Earthquake Tips from the Elders of "Dap-ay" in Sagada

After bringing my little girl to her school room on their first day of classes, I saw this painting at the wall of their building which says, “During earthquake” at the top and below are figures and words to describe what to do, “Duck, Cover, Hold.”

I read it again, and again, and again. I feel there is something missing or wrong with it. While it is a good advice, it is not as good as what my father (Blessed be him) heard in the dap-ay of Sagada when they were kids. He kept repeating to us those advices when we were kids every time there was an episode of earthquake that our home.

Figure 1   Advice of the disaster experts during earthquake 

According to him, the elders were giving hints or advice to the young boys on how to react during calamities, and one of them is earthquake. In fact, the advice is applicable in all situations of dangers an individual will be facing including typhoons, fire, floods or any dangerous situations you’ll be ready how to deal with it with those simple advice from the elders of the dap-ay.

Experienced of many dangers and calamities, the elders of Sagada developed their own ways on how to survive through discussions at their dap-ays. And those wisdoms and knowledges were shared with the boys who came every night to sleep in the dap-ay through generations. That’s why when I saw the illustration outside my child’s school building, I can’t stop thinking if it is the best thing to do or not.

According to my father here are the things he learned from the elders of the dap-ay on how to react in cases of dangers:

1.   Be calm

In all kinds of dangers force yourself to be calm or composed. Never panic. Panic killed more people than the  danger itself.

In the aftermath of the 1990 earthquake, each time an aftershock occurs, some of the people who came to my
aunt’s home to sleep at night, used to run in a panic mode. And in the process, few of them sprained their ankles, some fell face down hurting their palms when trying to protect themselves from the fall, and others hurt their knees.

It was one of the situations when the words of my father reverberated in my ears. I repeated to them the advice of my father as he heard from the elders of the Sagada dap-ay. That since my aunt’s house was made of wood including its posts, and only four feet above the ground it was therefore a very safe place. There was very, very little chance to nothing for it to collapse. And if it collapses, it is not as dangerous as those houses and buildings which are made up of concrete. Since then, even the strongest aftershock did not make anyone of them run, although, the look of being worried were still in the faces of few.

But worry is alright according to my father as told by the elders of the dap-ay. Why? Because it makes you be ready in cases of worse scenarios that might happened. However, too much worry will make you like a disabled person. Your knees become weakened and could not even walk to your safety and you will not be able to think what to do in order to save yourself. And worst, you might affect the others, especially, when you start shouting at the top of your lungs.

2.  Be Alert 

When you are worried a little, it makes you more alert and be ready to spring into action. I had a boss in Israel who doesn’t want to hear when his children were telling him not to worry. He said, “If I did not worry enough, my family and their families are all now scrubbing floors just to make both ends meet.”

So, same thing when we are in the face of danger. Worry is a natural ingredient as gift from God because it makes us become alert, in this case, during earthquake. It makes us watch out for imminent dangers, like, falling objects, and panicking throng of people who might run you over, especially, when you’re on their way out to the exit.

3.  Be Smart 

Assess your location:

 a.   Are you inside of a building? Bungalow type of buildings, and houses made up of wood are at least safe. Being in the basement or first floor of a building are the most dangerous area to be in – get out to the nearest door or go up to the nearest stairs if quake is long and when you have the chance. Never follow a crowd, remember stampede killed more people than the danger itself.

b.   You’re in open place There’s no need to panic, unless the ground opens wide and swallow you, so, just be alert. But the best thing to do is to stay cool or sit down when you feel dizzy or you are losing balance.

A Glimpse on To How the Farmers of Isabela Gave up their farms to the Igorot Farmers

The farmers and people of Isabela were so lucky when the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos unflinching leadership build up the Magat Dam found in the boundary of Ifugao and Isabela despite oppositions from the so called “Makamasa.”

Magat Dam is a large rock-fill dam in the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The dam is on the Magat River, a major tributary of Cagayan River. Construction of the dam started in 1975 and was completed in 1982. Magat Dam is one of the largest dams in the Philippines. It is a multi-purpose dam which is used primarily for irrigating about 85,000 hectares (210,000 acres) of agricultural lands,[1] flood control, and power generation through the Magat Hydroelectric Power Plant. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magat_Dam#cite_note-ifc-1)

Magat Dam

Before the construction of the dam, the lands of Isabela were just waiting for rain to be planted of rice once a year.

I still remember as a kid in Dagupan, Tabuk Kalinga when many farmers from nearby places of Isabela, like, San Manuel, San Mateo, San Ramon, and as far as Alicia, Kawayan were coming during harvest time of palays, and planting season of rice. In the 70s and 80s, almost all farm works were done physically hence manpower was badly needed.

It only stopped when Magat Dam was already operational in the early 80s.

However, the farmers of Isabela seemed were not ready to do fulltime farming, because just a few years after their lands were awarded to them, they started to give it up in exchange of loan to the Igorot of Mountain Province. Instead of paying up their loans they asked for more money until they can no longer afford to pay back their loans, therefore, they have no other recourse but give up their land after the Igorot farmer paid-up the remaining balance of the market value of the farm.

But why are the Isabela farmers are losing their farms through loans?

The most common reason we hear from them is “They are financially in need because their children are going to college hence in need of big amount of money.”

The bigger question is why they are not able to reclaim their lands?

One reason is because of the high interest of the loan which is according to the people I spoke with is 10% per month. Probably, the price did not pierce their thoughts because they usually borrow a smaller amount of loan. Say, Php20,000. In their mind, its worth “is only” Php2,000 a month which will only be Php6, 000 – Php8, 000 in three to four months at harvest time. But because they have loans from the department stores which they cannot ask to give them more time to pay, they then leave the Igorot farmer who is always ready to wait until they can pay (or no longer pay). Of course, the Igorot farmer is happy when the other party cannot pay yet because it means, just a matter of time when they will ask him to lend them more money with conditions he will work the farm but no more interest until such time the Isabela farmer can pay the capital.




However, the bigger reason why they are not able to get back their lands is due to “Financial mismanagement” due to lifestyle extravagance.

I observed this when I went there to visit the farm of my in-laws.

As mentioned, the Isabela farmers love to live a good life. When you visit their homes, many of them have almost complete appliances: Refrigerator, sound system, brand new television which are not paid in cash but are being paid monthly.

Let’s say, we don’t care about their life style, but when you look at the homes of some of them, I am sure you will say to yourself, “Isn’t the home more important to make it better and safer, and to have place for those appliances?”

What’s more is, barely a month, after a very good harvest, when you think they should have enough to last until the next harvest season, they are knocking at your door begging you to loan them rice to cook for their food.

It’s not believable but that’s the common reason why most Filipinos are struggling in life. The Isabela farmer is just but an example how most Filipinos’ life become a struggle and worst make them poor. Children forgot their parents sacrifices to have their own lands and left it for them to have something they can take care to improve their lives. Children (In the lowlands) today forgot or was not taught by their parents the importance of hard-work and sacrifice to attain what you want and needs in life.