Notes from the North

By Estanislao C. Albano, Jr.  

Naneng is the second to the last barangay of Tabuk City on the way to Mt. Province. The main village is located on a strip of flat land along the Chico River. On one end of the village which has 83  houses is the Roman Catholic church, the first ever religious outpost in Tabuk after the Philippine Revolution. The revolution had stopped all Catholic mission activities in the area. Up until recently when various born-again denominations gained some following in the  barangay, Roman Catholicism was the only religion of the Nanengs.  

On the gently sloping land between the village and the national road to the west is the 54-hectare ricefield. This used to adequately supply the staple needs of the residents.  That is in the past tense because for some decades now and due to a combination of natural and man-made causes, the traditional source of the village’s rice can no longer keep up with the consumption.  

From a conversation with barangay secretary Andres Amla, 73, and housewives Reynalyn Albert, 40, and Blesilda Albert, 50, I learned that before the Second World War, there were only few families in the main Naneng village. The average number of children of each family was  two to three. Reynalyn theorizes that one reason for the small families during that period was that the back-breaking work involved in eking out a living then when modern technology was not still available must have adversely affected the fertility of the people. With the low population  and there being sufficient irrigation water then, the produce of the ricefields exceeded the consumption so that there was no need for people to augment their staple needs by engaging in slash and burn farming or kaingin.  

But right after the war, the picture drastically changed as the big family became the ideal. The three said that because of the war, the villagers had come to think that it is good to have many children so that if another war happens, there would be more members of the family helping each other and that’s even if a member or two would go to war. They said that during that period, most of the families had more than 10 children with one family even having 16 children.  

The sudden increase in the population put pressure on the  traditional source of rice supply of the villagers and later on when it was time for the post-war children to marry and start their own families, also pressure on the space available for residential purposes in the village. One of the results was that some families have to resort to kaingin farming to complement their harvest from their rice paddies. Another effect was for some of the new families having to look for new locations on which to build their houses. That meant the clearing of   erstwhile forest lands in the barangay.  

The three said that the average number of  broods in the village in the 60s and 70s was eight and in the 80s to 90s six to seven. Blesilda said that  the hardship of sending too many children to school brought about the slight decrease in the average number of children.  

The steady increase in the village’s population impacted on the environment. The three related that starting in the 70s and with the denudation of the forest primarily due to the kaingin system,  there was a steady decline in the volume of irrigation water reaching the  riceland of the village. They said  that it was not just the cutting of trees which caused the dwindling of their water source but likewise the earthquakes sometime in the 60s and in 1990. Blesilda related that in 2003, the situation forced  the villagers to institute irrigation water rationing.  The scheme brought about a semblance of order in the usage of the irrigation water but as the water became more scarce, the demand for the precious resource has become a potential source of conflict among the farmers. To make sure that the schedule is maximized, a farmer has to stand guard in his farm otherwise neighbors would steal the water. It came to a point that Blesilda decided to do the guarding herself taking advantage of the Kalinga cultural trait of sparing women from violence. For her, that means going to the rice field at 4 AM and staying there until morning.  

Blesilda said that after the 1990 earthquake, what was unthinkable in the village which for centuries used to be self-sufficient in rice took place: some villagers started going to town to buy rice. At first, such a sight was rare but as the population of the village continued to grow, it soon became a common occurrence.  

The three picture the current situation of the village rice resource as follows: During the wet season or main crop, all 54 hectares are tilled. What makes that possible is that the rains bring to life the creeks from which the farmers could draw the water which the Gapang irrigation system, the original water source of the ricefields, can no longer supply. During the second cropping when the creeks are dry, only around three hectares are made productive by the water from Gapang. During our visit yesterday, I personally saw several paddies with half inch-wide cracks. The farmers harvesting the rice in the adjoining paddy said that the crop in the waterless paddies can no longer be salvaged.    

And according to Reynalyn, a new phenomenon is compounding the troubles of  Naneng’s farmers. She related that for around eight instances already, the creeks have overflowed during heavy rains flooding the rice lands and even the village. She informed that the last time that the flooding occurred which was in August of last year, a portion of her family’s ricefield was covered with silt rendering it unarable. She blames the flooding on the development of the erstwhile forested area above the village where over the years, people with no more land in the village to build their houses on or to grow their rice have moved. Some 63 households are located there now. Back in the 70s, there was only one house in the area. With the trees gone, there is nothing more to hold the soil when it rains thus the top soil-laden floods, Reynalyn observed.   

I gleaned from the conversation that the worsening food situation in the village was and is one of the main factors women in the village were  and are receptive to the family planning program which government health personnel are promoting to them. Reynalyn and Blesilda said that there are other reasons such as the difficulty of sending children to school. They said that except for a few, women in the village have embraced artificial family planning methods as one response to their current condition. They said that the mere realization that things in the village are no longer as they used to has combined with the family planning campaign of the government to bring down the average number of children among young couples in the village. They allege that the maximum number of children for families there now is four.  

