The Tribal War: A Headhunting Story Told by an Artist’s Art at Melvin Jones, Burnham Park

I found this story told in a series of images made by an artist as a decoration on the sides of an old stage found at the Melvin Jones at Burnham Park, Baguio city, Philippines. The carved images are already old and one can see the images are not being taken care of as grasses, dirt and dusts covered them. People seem do not know the significance of such art in the history of the Igorot people of my place of origin – Kaigorotan country, or locally known as the Cordillera region. If that’s in Israel, I believe everyday tourists are there gathered around listening to their guides, or students listening to the lectures of their teachers.

The first scene of the story, showed a man found without a head. On the scene, one man is raising his hands which show he must be shouting for revenge. While two people bowed their head which could signify they are grieving for the loss of a brother or member of a family or a friend.

Fig.  1. A headless body is found. The right side shows a clearer picture of the body

The scene followed by a picture of two men carrying the headless body that was positioned like a fetus. The hands and legs are bent and tied, so that, a long pole made up of wood or probably a hard bamboo pole was inserted between the legs and between the tied hands; the two men carried the body by putting the ends of the pole on their shoulders while a man is walking ahead and third man was following them; the others might have walked ahead already to warn the village about a dead member being brought home. In this case, a ritual is done before any corpse is entered inside the village.

Figure  2.  The headless body is now brought home

The next picture shows the men of the village, lead by their elders, had a meeting with all their men to decide what they have to do. In this case, they decided to take revenge as proven by the next image.

Figure 3.  The men decide what to do

The next scene is showing the men marching to war.

Figure  4.  Going to war

The next image is showing them to have reached the entrance of the village of the culprits. In the image, we can see the people presenting peace offerings as shown by two people on their knees while bowing their heads; one is doing the negotiations. The invading party tried to listen as demonstrated by the others sitting on their knees.

Figure  5.  Negotiations

However, it is clear the invading party did not accept the peace offerings, as a gruesome image of killings shown by the next scene.

Figure 6.  The negotiations failed, so, war errupted

As a result of every war, the children and women are the parties most affected by it. Here we can see mothers with their children fleeing away from the fight, while one woman in the picture is probably helping her wounded son or husband.

Children and women fleeing the for their lives

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

Art of Traditions, Culture and Life of the Igorots Found at Burnham Park (Part 2)

This story is true. I heard the same stories, since I was a kid, from my father and old men from Mountain Province. My father always told us about how the people of the old days were living in war. And how head hunting was rampant because it was part of some tribes culture and tradition. Men who reached the age of manhood go hunting for head and bring it home to their village to show they were real men or had already reached manhood. Others do it for the joy of doing it.

Burnham Park’s Update (Part 2)

I love Burnham Park, that’s why I always frequently walk by to view the beautiful flowers and get some fresh air, and of course, be the first to see what’s happening and what are the changes being done to improve its look.

And when there are new things installed or changed I always make sure to snap a picture of it to review it again when I get home and uploaded in my computer.

So, let me share it here for the benefits of those who haven’t seen the area for a long time, especially, those who are working abroad missing the beautiful park as one of their destinations to relax and do their exercises after doing some rounds of jogging around the lake.

The gate being constructed and when finished

The Gate of Burnham Park - located next to Rizal Park

 Visitors are greeted by the sculpture of Mr. Burnham's head  when gets inside the park through the gate

The fences around Burnham Park

The fence construction is through the foundation of Bishop Carlito J. Cenzon

The fountains

The fountains when not working and when working

The Relief Map of CAR

As I was walking towards the Melvin Jones  ground, I saw men busy working at the side, so, I went close and saw what they were doing - The relief Map of CAR(Cordilleara Administrative Region)

Visual view of the Map

The different provinces and cities of the region are seen on the map.

This is found at back of the comfort room next to the main road to hire bicycles

Vandalism at Melvin Jones Grandstand

While  improvements in the city's surroundings is crucial I believe discipline must also be given a focus to not make those expensive improvements to waste when those undisciplined mammals get a hands on them.

