truth to that belief.

What’s disturbing to note was that was that those who  peopled the bodies which were supposed to usher us to autonomy exhibited tendencies similar to what seems to pervade the bureaucracy of the ARMM . What is the guarantee that when more funds will be at the disposition of the regional leadership courtesy of the dawning of Cordillera autonomy the same will be put to proper use this time? Now if there is no such guarantee could be made, what good will autonomy bring to the people of the region?

As far as I am concerned, for so long as we do not change our reprehensible attitude and ways when it comes to government funds, the  Cordillera could become autonomous or even become an independent country but its lot  will not change as a result. On the other hand, if we give room to moral enlightenment and turn over a new leaf, there is nothing  under the present system which bars us from improving our regional condition.   

by Estanislao Albano, Jr.

I enjoyed reading fellow writer Ben Feken's thoughts on Cordillera autonomy. I felt he has given voice to things within me which up to this time I have not taken the time to ponder on and articulate. After reading it, I texted him saying that I agree with him all the way. He replied that it would be a good idea if I said something about the so here we go.

Right from the start, I was wary about the idea of Cordillera autonomy and I was one of those who breathed sighs of relief when it was turned down twice by the electorate. My foremost objection was that all that talk about the new system correcting the alleged discrimination against Cordillera natives by other Filipinos was misplaced. My idea then and now is that if indeed such a discrimination exists, the cure is not in pursuing  exclusivity but in joining the mainstream and proving oneself to be equal with other Filipinos. In clinging to their culture and opting to live in reservations, the American Indians have condemned themselves into a time warp. By contrast, by refusing to succumb to the odds and not giving up in their fight for equality with the whites, the American blacks now have earned a place in American society. In fact, one of their number now leads that country.

How would the talent search organizers and the television viewers have reacted had the late Marky Cielo asked for a handicap since he was an Igorot?

For me, autonomy is just a telltale sign that we are unequal with the rest of the Filipino nation. It is like a crutch which proclaims to the world that one is lame and could not run in a race with the majority. The right response to discrimination is not to fight for special treatment  but to prove to all and sundry that one could compete with the majority. Asking for special treatment is in itself an admission of the inferiority and oddness that the majority is tagging you with and which offends you no end.

As a half-Ilocano, I am also fearful that in an autonomous set up, the pendulum would swing to the other end with the alleged victim of discrimination becoming the discriminator (if there is such a word). With all this stress on indigenous culture and heritage being made by the people who are fighting for autonomy, what is the guarantee that reverse discrimination will not occur in the new set up? I suspect that this fear is one of the factors which contributed to the defeat of the autonomy in Baguio City during the two plebiscites. Talking about Baguio City, could you imagine a  Cordillera Autonomous Region sans the city?  It would be like a being without the core or heart. I have a gut feel that because of the concerns of Baguio City’s non-indigenous population, that’s exactly what the autonomous region would look like if ever it does materialize. Even if the foremost never say die advocate of autonomy is the city’s three-term congressman.     

Which brings me to my second objection to Cordillera autonomy – the uncertainty of the realization of the advantages of which autonomy advocates talk about no end. I am referring to the mismanagement of the efforts and finances which were supposed to  usher in Cordillera autonomy which Manong Ben described in his column to some disturbing extent. What is the guarantee that such shameless selfishness and wanton disregard of the welfare of the majority of the residents of the Cordillera will not mark the administration of the Cordillera Autonomous Region? What is the guarantee for example that when we have greater say in the usage of our natural resources, the  revenues that will accrue will be used for the good of the people? I am ready to grant that autonomy is a better system than what we have at the moment but where will the people who could be trusted to operate it come from? Short of having angels from heaven come down to run the region with the present crop of politicians we have, it is likely that autonomy will just add a new group of thieves into our bureaucracy and we will become as corruption-ridden as the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. In the first place, if the political leaders of the city and provinces composing the region have been and are doing their jobs honestly, sincerely and effectively, it is possible that the region would now be at par with other regions negating any necessity for a special set up as a means of getting of the backwardness the proponents of autonomy are talking about.