Reynalyn unabashedly revealed that she herself underwent ligation several years ago. She said that she and her husband would have stopped at three or four had they been blessed with a girl by that time but since they were not, they decided to give themselves more chances but when their seventh child turned out to be yet another boy, they decided it was time to quit and to ensure that no more children will come, she underwent ligation.

When I asked the three how come the villagers are defying their church on the issue of artificial contraceptives, Reynalyn answered: “Religion is not the only basis for decision when it comes to the number of children a couple will have. The government and the church have conflicting positions and it is up for people to choose which to follow. As far as I am concerned, bringing into this world children whose basic needs you cannot adequately provide and whom you cannot send to school is far worse than using contraceptives.” Blesilda and Amla did not voice any objection.  

About the reaction of their church, Reynalyn related that at the time the villagers were faced with the decision whether or not to accept artificial family planning methods, some members of the congregation consulted the priest, a foreign missionary. According to Reynalyn, the priest readily understood the reasons of the villagers for being open to contraceptives as he was aware of their hardships and had encouraged  the members who approached him to lend rice to the villagers who could not afford to go buy rice in the market. From that time on also, he often included in his homilies the topics of responsible parenthood and proper nurture of children in  moral values. Reynalyn said that the priest never  commented on the usage of contraceptives.  

I chanced upon these  Naneng men harvesting  rice during my visit to the village on March 23,2011. Take note of the paddies in the distance that were not planted this cropping season due to lack of irrigation. The men said that the rice plants in the adjoining paddies which run out of irrigation water for sometime have no chance of surviving. 

This was how the paddy the men were harvesting rice looked like. 

by Estanislao Albano, Jr.

            Another reason why the relevance of the bodong should not be discussed at all is that the institution’s legality and constitutionality are doubtful.

            I have heard bodong advocates claiming that the institution is in tune with national laws but  nothing could be farther from the truth. For one, the 1987 Constitution abolished the death penalty but there was no move on the part of bodong-practitioners then to delete the butu provision of the bodong. That  provision which is considered the teeth of the bodong works this way: When a member of tribe A commits a crime against bodong counterpart tribe B, the bodong-holder or enforcer belonging to tribe A shall punish his offending tribesmate so that if the crime committed is a murder, the latter or in his absence,  his nearest of kin will have to be killed by the enforcer. The butu has since been twisted beyond recognition but the provision is retained in the bodongs of fierce tribes.  A couple of months ago, the death penalty which was re-imposed in 1994  was abolished for the second time but as of press time, I still have to hear of bodong-practitioners moving to bid the butu goodbye.

             For another, the bodong violates the Bill of Rights. For sure, the law referred to in Section 1 of the Bill of Rights are government laws. Under the bodong, and as pointed out by the editorial of this paper in the last issue, all that needs to be done to sentence to death a  whole tribe, the full grown males in particular, is to severe the bodong which by any stretch of the imagination  does not constitute due process as contemplated by the  Constitution.

            Of more fundamental concern is the legal personality of the bodong. The Sha’ria law of the Muslims has been recognized by the government through an specific act and that is only a civil code. On the other hand, the bodong is a penal code which deals with the least to the most heinous crime. Bodong defenders would point to Section 22 of Article II and the Section 17 of Article XIV of the 1987 Constitution as the basis for the continuing practice of the bodong  but then those provisions, needless to say, refer to culture that are consistent with the fundamental law and other existing laws. The second part of Section 22 for one mentions “national unity and development” as conditions. How could the bodong be for unity when it’s very practice has a divisive effect on Kalingas themselves and between Kalingas on one hand  and immigrants on the other with the latter charging double-standard justice and even oppression? How could the bodong be for development when their reputation of its practitioners is such that other people regard them with fear and distrust it is difficult for their students to find boarding houses in Bontoc, Tuguegarao City and Baguio City? How could the bodong be for development when its practitioners are plagued by tribal wars?

            And come to think of it, could a country have two penal codes and remain one country? Would not the United States come apart if each state adopted laws that are inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States?

            But let’s now get into specifics. In 1988, the Kalinga Bodong Congress composed of Kalinga tribal leaders and bodong-holders was convened and started deliberating on the codification of the bodong. They saw the need for that because at that time and up until now despite the nearly two-decade efforts of that body, the pagtas or laws of the pact  are different from one bodong pairing to another. The intent is to come up with a standard pagta which is applicable to all and 10 years later during the Fourth Congress, the Pagta came into being. The same was subjected to amendments during the Fifth Kalinga Bodong Congress in 2002 and yet the following provisions from a bygone era which are, needless to say, repugnant to civilized laws were not dropped:

            “Section 5, Article II. Revenge is hereby prohibited, except in cases where a Bodong is severed as provided under Section 5, Article VI of this Pagta, in which case, the retaliation by the aggrieved party shall solely rest on the person of the offender. Violation of this provision shall constitute patoy (killing).”

            “Section 2, Article VI. If a patoy results to death, the penalty (dusa) is ten (10) carabaos, or its equivalent value in terms of land, antique jars (gusi), gold, beads or cash, inclusive of the patong-al, paata and imbaluwan/siglot. In addition thereto, he shall pay three (3) carabaos as payment of the butu to the offended Bodongholder,  one to be given to his kasupang and the other one to  be butchered during the amicable settlement plus reasonable customary damages.”