The Crown Legacy Hotel

At Kisad road, probably the biggest and most elegant hotel of Baguio city was just finished and is very accessible to Burnham Park.

The two arts of historyfound at Burnham Park

I discovered two structures where  tradition, culture, and history of the Igorots have been carved.  One is next to the lake, and the other one is used as design for one of the stages in Melvin Jones ground.

Baguio Public Market is Clean

I went to the public market this afternoon to buy some vegetables for supper and got amazed how the streets were cleaned of the stalls that were lined up at the sides and even overtaking some spaces of the sidewalks making it hard to walk faster because of the overcrowding.


The feeling was like the cleaned spaces give you a fresh air to breath. I went around and saw that all of the streets were free of sidewalk and ambulant vendors.


It was only yesterday when I walked by the area and every one of the vendors with stalls and ambulant vendors were very calm and relax doing their business; today is an opposite story, it is like a calamity just struck them and took away their source of income – I just hope they were warned first, or had heard of the plan a few days ago by the Mayor of seriously cleaning the area because of many infractions of agreement by the vendors.


It’s sad to think about that many people today just lost their little source of income, but on the other hand, it is good because the place is now really clean and the businesses behind them are now more accessible for buyers and they no longer have competitions.

This is a comparison of the place last week and today

Now that the city hall successfully cleaned the area, they should then stay firm and no longer allowed anyone to start selling on those places.


What happened was one or two vendors tried to sell in one corner, and when no one is telling the vendors to get away from the place, the vendors now starts to put up some umbrella. And since no one was complaining, the umbrella becomes now a more permanent roof. Other vendors see what’s happening and since the vendors are established without hassles the others then put up their own stall next to it until their number multiplied. Now, since their number was large, the city hall cannot easily remove them. And since the city also wanted to show it has some heart with the vendors it into an agreement with the vendors that they pay tax and has to make their place clean. But customers know what the real picture was, the streets were fall of garbage, and sidewalks were not passable.

Those beach umbrellas are all gone now, giving a real view of the places occupied by the vendors days ago.

The places where it used to be crowded with ambulant vendors and stalls.

Art of Traditions, Culture and Life of the Igorots Found at Burnham Park (Part 2)

On the other side of the structure, it shows the traditional source of living of the Igorot people and their kinds of works.

Agamang(storage room)
Designed like a little house if it was built outside the house to store rice grains not yet pounded but ready to remove the husks. This is no longer found since houses became large nowadays and people no longer need to store rice harvests. Rice millers already does the job of removing the shells of the grains of rice.

Rice terraces
Farming is one of the major sources of food of the Igorots as depicted by the rice fields they made at the steep sides of the mountains creating a “Step-like views.” This can still be seen in Sagada, and neighboring villages, but the most famous is the Banawe rice terraces.

Bayo(Pounding of rice)
One can see a woman holding rounded piece of wood and a lusong(either made up of stone or trunk of wood with a chiseled hole at the center) in front of her. This is the old time way to husk or removing the skin of grains of rice. Two people can do the work by alternating in striking the hole of the lusong to remove the husks of the rice grains inside.

Abe’/abel(waving)
This was the old time manual practice of making warm blankets, sweaters, bakget for women, bahag(G-string) for men, using specially made pieces of wood. Some are still doing this method and it requires great skill, and more than patience. This is picture by the woman sitting with a long material in front of her.

Wood Carving
The Igorots are also very good in wood carving and the people of Ifugao are the most prolific about it.

As shown by the other images, man and woman are gathering sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes also make up one of their major food.

Another image also illustrates the way people carry their food as shown by a woman carrying a waved basket hanging on her forehead.

The kind of houses is also shown which roof is made up of cogon grass. Mostly the house already has in it the agamang as describe in number one.

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

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

Church Deceptions

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. [English Standard Version (©2001)] 




Sagada’s beauty is very fascinating and the memories are imprinted in the mind to make it hard to forget. One who appreciates it will be left asking questions how those natural beauties become possible. One of this is its famous Sumaguing Cave.