Relative to personalities in the drive for autonomy, I heard an unverified story that one of the reasons the organic act was not ratified in one of the provinces of the region during the 1997 plebiscite were streamers along the highways proclaiming that the late Fr. Conrado Balweg was for autonomy. It is possible that the story is true. And that should give some groups and individuals now yakking about autonomy whose motives are doubted by the people the hint. If they really want to give autonomy a chance, they should now shut their mouths. Better still, they should execute a turnaround and start campaigning against autonomy as passionately as they have been promoting it. 

One of the things that may set Kalingas apart from other people  is the multa. It is the practice of exacting one’s pound of flesh from incidents where the blood of a Kalinga is drawn (or even if not drawn), a Kalinga is aggrieved. Never mind if the incident is  not intentional or accident for so long as blood has been drawn, the multa must be paid. Multa is also imposed in cases when a man impregnates a Kalinga woman but does not intend to marry her and things like that.

With the failure of the government to  regulate the practice, multa is a dreaded word among the immigrants and the mild Kalinga tribes. The practice drives a wedge between them and the tribes that exact multa on the other hand. It is a well known fact that most multa demands are unreasonable and the process in enforcing it attended by intimidation. 

Recently, I had a chance to hear the thoughts of Bansen Bangibang, one of the few Kalingas who does not mince words when it comes to the bad practices and excesses of his fellow  Kalingas, on the matter. According to Bansen, a member of the Taloktok tribe, among Kalingas, it does not matter who starts something. It has no bearing. You punch me and no blood is shed. I then retaliate and blood is drawn.  I must pay the multa.

He continues: The moment blood is shed, the Kalinga has reason to exact the multa. That’s because the wound must be masonga. In English, songa is the payment of the blood money so that the problem is prevented from getting any worse. Even just a little blood is reason to demand the multa. It all depends on the relative fierceness of the tribe or family of the victim in relation to the tribe or family of the one who caused the injury. If the tribe or family of the latter is easily intimidated, the victim tribe raises the demand sky high just in case the other party will give in. It’s like a bluff. Not all Kalingas kill but then there is no way of determining who is bluffing and who is not so the safe thing to do is to give in.  

The facts on who started the incident will only have a bearing when the person who drew blood belongs to a kawitan or warlike tribe in which case they could enforce their rights but if they belong to the upa or non-warlike tribes, they might as well come across so as not to make things worse.

When I asked what’s so significant about the drawing of blood that the multa must be imposed at all costs, Bansen could not explain. He only said the shedding of blood  is a serious matter among Kalingas.  “Blood is important because it is life but I do not know the actual reason,” Bansen admitted.

According to Bansen, the expression “maysa a tedted, maysa a nuang” is an exaggeration but that the principle is  “basta nagdara, mamulta.” And that’s even if the cause of the bleeding was unintended or accidental.

Going back to the songa, Bansen said that according to the belief of Kalingas, the killing and butchering of an animal the simplest of which is a chicken makes the wound heal easier and will not make it swell. As for the demand in cash, Bansen explained that it is to cover hospital expenses and related losses and also to appease the victim.

Bansen said that ever since he could remember, Kalingas already practiced the multa but that in  recent years, its hold on them has loosened a bit because of the advent of Christianity. When I asked him about church people who impose the multa, Bansen said that they are just pretending to be Christians but are not real Christians because Christians are supposed to be forgiving. He related that there are times during amicable settlement negotiations when he rebuked so-called Christian families for demanding the multa but that the latter would reason that if they do not demand the multa, their stature in the  community would suffer because among Kalingas, the demand is tied up with one’s prestige.  If you do not demand much, then you are apt to be ignored and look down on.

Bansen relates that one time when his second boy was in grade three at the Bulanao South Elementary School, he and an immigrant boy were throwing stones at the fruits of a mango tree. One of the stones thrown by the immigrant boy as it was coming down hit  Bansen’s son injuring him in the forehead. The bleeding was profuse. The knowledge that the injured boy was a Kalinga rattled the teacher of the two boys and even the principal because, according to Bansen, in incidents like this among Kalingas, teachers are dragged in. The teachers were only calmed when he went to the hospital where the boy was taken and informed the immigrant boy to get a chicken for him and the injured boy to butcher and eat together in a house in front of the school the following day. He did not even ask the family of the immigrant boy to pay the hospital bill. According to Bansen, he asked for the chicken  with the intent of  preventing his tribesmates from taking advantage of the situation.