            Section 5, Article VI,  also provides the procedures to be undertaken in the event of a patoy which includes the severance of the bodong as an option.

            The Pagta does not spell it out but the severance of the bodong is a formal declaration of war. An aggrieved Kalinga tribe will not severe the bodong if it does not have any intent of doing violence to its erstwhile bodong partner. Not all severed bodongs result in war but some of them do.

            In fairness to the Kalinga Bodong Congress, the Pagta is an improvement on the existing laws of the bodong as practiced  by the fierce tribes but the trouble is many  tribes continue to act as though the congresses never took place. Since 2002, at least two   tribal wars erupted and all of the victims were innocent including two who were not even members of the warring tribes. As things are, the Pagta is in limbo which is a different subject altogether.

            Had it not been for its secretariat overruling a decision of the Fifth  Kalinga Bodong Congress,  the bodong would now be nearer its proper place in the national scheme of things – a customary law consistent with and subject to the laws of the country instead of one that presumes to usurp the jurisdiction of the same. I covered the event   and saw how the congress approved an amendment  of the Pagta to the effect that henceforth, the bodong will only take jurisdiction of the civil aspect of crimes while the criminal aspect will be handled by the courts. However, the amendment was not included in the revised Pagta released by the congress. When I asked where it went, one of the prime movers of the Kalinga Bodong Congress answered that it is not necessary because Section 1 of  Article II of the Pagta states that the bodong recognizes the rule of law. As you yourself could see from the foregoing, nothing could be farther from the truth. 

by Estanislao Albano, Jr.

To be frank about it, Kalingas particularly those coming from the warlike tribes are not exactly the darling of fellow Cordillerans and neighbors. Just like I said here when the Bontoc, Mt. Province folks contemplated to ban all Kalingas from boarding houses there as a reaction to the recalcitrance of the Basao people to surrender the killers of a Bontoc-Sagada mestizo in September of last year, if they did that, they would not be the first because boarding house owners in Baguio City and Tuguegarao City have been doing it already for sometime. 

            In my desire to find out more as to why Kalingas from the warlike tribes rub other people the wrong way, I sought out Bansen Bangibang who I featured in this column for his wit and his exploits in the field of cooperativism sometime back. I told myself that he could help because at one time, I heard an immigrant lady say “No koma no amin a Kalinga ket kasla ken Bansen, awan ti problema.” Considering that the lady who was then in danger of missing the bus had vowed she would rather remain single than marry a native Kalinga, I told myself that that indeed is high praise and he will know what the other Kalingas are doing which he is not.  

            So last Saturday afternoon at the Emilia’s Kitchenette in Bulanao, I listened to Bansen who is a member of the Taloktok tribe which is not exactly a one of those Kalinga tribes which I label civilized, talk about what he thinks is wrong with the Kalinga character. His first comment was as follows: “Because they are natives of the place, they are arrogant and treat immigrants as though they are below them. Although this might be a natural feeling for natives relative to immigrants in all places, it should not be applied to the disadvantage of the  other person.”   I did not as him to elaborate but I surmise that he must be referring to the tendency of some Kalingas to impose their will on immigrants and civilized fellow Kalingas.

            Bansen also hit Kalinga tribal leaders (papangats) for practicing double standard down to a man. He said that they are all justice and fairness when it is other people involved but when the issue touches their relatives, they change their tune. He continued that even if the young men of their tribes do evil things, they exert no effort to correct them because they would have no one to turn to in the event that the tribe gets into a violent conflict with other tribes. According to Bansen, their policy is to refrain from antagonizing tribe members with violent and criminal streak because they are useful in case of war.

            According to Bansen, one reason the practice of tribal war is not going away is that people who marry into the warlike tribes whom he refers to as “royal blood” and “kawitan” do not try to influence them to change for the better but instead feel proud and capitalize on the connection.

            I was not satisfied though with his answer when I asked if he ever tried to dissuade his tribe from going to war. He said it would be no use because his tribe would not listen as he comes from a poor family with no “ngadan” or name in Taloktok tribal society. He explained that it is the members of the old established families of the tribe who have a say in times of crisis in the tribe. My thinking is that he does not need to be heeded but only to speak up against the tendency of the tribe to resort to violence just in case other members would listen.

            He redeemed himself partly though when he said that his way of showing that he is against the practice of tribal war is that he is one of the few Kalingas who never bought a gun. According to him, he has been despised  as a “bakla”, “takrot” or “can’t afford” for refusing to arm himself. “I do not want to participate in the war efforts of the tribe. I do not want my movements to be curtailed during a war. I do not want to hide. I do have some wayward nephews and in Kalinga, avengers go for the prominent members of the family,  but I am still alive.” He will turn 60 this year. He attributes his salvation from violence to God and his marriage to a member of the Biga tribe so that when it’s the Bigas who are involved in a conflict, the enemy would not touch him because he is a Taloktok and when it’s the Bigas who are involved, the enemies would say he is married to the Biga tribe.

