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.

Igorot Children Should Know Their Forefathers have Tails

We attended a wedding of a cousin’s child who married “outside the house.” It means the child married a child of another “tribe.” It is not Igorot, thus she has another belief, tradition and culture.

For us it is perfectly right because we also want to know others’ culture.

Few decades ago, marrying outside the tribe was not that easy and usually parents dictate what their child should marry. Almost everything parents and elders say were treated like it’s the law.

However, today is a different story, I believed characters and attitudes of people changed very fast that almost no one had even noticed the big change.

Back to the marriage topic, it is amazing to see and know others’ culture and tradition in celebrating their weddings. Their dances and kinds of programs are completely different from our own Igorot tradition and culture.

Theirs is with bands and singers performing. For good luck and to raise funds for the new couple to start with, the newlywed were asked to dance to a love song while their relatives, sponsors, friends, and visitors pin cash to hang on their dress; in addition, some boxes containing food(lechon manok or grilled chicken) and drinks were sold through bidding. A bidder can get a lady from one of the visitors to dance with and others will try to outbid him until the seller-announcer put a maximum price for the box then end the bidding. There were about ten boxes sold in my opinion and to show our support we bought one. There were also other side shows we didn’t notice because they were done a distance from us, and a slightly hidden from the decorations. The main part of the program everybody likes is for the visitors, especially, youth to spend the night dancing together with the music they like to play using today’s latest technology.

Well, we are normal people so we compared our native practice to theirs and we look at theirs as somewhat “Showy” specially the pinning of money in the dress.

Of course we did not want to be outdone; we also presented our own native music and dance using the gongs as our own music instrument during wedding festivities. Also, we fall in line and gave our own financial contribution to the couple while they are sitting in their chair( We don’t like to be showy so we didn’t pin the bills in their garments). This way we have a chance to know them more and congratulate them and they have the chance to see us face to face, specially, relatives whom they see for the first time.






The celebration went well to their plans, I believed, because all the scheduled programs were done before an hour before midnight, thus, it’s a free for all dancing and drinking for those who wanted to remain through the night.

But there was one thing I observed during the wedding. While our women were wearing their traditional colorful dresses, not even one of us men was using a sign of our own being an Igorot - the G-string. The reason was obvious, our own traditional native outfit is no longer “suitable” in today’s modern kind of culture, because if we use our own G-strings outside our home we might be called as “still barbarians or uncivilized” or any names that will diminish our pride. Really?

And this is what the title is all about. Because of our native attire in the old days the people in the lowlands believed Igorots have tails. I believed someone explained or probably joked to them our G-string attire as “like tails” behind our butts - and either the listeners took it literally or made joke about it until it was believed as true story.

In fact, until now there are still ignorant people who do not know how a genuine Igorot looks like. There are many of them asking people who visited Kaigorotan (specially, Baguio City) if they have seen an Igorot and how do an Igorot looks like. The irony is the person they’re asking the question is a pure blooded Igorot.

Okay, sorry for telling side stories, but what I mean in the title is that, because it is now seldom Igorot men use their traditional custom attires it will not be long and the next Igorot generation will forget one of the important piece of their history is that their forefathers was known to have tails.

For this to not happen, Igorot men should make it a point to always wear their attire on every occasion so that today’s children and the next generation know our forefathers have tails.

Bongsos: Another Special Igorot’s Food Delicacy

One of the Igorot’s favorite is a salted pig’s intestines, lungs, liver, and heart. This delicacy is only prepared occasionally during weddings, house blessing the traditional way, and other traditional practices that require the butchering of pigs.

On the first day of the occasion when they butcher pigs, the large intestines to the rectum(The part called Bongsos) and some small intestines are salted, with some liver, and also the lungs.

Cooked Bongsos

On the third day, a native chicken(chicken that ate natural foods on the ground) is butchered and cooked together with the salted intestines and etag(salted fats of pigs cured under the sun or over a cooking place where firewood is used, for many days or months).

Etag = Pig fatty parts being dried using heat and smoke from a firewood

Family members, relatives, neighbors, and friends come to partake at breakfast, and lunch during the bongsos day.  When there are plenty of it, everyone who came will be given some pieces of the cooked intestines to take home.

Meticulous salting of the intestines is essential to achieve the taste and smell required for a perfect bongsos. Not enough salt will result to a decaying smell destroying its lovable aroma and tastes, and excessive salt will make it lost its softness and good touch when it’s chewed.

If you ask me which to compare the aroma and taste, I will give the fresh salted “labahita”  or unicorn fish as the closest to compare with.