Bansen said that among warlike Kalinga tribes, unfortunate incidents like what happened to his boy is an opportunity to “make their lives better.”  But he quickly adds that there are also Kalingas who have learned to forgive like he did.

The trouble is, they are very rare. 

By Estanislao Albano, Jr.

During a recent conversation with my favorite friend Rev. Luis Aoas, he elaborated on an earlier observation that the concept of forgiveness is missing in the Kalinga culture. Let’s listen to him:

“There are no equivalent in the Kalinga dialect for ‘I forgive you.’ or ‘Please forgive me.’ What we have are the words ‘bay-amon’ or ‘pasensiya’ which are grafted from the Ilocano dialect and culture. By it, we mean you just let the matter go. It is different from forgiveness because when one forgives, he does not record the wrong but when one merely says ‘bay-amon,’ he records although at this time, he does not ask the wrongdoer to make amends. A repetition may not receive the same treatment. In forgiveness, one does not point to the other person that his act is already a repetition. Forgiveness springs from love of fellowmen. I am talking from the viewpoint of Christianity whereby people are equipped with the power to forgive since they were first forgiven. Pasensiya does not come from goodwill.

Another reason I say there is no forgiveness in the Kalinga culture is because in all my three decades of negotiating amicable settlements, I have not seen the offenders and the victims appearing. This makes the act of forgiveness impossible because forgiveness is personal. The person wronged is the one who forgives and the person who did the wrong is the one who asks for forgiveness. The absence of the offender and the victim in amicable settlements is linked up with the principle of Kalinga culture of ‘the sin of one, is the sin of all.’”

At this point,  I interject that since that is the set-up, then why talk about forgiveness? It is out of place. He replies: “Even if the sin of one is the sin of all, there is still need to ask for forgiveness. If you have killed a man, you should feel sorry for what you have done and, in the event you are forgiven, shoulder the expense which will  not then be treated as indemnity. To me, a person controlled by God forgives even if the offender does not ask for forgiveness. The understanding is in Christianity, one who harbors hatred even if he does not act on it, is like a candle which is burning itself out.”

My question how could there be peace in Kalinga when the concept of forgiving is missing, triggers the following exchange:

Rev. Aoas: “Peace is still possible because there is the law to serve as a curb against the commission of evil which is part of human nature.”

Me: “But there is no law in Kalinga.”

Rev. Aoas: “Don’t say that. You are too sweeping. Try to go out on the street now and stone the houses you pass by and the police will apprehend you.”

Me: “I will be apprehended because I am a Bago. If I belonged to a kawitan tribe like yours, I will not be apprehended.”

Rev. Aoas: “There you go again. Kontrabida ka a talaga. There is still hope in Kalinga. Everybody is talking about peace and the effect is the understanding of people is slowly being raised to the level wherein they can be civilized. There are perceptible changes. Gone are the days when the mere shedding of blood will spark wars, wars that would last for years. Now, if there are wars, they are stopped quickly. This is in fairness to what’s happening. May be the changes are not as fast as they should be but there is still something going on which is good.”

When I asked him if it’s possible that a kawitan tribe confesses that its member killed a person and asks for forgiveness for the act, he said that when that happens, it will be a breakthrough whether or not it will be accepted adding that if it happens, the subject kawitan tribe should be willing to surrender the culprit and take the consequences because confession which is just words is nothing. He agreed with me though that habitual murderers are not likely to confess and ask for forgiveness but that it is usual for first time offenders to feel remorse although if they are Kalingas, they may not actually ask for forgiveness from those they harmed.

He concluded that the root of the unforgiving culture is as follows: “Among Kalingas, harm done to a relative is taken as an insult to the honor of the clan or of the tribe and the only way to restore the diminished honor is to revenge.”

I then said that in that case, the word forgiveness will continue to be missing in the Kalinga dialect and culture for three more generations to which he retorted that at least we have started talking about it. According to him, it is like a seed being planted and sprouting in due time.

By Estanislao Albano, Jr.

While on a research mission in Bontoc for the Tabuk City LGU this week, our group stayed in with Manong Ben Feken in his farm at Maligcong. The first night, I finally had the chance to do what I have been meaning to for a long time – extract his opinion on how the Bontoc people were able to leave behind the headhunting or tribal war epoch. I had long wanted to hear him on the topic as it might give us further insights into the Kalinga poser.