            Aside from not buying his own gun, he never contributes resources to the war efforts of the tribe. “But I help in the restoration of peace. They will curse you if you do not lift a finger. In fact, I pay more because I have work.” It’s hard to associate selfishness with a person imbued with altruism like Bansen but in contributing to the peace effort, he is also protecting his skin because among Kalingas, there is an order of battle determined by one’s prominence in the community.

            Regarding the troubles of Kalinga youth of looking for boarding houses in the cities, he believes that other people want to give Kalingas a dose of their own medicine of vindictiveness. He adds that the other people may not also want to have anything to do with the bad practices of Kalingas. 

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.

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The Roman Catholic (RC) clergy only talks about natural family planning methods but is doing nothing to promote it among their members.

That is the observation of Dr. Rosendo Roque, a full professor at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the RC-run University of Santo Tomas and a past president of the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society (POGS).

Roque led a team of 14 obstetricians and gynecologists  who  came to the province October 8 to conduct a medical mission and lecture on teenage pregnancy.

“The church is adamant on refusing to accept artificial contraction methods and yet there are no strong moves on its part to immerse in the community to strengthen natural family planning methods. If you talk, you offer options and alternatives to what is offered by the other side so you will offer an equal choice so that the population can make a decision on their own,” Roque said.

He added that the church cannot go on “imposing urgent sensitive matters concerning people without adequate study and consideration of what the people really need and what they really desire to improve their situation.”

Regarding the emotion-charged debate on the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, Roque said that the government and the church should strike a compromise because of the survey finding showing  that majority of RC people favor the passage of the bill.

“I wish that all the parties will try to analyze in detail the contents of the RH bill that needs to  compromise approach so that we can approach our goal to finally improve our society’s conditions because this is just a matter of supply and demand. The bigger the number of people, the bigger is their need for food, housing social services, infrastructure and jobs,” Roque said.

 Once both sides understand the contentious provisions, then they can work out compromises that will be acceptable to both, the doctor said.

Citing as sample the issue of the participation of the government in providing contraceptive methods to the population, Roque said that the two parties could talk about alternatives which could include the church strengthening its education efforts on the subject of natural family planning method.

“If they don’t want condoms, they can teach the rhythm method,” Roque said.

He clarified that he is not talking for the POGS albeit he claimed that most members of the organization share his opinion.  

Regarding the POGS advocacy against teenage pregnancy, Roque who heads the project said that they teach teenagers “abstinence and substitution of their activities to help them mature responsibly.”

He said that since sexual development is natural, the POGS want the teenagers to be aware that they can channel their excess energy to other productive activities.

“Most teenagers are left to themselves and they cannot cope with the rapid changes in their physical, emotional and social development. A good majority have no guidance especially so that many parents are overseas.

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.” 

(Note: Estanislao Albano Jr. has submitted many essays on population issues in the Philippines. For this post, he has graciously culled some of his ideas in previous writings, to come up with a nice light read that may perhaps unburden us and make our positions on the issues easier to arrive at.)

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has expressed its vehement disapproval of the alleged purchase by lawmakers of P1B-worth of condoms and other contraceptives in a bid to control the population growth. They say that it would be much better to use the money for projects that would ease the poverty and provide free education to poor children. 

These bigots would never admit that there would be fewer of these poor children their hearts are bleeding for if only they do not fight so hard the population program of the government. 

Dogma more important than people

A survey conducted by the Catholic for Free Choice, an international group, found that 77 percent of Filipino Catholics believe that condoms could do them good instead of bad as their clergy are insisting.

Perhaps these local Catholics have finally seen the foolishness of allowing celibates to dictate on their sex and reproductive lives. Personally, I do not see any logic in someone with dead sexual life talking about abstinence and safe periods. They cannot begin to imagine what ordinary people – those who have no seminary experience nor solemn vows to abstain from sex – are up against when sexually awakened. If it makes these priests feel any better, I strongly believe that there are even instances when Filipino couples caught in the situation do not use condoms – because in the frenzy of the moment, there is no more time to look for one.

The news says that the CBCP is badly shaken by the result of the survey because according to their lights, nothing should interrupt the natural purpose of the sexual act which is reproduction. The CBCP is alarmed by the wrong things. If I were them, I would be alarmed by the fact that 77 percent of my constituents do not believe me.

I would also be scared to death by the implication of the survey: despite 77 percent of Catholics using condoms, our population growth is still one of the most rapid in the world. What happens if the 77 percent go back to dependence on the judgment of the clergy? 

But then, just like what I told you before, the CBCP does not care even if this country sinks under the weight of excess human beings for so long as their dogma against artificial family planning methods remains intact. That they get their way is more important to them than that their flocks live relatively better lives because they have less mouths to feed and less bodies to clothe. 

Blind fools

There is no way you can reason with a fool who is convinced he is correct. Or who realizes he is wrong but is too proud to accept it.