However, aside from its beauties, even made things can make an impact to one’s awareness, like the thing that caught my eyes and stirred the critical side of my brain the last time I visited it. That was seven months ago, but still I cannot forget the image I saw there.

I attended a wedding last year, and as one of the sponsors I had no choice but to attend the wedding mass to be conducted at St. Joseph Church located in Kilong, one of the barangay of Sagada.

Everything went well, from the beginning to the last ceremony. Of course, as common practice picture taking was done inside and outside the vicinity of the church afterwards. This is when I saw the stone placed in front of the church where the Ten Commandments in Igorot dialect are written. More than just curiosity, I read how the 10 commandments are translated into Igorot dialect. When I reached the 3rd commandment, I was dumbfounded to read that it is translated differently. It says, “Ngilinem nan agew nan dios mo ay Domingo!” I know that the original English says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.(KJV)

Reading this, I am reminded of an Igorot song, two decades ago, titled “Simpoo’y Bilin (Ten commandments)” sung by Ms Lourdes Gomeyak Fangki wherein she said Sunday is the rest day; so, probably this was the source of the lyrics of her song.

It is clear what the Holy Bible says, in the Old Testament Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever”( English Standard Version (©2001) then reinforced by Jesus Christ during his time in Matthew 5:18 “because I tell all of you with certainty that until heaven and earth disappear, not one letter or one stroke of a letter will disappear from the Law until everything has been accomplished.”(International Standard Version (©2012)) 

And while writing this article, I also noticed that the 2nd commandment (You shall not make unto you any graven image…Exudus 20:4) is missing or not written as one of the commandments, instead, the 3rd commandment is in its place! And to complete the 10 commandments, the 10th is divided into two commandments(Refer to the image) Thus, confirming that the 2nd commandment was deliberately removed. The big question now is Why? Is this to cover up their graven images of the virgin Mary and the image of Christ nailed hanging on the cross?




I cannot comprehend why no one ever questioned it. Does it mean to say that the followers of the church are all blinds following either blind priests or just plain liar leaders! No wonder why Jesus Christ said, in Matthew 7:21 “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.” 

This made me believe stronger that knowing your church is very important for your salvation because like what Jesus said, that even those who used his name to perform miracles and cast out demons will not be saved.

 For further reading:
http://www.the-ten-commandments.org/the-ten-commandments.html
http://biblehub.com/matthew/7-21.htm 

An image of the 10 Commandments placed in front of the church

Translation of the above commandments:

  Ten Commandments of the Lord(Kabunyan)

1.       You have no other God than me

2.       Don’t use my name in vain

3.       Keep the day of your Lord which is Sunday

4.       Respect your father and mother

5.       Don’t kill

6.       Don’t commit adultery

7.       Don’t steal

8.       Don’t falsely accuse your fellow men

9.       Don’t covet thy neighbor’s wife

10.   Don’t covet their neighbor’s properties

Day-eng (Igorot Wedding Traditional Sing-Song Advice)

One of the interesting things visitors to Sagada must have to see is wedding festivities, especially, for those who want to have a feel about the traditions of the Igorots. Unlike in the lowlands, Igorot weddings don’t happened any time of the year. This important day for lovers to knot their ties is scheduled on special months designated as the time for weddings. The months are usually at the end of the year, December and on April.

Well, I know that most people are attracted by the sound of gongs each time there are wedding festivities. They don’t know that dancing with the gongs is only one of the events done during those three special days, and they are missing many more, most interesting of them is the Day-eng.

The day-eng is a singing ways of telling stories that fits the occasion. Here, during the first day of the wedding, the sponsors are asked to say something for the new couple. Some say it in speech like manner, and other performers who know the traditional sing-song style will say their blessings in that manner. The content is like the common contents of speeches, however, there are some words used to make the flow of the song smoother.



When I attended the wedding of a niece last year, it happened that one of those who gave a speech to the couple (I think I heard her name is Mrs. Aglolo) did it in the sing-song style. The first I heard after probably decades of not hearing it. I was just a little bit late to bring out my cellphone to video the rare moment. Below is the video. Click and listen to her beautiful voice.