Manong Ben started off with an experience he had in 1968 while working for an insurance firm in Benguet which showed that up to that time, the Bontocs were still regarded by their southern neighbors especially those living in the remote areas as sort of savages. While walking home from a village in the town of Tublay, he and his partner, an Iballoy, met some children on the trail. As the two parties were about to pass each other, his Iballoy companion announced to the children that he (Manong Ben) was a Bontoc man and he beheads people. Hearing that, the children dropped their loads, screamed in fear and run to hide on the mountainside. The Iballoy man would later shout to the children that it was just a joke but the children would not come out from their hiding places.

Manong Ben said that he learned from the experience that the reputation of the Bontoc people as ferocious headhunters still lingered among the Benguet people which was shocking because at that time the Bontocs had already abandoned the practice for more than a couple of decades. He related that his maternal grandfather who died in 1972 belonged to the last batch of headhunters of the Bontoc tribe. From his grandfather who was heavily tattooed, he heard gory headhunting tales.

“The turning point for the Bontoc people was the second world war. My speculation is that with the advent of firearms, headhunting lost its thrill. According to my grandfather, headhunting was done with primitive equipment and the challenge came from being able to approach the would-be victim with stealth, cut off his head and run away with it. The people saw no challenge and point in killing people from a distance which was already possible with the proliferation of firearms after the war. Headhunting also became dangerous because the enemy may just pick you up with their guns.  There were other factors which led to the overhauling the culture of tribal violence. One was mass education and another was religion.  Education taught them there are more important things than killing other humans. During the headhunting days in Bontoc, the killers were idolized and revered just like they are now in Kalinga. The priests and catechists were also very critical of old customs particularly violence. They lost the taste of the old ways and tribal wars because of the new things that were being introduced,” Manong Ben said.

Regarding the continuing practice of tribal wars in Kalinga, Manong Ben comments: “The practice will not die in Kalinga because people there still highly regard killers. The tomo (the feast in honor of a tribesman who just killed a man) is abetting the killer and the practice as a whole. The whole community it invited and everybody participates. It is an honor to be associated with the killer.”

Be that as it  may, Manong Ben sees hope for the Bontoc’s northern neighbors. He asserts: “This might be an oversimplification but in the long run, Kalingas will realize they cannot gain anything from the practice because it has something to do with killing others. Sooner or later, the warlike Kalinga tribes will be isolated. I do not think they could sustain it indefinitely. The practice will vanish under the sheer weight of modernity. It’s only a matter of time.”        

When I interjected my disagreement observing that modern things such as technology  which brought the Bontocs to the point of renouncing tribal wars have instead became tools in the hands of some Kalinga tribes in the pursuit of their barbaric obsessions,  Manong Ben said: “You are from Kalinga and I am an outsider but that’s the way I look at it. If you could live 500 years, you will see that it will not last that long. Even in just 100 years it will be eradicated.”

It is sad that 40 years after Manong Ben’s experience with the Tublay children which showed him that the Bontocs were still regarded as barbarians, fellow Cordillerans and many outsiders do not still feel comfortable with and are even terrified by warlike Kalingas for the same reason. Now Manong Ben is saying that the cause of the bad reputation will linger for another century or even five centuries! Actually, what is important is not how other Cordillerans regard us but how many more victims will lose their lives on account of this barbaric passion for blood and rejection of the ways of civilization.

In the meantime, the Bontocs continue to enjoy peace. Manong Ben who is now 61 claims that in his native Maligcong,  he could not recall when a killing took place. Cases of persons trying to terrorize their fellows is unknown. There are no parents there who coddle their wayward children because in doing so, they will risk being isolated. He admits that it is different when a member gets into trouble with a member of another tribe because the tribe will rally behind the member but the difference is rather than take the law in their own hands, the Bontocs will subject matter to government due process 

and respect the decision of the katarungang pambarangay or the court. He says: “We respect the government justice system.”

I know of some people in the Cordillera who only have contempt for the government law system and I believe that that is one of the secrets they are caught in a time warp when it comes to peaceful relations with others and among themselves and will continue to remain so perhaps in another millennium.