Just look at Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez of Marbel, South Cotabato and

Archbishop Paciano Aniceto of San Fernando, Pampanga. They called on the government to stop blaming the current rice shortage on the growing population. Gutierrez contended that if the government is correct, then how come big families such as those of ex-President Joseph Estrada and Ramon Revilla, Sr. and Jr. are not affected by the current food crisis? In his eagerness to defend the Roman Catholic Church’s stance on population control which is expected to be put to question anew in the midst of the rice shortage, Gutierrez conveniently forgets that well-to-do families which form a very minimal portion of the population to start with are not the families that people seeking to rein in the galloping population growth in the country are referring to. If all families were like those of Estrada and the Revillas, then I am sure there would be no debate on the issue of the need to adopt population controls at all. It’s the families of the thousands now queuing for cheap NFA rice and other poor people in this country we are talking about. The families of those two women picked up by reporters from the NFA queues who asked on prime time news how on earth they could feed their big families with the little rice NFA is making available to them.

Trying to deflect the attention from the real issue, Gutierrez said that there many other ways to solve the problem one of which is to see to it that money intended for the improvement of agriculture should not be stolen. As one of the guardians of the morals of 85 percent of the population of the country, Gutierrez should know that effacing or just minimizing corruption in government is an impossibility otherwise it would have been achieved already given the fact that the clergy has been preaching against it for decades and it is only getting worse. In effect, what Gutierrez is saying is “Let hunger come upon the land. Just let the Church’s position on population control alone.”  

On the other hand, Aniceto who, if I am not mistaken, is one of the bishops who sing praises to President Gloria Arroyo, declares that there is no relation between the rice crisis and population and that the present crisis is a “crisis in management of economy and resources.” To these blind fools, everything is to blame for the current situation we are in except the burgeoning population. The simple truth that if this country had only half of its current population and each big but poor family only has half the number of its children, the situation would be more bearable and more manageable is unacceptable to these prelates.

So by way of another solution, Aniceto asks for the moon and enjoins rice traders to be patriotic and not to hoard rice. He does not realize that even if the rice supply is stable and the prices affordable if there are too many mouths in the family to feed, chances are there will still be perpetual rice shortage in the family.

Even with the rice shortage now gripping the country and many entities including the European Union reminding the government of the need to curb its population growth, there’s no hope that the Roman Catholic clergy will budge from its irrational stance against effective family planning methods. These celibates could not see that even with many Roman Catholic couples defying the official policy of the church and using the effective artificial family planning methods, the population is still haywire so how much more if all couples adhere to their natural method pie in the sky? The trouble with these fools is that they assume all Filipinos have control over their sexual urges like they (Roman Catholic priests) do.

According to the papers, a papal representative who just visited the slums of Metro Manila has called on the government to step up its efforts to fight poverty and give the poor people of this country a better deal.

As would be expected, the Vatican official is blind to the participation of the Roman Catholic Church in the perpetuation of poverty in this country. Their churches and their schools fail to teach people to steer clear of vices and to practice thrift, hard work and other traits which lead to the improvement of one’s lot. The Vatican official should also realize that a major reason why families in this country never get of the hole is their shee sizes. Surely, he must have seen the crowding in the streets and houses in the slums he visited. And here’s the Roman Catholic clergy fighting tooth and nail any attempt on the part of enlightened members of Philippine society including congressmen to try and manage population growth before it is too late.

RC priests want country to be poor forever

With the population growth rate (PGR) in the country standing at 2.04 percent which translates to roughly 2M babies a year, our population will grow to 94 M in 2010.

Life is so hard now in this country with its current population and it will definitely get more difficult once those additional mouths to feed join us. More so that 95 percent of the 2M babies will be born to families who could hardly afford to make both ends meet with their current sizes.

Despite the dire prospects brought about by the ballooning population of the country, the Roman Catholic friars are very happy our PGR is not going down because it indicates they still control this country.

By contrast, the PGR of Thailand which in the 70s had almost the same economy and population as the Philippines is less than one percent. That’s because while the local Roman Catholic friars fight tooth and nail the use of contraceptives, Thailand has been aggressively promoting the use of condoms to limit family size and to fight the spread of HIV.

The Roman Catholic friars do not want us to progress like the Thais. They want us to remain as poor as we were during the Spanish time when their word was law in this country.

Obfuscating the population issue

When it comes to justifying and defending their anti-population control stance, the Roman Catholic (RC) clergy will stop at nothing. They will highlight some facts and ignore or play down some realities to make it look to the public that their position is correct. In short, they will stoop to deceiving their constituents to frustrate efforts to improve the situation in the country by reining in its runaway population growth.

Just look at the full-page article of Fr. Gregory Gaston in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on January 3,2010. Gaston made much of  the so-called ageing and decline phenomenon now affecting countries where the total fertility rate (TFR) has fallen below the replacement levels saying that in these countries, “a huge number of the elderly have to be supported by proportionately fewer people.” He said that if the intent of population controllers to bring down the country’s TFR below the replacement level and keep it there so as to enjoy the economic advantages of having to care for less children and elderly will succeed, a disaster will occur because the Philippines is not rich and it does not have the money to support the ageing population and to hire foreign workers to replace its dwindling workforce. This, he warned, is already happening in some countries and they are encountering serious economic problems as a result. To remedy the situation, according to Fr. Gaston, these countries try to encourage their people to bear more children but to no avail. Fr. Gaston talked as though the danger is imminent claiming that if the current decline in the country’s TFR persists, we will probably reach below replacement levels in 20 years. 