Again, the trick to make a perfect bongsos is to clean the intestines very well with running water to remove all the solid wastes and dirt and be careful to not let it drop on the ground else you’ll have a gritty bongsos. Next, put in a wide basin, large enough to mix salt well with the intestines. Reminder:  Do not cut the intestines; just leave it like when it was washed.  Cut it only when it is cooked and ready to serve.

The salt must be enough to get the saltiness needed and to avoid the intestines become spoiled. 1/4 - 1/2 kilograms of salt I think is enough for the intestines of one large pig (enough practice can make it perfect). After mixing with the salt, put inside a big container, size is according to the amount of salted intestines.  Then cover it tightly and put it in a corner away from the light of the sun or heat. Wait for the third day or at least 48 hours before opening it.  I say on the third day because the elder leaders said so, that, the day the pig was butchered is counted as the first day, the following day as the second, and the following day as the third day.

Leaving the bongsos longer than three days or 60 hours will make it become very soft and easily fall to pieces when cooked which make it not so desirable to eat. Thus, aside from the preparations, the timing of opening and cooking the bongsos is very essential for its perfectness. Also, the parts that taste best are the large intestines, rectum, and the stomach.

To cook it, just put a lot of water in a large pot depending on the amount of intestines and chicken meat, and the etag will be cooked. Don’t worry about putting so much water because the bongsos is very salty. There’s no need to wash it again, though it can be done to reduce its salt. Some cook, let it boil for five minutes then throw away the water to remove some of the salt, then they add a new fresh water as the soup.

Now, put in the etag, salted intestines into the water and bring it to a boil. When the chicken is ready you can also put it at the same time. Boil for 20-30 minutes or more until all the meat are tender. Just check it once in a while to not overcook.  

Art of Traditions, Culture and Life of the Igorots Found at Burnham Park (Part 1)

While I was busy taking pictures around the pool of Burnham Park, I came across a familiar spot I used to see when I was doing my morning exercise 20 years ago.

As I was looking into the carved images on a block cemented structure, I realized for the first time that those are images depicting traditional practices of the Igorot people. Some of them, though, are no longer practiced thus making this carved stone more interesting and important sign or marker because of the historical value it is trying to communicate to people. It is a treasure that needs to be preserved or copied more elsewhere for the next generation.

Thousands of local tourists are walking around the park but are only interested in watching the boats floating on the pool of water at the center as the main attraction and enjoying the beautiful flowers carefully tended by the gardeners. Each time they reach one of the corners of the path traversing the pool, there is no way they will miss to see the 2 x 3 square meters and colored black marker. They may appreciate the art of images carved into the stone, but no longer go further than that. When I was going there, as I said to do my rounds of stretching years ago, I never connected to the meaning of those images. I only look at them as some showcase of the ingenuity of some Igorot artists.

But now all that thinking changed. My admiration to the brain of putting that marker went up high and the way I admire those images also became more than just an appreciation to the artists who carved them there.

If one looked very close to the images, here are the things that could be seen, and for those who knew their pasts, each set of image has its own story of history to tell. Every tourist’s guide should learn them and make the visits of those tourists not only enjoyable but also more meaningful and memorable. I hope that my explanations here will be sufficed to give an idea what are those images all about.

Let me start on the left side when one is facing the pool where the boats are:

1. Kalaleng(float)
The image shows two men playing float to produce different sounds of music depending on how the players want to convey their feelings. Float is usually played by people who go to the forests to gather wood, tending animals, working the farm and gardens as their pass time. The instrument was usually made up from bamboo grass. Today, it is no longer a common thing.

2. Dawis – Comes close to grilling but only to remove the hair and outermost skin of the animal - in the image is shown as a pig - the animal commonly used in doing rituals.
Illustrated by men holding a pig on its legs. They’re holding it over burning firewood to remove the hairs, and outer most skin before it is butchered. It was the common way of removing a pig’s hair before it is butchered; however, today a torch fired by gas replaced the firewood

3. Sangadil This was the traditional way of caring the dead for the belief that its spirit was still mingling with the people mourning its body. The last time I saw a picture of this practice done was on 2008. The remains of the dead is held sitting on a chair made up of wood. My wife’s grandfather on her father side was the last one in Demang Sagada that the practice was done.

4. Skeletal heads of animal
This is a common practice of the people to hang the skulls of animals butchered on their walls.

5. War Dance
Depicted by the image where one is holding up a spear and opposite him is one holding a machete. Both players are holding Kalasag(armor) made up of wood to protect their selves. It is done while the gangsa is played.

6. Opening the Gusi with Tapey
Two men are opening the gusi(clay jar) and are going to get the tapey (rice wine) to drink. This practice is usually done during occasions, such as marriage, and many more rituals. One of the old belief about opening tapey jars was when a child open the jar and eat from it, he will be tearing on his eyes. Thus, they should only drink from tapey wine opened by an old man.