In painting this incredible scenario of this extremely prolific race getting in danger of extinction, Fr. Gaston forgot or intentionally left out some facts so as to make his conclusion believable. First, the country is already overpopulated. Of course Fr. Gaston and the rest of the RC clergy and their laity supporters will contest that saying among others that our population density is way below that of countries such as the Netherlands and Singapore. They will never accept that the situation of the two countries is different from ours. They again conveniently play blind to the reality that the country is already overpopulated because the human population-carrying capacity of its environment has been exceeded. Look at our overfished seas, the dead rivers, the vanishing forests, the reduction of our farmland area due to development. All these indicate that the current population is already too heavy for the country’s resources to bear.

This means that a reduction in the population will not hurt and would in fact be a welcome development as it eases the pressure on our environment. With lesser people needing firewood and wooden materials for construction of shelters, just perchance our dwindling forest cover will widen. With less people in the cities requiring water, just perchance there would be enough water to go around.

Of course Fr. Gaston and company have an answer to that like stricter implementation of environmental laws, etc. They would say that if only the government did its job and there was no illegal fishing and illegal logging, our resources would be enough to last us indefinitely. Which of course is sidestepping the issue. They blame a lot of things for the woes of this country but never overpopulation. 

Second, Fr. Gaston forgot that the population of this earth started with just a single couple. The Biblical record is not clear as to how many children Adam and Eve brought into the world but I could bet that Filipinos especially those living in the slums and poor rural areas could top the first human couple when it comes to procreation otherwise we would not be one of the most populated countries in the world today despite our poverty and our relatively small land area. What I am saying is that with the abounding Filipino libido plus the encouragement from the RC clergy, there would never come a time in the life of this country that the government will have to coax couples to produce more children like Fr. Gaston is terrified of happening in the very near future.

Fr. Gaston denies that the RC is preaching to the people that they “go forth and multiply.” He said that what the RC advocates is for parents to “be guided and supported to attain the number of children they can generously and responsibly raise and educate.” Either Gaston is deceiving the readers or he does not know what he is talking about. Encouraging Filipinos to bear only children they can support and telling them to “go forth and multiply” is one and the same thing.

I am challenging Fr. Gaston and company to make a research to determine what percentage of Filipino couples first think of children before they hit the bed. I am certain that in that situation, the larger majority of Filipino couples are incapable of considering such things or even just the act of thinking itself otherwise we would not have these millions of families who could not clothe, give them decent shelter let alone send their children to school because feeding them already a next to impossible task. Let me repeat what I said here before that if the RC cannot post every night priests and other volunteers inside all shanties and houses to remind couples of what could be the consequences of the sexual act or to actually intervene when the couples do not listen, they might as well tell Filipinos to multiply like rats.

Fr. Gaston and company might be saying that answering the question “Can we afford another child?” is such a simple matter. I blame the fact that by reason of their vows, priests are never confronted by the question themselves otherwise they would have a better understanding of the population issue facing the country today. If only they are honest, Fr. Gaston and the whole RC clergy in this country would accept that most Filipino couples do not know how to answer the question properly and correctly much less act accordingly especially at night.

If the RC clergy believes that Filipinos could learn to answer the question properly and correctly before nightfall, just when will we see a massive campaign of the RC intended to raise the awareness and education of its flock to the required level? Or is their involvement in resolving the population issue of the country limited to articles in the media attacking the advocates of population control?

Near the end of his article, Fr. Gaston wrote and I quote: “Any economic, social and political policy proposed to solve poverty should take advantage of, rather than suppress, our abundant human resources.” Presumably to bolster his contention, Gaston cited a statement of Dr. Gary Becker, 1992 Nobel Prize winner in economic science, to the effect that human capital which refers to skills, education, health and training of individuals, comprises around 80 percent of the wealth of advanced countries and hence “ can be neglected at the country’s peril.” 

Fr. Gaston is truly out of touch with Philippine reality and does not even bother to try to be consistent. His statement and that of Becker are contradictory. He admitted earlier in the article the possibility that the country will still be poor in 2050 and yet here he comes citing the case of how the human capital figures in the scheme of things in rich countries. Just how could the “abundant human resources,” this sea of excess humanity in this country, who are malnourished, uneducated and without real skills ever become assets to any society? 

CBCP thinks Filipino Catholics dumb

In a pastoral letter issued ahead of Ash Wednesday, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales appealed to the faithful to help the Catholic Church feed malnourished children and their families, saying money saved through fasting can later buy food for the poor. Catholics traditionally practice abstinence throughout Lent, a 40-day period commemorating the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What I do not understand is that the incidence of malnourished children could be minimized or even prevented by not bringing into the world children one could not feed which could easily be done by using contraceptives. But the Roman Catholic (RC) clergy would rather deal with the resultant situation later instead of prevent it all because the means of prevention in this case goes against their unrealistic tenets.

As Filipinos struggle with a population it cannot feed and a dangerous population growth rate, rich Singapore is bothered by a fertility rate which dipped in 2009 to 1.23 babies per woman. This is way below the population replenishment 2.1 fertility rate. This prompted Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to urge Singaporeans to make more babies this year. According to him, the recession must have made Singaporean couples refrain from having babies last year.

By contrast, Filipinos are not affected by things such as economic crisis when it comes to making babies. Just like rats, they never bother themselves with the simple question of whether they have something to feed the baby which may result from the sex act before the act. Throw into the situation a clergy which rejects the best means of preventing unwanted babies from coming into the world, then we have a disaster of the magnitude of the earthquake which hit Haiti waiting to happen.

Concluding that since condoms fail to prevent pregnancies 36 percent of the time, they may not also be able to prevent AIDS all the time, RC Archbishop Ramon Arguelles is suggesting that condoms should bear the following warning: “CONDOMS MAY FAIL TO PROTECT YOU FROM AIDS.”I have no problem with that. But in turn, since they fail in their function of teaching their congregation morality more than 50 percent of the time, I am suggesting that the RC clergy should also bear warning sign which states something like this: RC PRIESTS CANNOT TEACH YOU MORALITY MOST OF THE TIME.

You see, the RC clergy would not have this fear of condoms “encouraging promiscuity” and “weakening the moral fiber of the youth “ if they are effective in instilling Christian morality among their congregations. Were they effective in their roles, then we would not be hearing these shrill pronouncements whenever the word condom comes up because they know that their people are strong and solid Christians. 

The latest salvo of the RC against the inanimate object condom is the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) statement calling for a ban on the advertisements of condom in media and public places. “Condom advertisements should be banned from television, radio, movies, newspapers, magazines, and public places, as they desensitize the youth's delicate conscience and weaken their moral fiber as future parents,” intoned Bishop Nereo Odchimar, CBCP president.

This is their reaction to the recent action of the Department of Health (DOH) to distribute condoms after the agency monitored the doubling of the deadly HIV-AIDS cases in the past year. In answer to the valid and urgent concern of the health officials, Odchimar sidestepped the issue by claiming that the lucrative condom business has been targeting the adolescents and would, therefore, imperil their morality and family life.

As far as Odchimar and the rest of the CBCP is concerned , it does not matter if this country will eventually be ravaged by the HIV-AIDS provided that the outdated RC teaching against the usage contraceptives will be remain untouched. 

Senator Mar Roxas reacted to the latest foolishness from the CBCP by saying a ban on condom advertisements might constitute a curtailment to freedom of the speech advising the prelates that they should instead just prod their followers not to use condoms as it is within the prerogative of each individual to make such a decision.

Of course the comments of the good senator will be lost among the excited bishops who have no respect at all for the intelligence of the members of their congregations to discern the rightness or wrongness of using the best defense against HIV-AIDS and unwanted pregnancies. As far as the CBCP is concerned, the only way to guard their people against the evil item is to stop its production and distribution, sheer denial of the capacity of their flock to make intelligent and informed decisions.

Talking about the concern of the good senator that the ban might violate people’s rights, the CBCP does not mind imposing its will on people provided it is in the name of their tenets and it preserves and expands their power and control over people.

Still on CBCP versus condoms

According to the Manila Bulletin, the fertility rate of Filipino women has gradually decreased from the average 3.5 children in 2003 and to 3.3 in 2008. The figure was 5.1 children in 1983.

Now I am beginning to understand why the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is railing and ranting against condom lately declaring among others that the inanimate object breeds promiscuity and immorality. They know deep within themselves that only artificial contraceptives could be behind the drop in fertility rate they know that the natural means of birth control they are espousing is a sham. Because of that, they read the decrease in fertility rate as a sign that they are losing grip on Philippine society thus their seeing red and frothing in the mouth every time the condom issue crops up.

In an effort to thwart the Department of Health’s plan to ask showbiz personalities to help promote the use of condoms as a preventive measure against the spread of HIV and AIDS infection in the country, former CBCP president, Jaro, Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, has appealed to showbiz personalities not to allow themselves to be used by the DOH.

I am really puzzled that the CBCP does not realize that every time they use a public forum like the media to send message to Catholics, they are just telling the whole wide world that they are inutile. The truth of the matter is that except for a smattering the most notable of whom is Robin Padilla who converted to Islam showbiz is a solid Catholic community and what prevents them from gathering these Catholics to try and convince them about the wrongness of indorsing condoms?

May be it is just the comeuppance of these meddling bigots that despite the open obeisance they get wherever they go none of their people really heed them so much so they have to go to the media every time they want to drive home an important point. The trouble with that is every time they do it, they expose themselves as next to useless shepherds of their flocks. 

In arguing against the usage of condoms, the CBCP is tying itself into knots. For one, they say condoms are not a surefire defense against pregnancy because 30 to 35 percent of condoms allow sperm to go through. Which means that 65-70 percent of the time, it prevents AIDS from spreading. Despite its effectivity against AIDS, they still want condoms banished from the face of the earth.

They also cannot accept and factor in the fact that couples engaged in sexual activity who strictly follow the church-approved methods, without using any means of contraceptive are vulnerable to being infected with AIDS because whether they like it or not, many, if not most, of the philanderers in this country are Catholics.