7. Gangsa(Gongs)
A traditional music instrument of the Igorots using gongs made up of brass. Most Igorots use the gongs to celebrate weddings, happenings, and other rituals; however, one tribe, the Ibalois use it at the wake of their dead.

8. Tayaw(dancing with feet alternately stepping on the ground with the hands emulating a flying bird)
A traditional dance of the Igorots as depicted by a woman and man’s stretched hands and arms. This dance is done in unison to the sounds of the gongs played by men and is performed mostly during weddings and other times during occasions.

9. Tambor(Drum)
Also played together with the gongs for particular kinds of dance such as the Takik. Made up of a long hollowed wood where one end is covered with animal dried skin.

10. Pinikpikan(Usually call by others as “Killing me softly”)
As depicted by the man holding a chicken on its feet upside down, while hitting it with a stick to let the blood curdles under the skins. This is one of the favorite delicacies of the Igorot people.

11. On both sides of the structure are people sitting down with their knees bend and hands wrapped around it. This one depicts the practice during the old times how people sit because there were no chairs, and also depicts the way elders sit in front of their dapuan(cooking place where three stones are placed in triangular positions) to warm themselves.

Don't miss Part 2 of Art of Traditions, Culture and Life of the Igorots Found at Burnham Park

Igorot Country: A Missed Opportunity

1.  Citizenship:  Igorot  2.  Country of origin:  Republic of the  Kaigorotan ……. and, so on…..

Well, how do you feel if those are the things you are writing down in every document you are ask to fill up about your identification?

Crazy idea? It’s out of the blue kind of idea, so, maybe. However, I believe this has a merit to talk about that is why I wrote it and let the public say what they think about it, especially, the kakailians who are concerned of their history and identity as IGOROT.

This idea suddenly got into my mind one time when I was thinking about the slowly dimming memory of my Igorot brothers and sisters of the Kaigorotan on who they really are. I can see that the question of who is an igorot  has begun to twist history and slowly pointing to the people of Mountain Province, specially, Sagada and Bontoc, as the only real Igorots. A reason why many Ifugao, and Kalinga are now saying they are not. And the Benguet or Ibaloy have doubts.

As I was contemplating what happened in the recent history of the igorot people, I remembered the heroism of the then Hon.  Congressman Alfredo Lam-en who stood up in congress to announce that the Igorot people are Filipino people- in response to Carlos P. Romulo’s claim that the Igorot people are not Filipino.

According to the story I heard, Romulo declared that the Igorot people in KAIGOROTAN were not Filipino. He did not expect that a handsome figure stood up in defense of the Igorot.  Dressed in full Igorot attire, and looks very civilized which is contrary to what he read from books and stories he heard( I believed Romulo never saw or still do not know who are the Igorot before the time he announced what he thought; I also guess that Apo Gayagay was the first Igorot he saw in personal). The figure as we know was Mr. Lam-en who told him face to face, and to the entire nation of the Philippines that the Igorot people are Filipino.

As I was analyzing the good and bad thing the move effected on us, I realized that an opportunity has been missed.  A very, very rare opportunity which I believed will never occur again, unless we ourselves create it.

But how can we create the opportunity when we are now starting to disdain our identity as IGOROT?

This reality bothers me much.  I dread the thought that one day we no longer have an identity of our own!  And each time I think of it, I cringed about Mr. Lam-en’s not giving more thought about the challenged posted by an“ ignorant” pundit named Romulo.

He could have challenged him by admitting the charge, and said, “Yes, the IGOROT people are not Filipino.  They are IGOROT, period!  And since they are not Filipino, they therefore have the right to declare that the whole of KAIGOROTAN- Kalinga-Apayao, Ifugao, Bontoc, and Benguet shall be known as the REPUBLIC OF KAIGOROTAN”.  Also, any part of Ilocos region where the Bago  are living.

Yes, that’s it, a country of our own- and, why not?  We have our own dialect or language, culture, tradition, and other requirements to make-up a nation!  So, instead of him at that time arguing against Romulo, he should have agreed with him; however, at the same time he demanded our freedom using the statement of Romulo as the thesis.  He could have asked the igorot people to support him and led them to rally for their freedom from the Philippine government.

If we have a country of our own, then the identity crisis we are going through now could not be happening! But since we missed the opportunity, then we must have to do our best to keep our identity-by educating our brothers and sisters about the roots of our forefathers and make sure the next generation will learn it.

And, who knows, there will be another Carlos P. Romulo who will again declare the Igorot people are not Filipino, and probably, the next Gayagay will be wiser enough to say “Yes, we are not Filipino; we are IGOROT-and the name of our country is KAIGOROTAN:  REPUBLIC OF THE KAIGOROTAN