The only conclusion we could get now is that the CBCP does not mind members of their flock dying of AIDS provided they do not use condoms to prevent themselves from getting infected by the dreaded disease.

Malacañang has reiterated that it would not stop the condom distribution program of the DOH saying it is legal and consistent with public policy of protecting the public health.

That after GMA had pandered to the whims and caprices of the CBCP relative to artificial family planning methods for nine years, had given funds of the United Nations intended for birth control methods to the Couples for Christ group that was using the funds precisely to convince couples not to use artificial methods in preventing childbirth and had allowed condoms donated by foreign agencies to rot in the DOH warehouse.

Too late the hero. It is too late to reverse the damage done by the administration by kowtowing to the CBCP. There is no way the AIDS infection and unwanted pregnancies that could have been prevented had this administration prioritized the protection of public health from day one could now be undone.

Monsignor Pedro Quitorio III of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) claimed that politicians who are staunch supporters of the Reproductive Health Bill won in their bid for re-election because Filipino voters have no clear grasp of the reproductive health issue.

See what I told you before? The CBCP thinks Roman Catholics in this country – and that’s especially those who do not consider the prelates infallible and dare disagree with them – are dumb.

True to form, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has started trying to impose its will on the new President right away. They insisted that President Aquino should follow a 13-point agenda regarding current social issues which they have formulated.

Among the 13 demands from the prelates who think we are still in the Spanish era is the rejection by Aquino of the controversial Reproductive Health Bill and, of course, of their inanimate nemesis – contraceptives. What particularly caught my attention is that they also urged President Aquino not to allow demolition without relocation of urban poor families.

What these bigots do not see is that if the Reproductive Health Bill will be approved and more Filipinos would use contraceptives, there would be less urban poor to be relocated.

In a pastoral letter read in their churches the other Sunday, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) demanded anew that President Aquino reject sex education and the Reproductive Health Bill. They even invoked the memory of his mother who they said toed the Roman Catholic position on population control during her presidency.

To try to explain away the obvious connection between poverty and population, the CBCP statement said: “We believe that poverty is caused by flawed development philosophies, plans and priorities, by corruption, by inequitable wealth distribution and access to economic resources and benefits, by poor delivery of social services, by unjust economic policies, and by imbalances in our political structures that favor the few and powerful over the many poor. It is social injustice that is at the root of poverty. And social injustice is simply another name for moral and spiritual corruption, the jettisoning of moral and spiritual values from private and public life. Would not the overwhelming attention to control population be a convenient way to ignore the greater causes that keep our poor people below the poverty line? These are the causes of poverty, the removal of which would comprehensively transform our social order and establish social justice.”

As far as the CBCP is concerned, once these problems are solved which they know could not be done because nations have been trying to deal with them since civilization began to no avail, the poverty in this country will vanish – and that’s even if by that time, all government services have bogged down and the environment no longer could support life due to the doubled or tripled population of the country.

Had Catholic bishops been watching television some nights ago and saw the story of the women who was nabbed for selling her baby for P10,000.00 as she has nothing to feed her four other children, I am sure they would persist in saying that the woman was driven to such extreme act not because she has many children but because she lacked moral and spiritual values. They would also maintain that her poverty is caused by the actions of other people such as robbing government coffers and bungling the laying down of economic policies, etc., etc. and has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that she and her partner have more children than they could feed and clothe. Of course they would also say that had the couple practiced natural family planning, they would not be in such a straits.

Granting that natural planning methods could really effectively keep the population of the country at manageable levels, just who is reaching out to couples like that of the woman who sold her baby with that alternative? As the number one proponent of the natural family planning method, isn’t it but logical that the CBCP should be at the forefront of the advocacy? If in its natural family planning advocacy, the CBCP is really motivated by a deep concern for the welfare of the Filipino people and since the government is a separate entity and there is always the chance that it will not adopt the church’s line, shouldn’t the CBCP be pushing the method on its own in the meantime? Alas, on this score the CBCP confines its population program merely to applying pressure on government decision-makers. No action on the ground whatsoever. 

It is very apparent that in advocating natural family planning, the CBCP only wants to protect its sway over the Filipino people and over the government and is not really meant to make the life of the people less difficult through the limitation of the number of children in households.

Had the members of the CBCP also been watching television during the height of the water crisis in Metro Manila and saw all those poor people some of whom have not bathed for days jostling and fighting for the precious commodity, they would have blamed environmental factors and also errors on the part of the Angat Dam managers. While these are correct appraisal of the recent water crisis, they are not the full explanation of the situation. As far as I am concerned, had there been less people in the metropolis, there would have been less people dividing the limited supply and the crisis would not have been as grave.

Whether we like it or not, the water situation will get worse as our resources get depleted. That’s not only true with water but with other natural resources basic to human existence like food. The prudent thing to do therefore is to keep the population under control to stretch the remaining supply and of course, so that less people will suffer from the dearth.

But as far as the CBCP is concerned, Filipinos can all go hang for so long as there is no defiance against their teachings.

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.