Holy mass dedicated to friends, set at the Shrine of the Brown Madonna

MYHEART and my mind is heavy with sadness while I am writing my column piece for this weekend. This is because of the recent death this month of several local government officials and dear friend with whom I was associated with various endeavours for a good number of years in the past. Once again, its time to say “farewell” and God Bless you to former City Mayor Jaime Bugnosen and City Mayor Braulio Yaranon, retired educator and Scouter Macrina Olarte and my good neighbour Danny Zarate.

Manong Jimmy and Manong Raul were at one time or the other, my colleagues in the city government service. Both former City Executives vigorously supported and actively participated in all the religious, social-civic, cultural, sports and tourism projects initiated and sponsored jointly by the National Correspondents Club of Baguio (NCCB) and the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) with yours truly and Betty Fangasan at the fore. The series of annual activities include the Silahis ng Pasko sa Baguio Christmas Season offering which started way back in 1972, the NCCB Kafagway Sports Awards Program which we initiated and implemented in 1986, recognizing the most outstanding international and national athletes and sports leaders and institutions in the city of Baguio and other parts of the Cordilleras and the yearly Baguio Elderly Assembly (BEA) OCTOBERFEST month long program for the city’s elderly population which started in Year 2002 pursuant to a Presidential Proclamation by President Fidel V. Ramos and strengthened with a City Council Resolution, series 2003, among others. The birth of the special OCTOBERFEST program by BEA is also in consonance with the “Covenant of Unity” forged by the Blessed Association of Retired Persons Foundation, Inc. (BARP), Federation of Baguio Senior Citizens Associations (FBASECA), Philippine Government Employees Retirees Association, Baguio Chapter (PGREA), the Philippine Veterans Federation, Baguio District (PVF) and the United States Armed Forces in the Philippines, Northern Luzon (USAFIP NL), particularly the World War “Locke’s famous statement on property could have been written precisely to justify the dispossession of indigenous peoples in the European settlement of Australia.”

Contrary to the colonizers’ view that the Aborigines were simply hunter-gatherers or parasites who depended on food naturally produced by the land, Rose asserted they did have land management systems, using fire as a tool.

Hossack, an expert in Aboriginal art based in London, opened up on the problems of drug and alcohol abuse, poverty, gambling and feeling of aimlessness among Aborigines as a result of colonization that uprooted them from their cultural roots. She spoke of Albert Namatjira, perhaps the greatest and most famous Aboriginal painters. The quality of his art made him the first among his people to be granted Australian citizenship under the laws of the colonizer.

Citizenship meant the right to acquire land and property – and to buy goods, including alcohol. True to his tribal culture and upbringing, Namatjira shared what he had. In so doing, he was charged and found guilty of passing on alcohol to a fellow Aborigines who, according to the white man’s law, were prohibited from holding or drinking intoxicants.

He was sentenced to six years imprisonment, but was released after two months. Incarcerated for acting in accordance with the dictates of his culture by sharing what he had made him despondent, a broken man.

Namatjira’s fate brings one to that of Cayat. II Veterans from the famous 66th Infantry Division. All together, the BEA has in its fold about 25,000 in its rank and fille. With utmost modesty, yours truly is the BEA president for the last 14 years. Significantly and happily, the BEA is actively and heavily supported by the CSWDO and the Office for Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) who serve as adviser to the assembly. Both government offices provide the needed finances for the various activities of the BEA. Actually, the fund assistance could hardly sustain the weekly special events of OCTOBERFEST, which is why BEA is once again requesting the city administration for added fund assistance for the year’s celebration.

For the record, manang Macrina and her late husband, Baguio City Schools Vision Superintendent manong Joe Olarte were exemplary and model educators. Both of them were also outstanding Scouters of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP), specially with the former Baguio-Benguet Council, now the Baguio City Council. Both manong Joe and manang Macrina are “Woodbadgers”, meaning, both are recognized Scout Leaders by the International Training Camp at Gilwell Park in England and the BSP in particularly. Manong Joe also served as president of the Baguio Benguet Council. As a matter of record, I took over the local council presidency after him in 1996. Manang Macrina and the late Scouter-teacher Lucia Pagador were rated as top Cub Scout Leaders of the BSP when I was their Scout Executive from 1958 to 1965, before yours truly was promoted as BSP National Council Regional Scout Coordinator for Northern Luzon after my scholarship grant in the Training the Team Course (TTT) held in Thailand later part of 1964. The course was conducted by no less than John Thurman, the Camp Director of Gilwell Park.

The Holy Mass set tomorrow, Sunday at the Shrine of the Brown Madonna is dedicated to City Mayors, manong Jimmy and manong Raul, scouter Macina and the SBM Adviser Rev. Fr. Alejandro, the Formateur of the San Pablo He was an Igorot ( probably a Kalanguya,) during the American colonial period here. The Baguio court then convicted the guy for possession of a bottle of commercial gin labeled “A-11”. I remember his young Igorot lawyer, the late Sinai Hamada who went up to the Supreme Court to contest the constitutionality of the law that banned Igorots from having in their possession or consuming intoxicants, except the “tapuy” they customarily produced. Two years after Cayat’s final conviction, the law, premised on the assumption that tribals couldn’t hold their drink, was rescinded.

The laws that governed the native American the American colonizers applied to the “nonChristian” tribal Filipinos such as the Igorots. To make up for the injustices, American laws eventually gave the Indians the right to open and operate casinos in their reservations.

Here, it’s the other way around. Some “kailians”, many of them Christianized pocket miners of Itogon and vegetable farmers of Buguias, now and then squander a small fortune in our state-run casinos in La Union and elsewhere.

This state of affairs sometimes tempts me to think it would be better for them to gamble and lose in a local casino, the earnings of which would go to local development projects instead of spurring up the economy of those down there in La Union, Angeles City and elsewhere. (email: mondaxbench@yahoo.com for comments.) Seminary at Crystal Clave Barangay. The religious affair will start at 10:00 o’clock in the morning with floral and candlelight offering to be led by the shrine’s project committee. With the group are Wilfredo and Grenda Lengson from Urdanita City in Pangasinan, Jaime and Glady’s Tamsi from Nangalisan, Tuba, Benguet; Raffy Estocapio for the city; BARP foundation President Prof. Federico Balanag, Ougon Hall Punong Barangat and FBASECA President Edita Ibarra and my better half Consuelo Sol. The loved ones of our departed friends are heartily and cordially invited to join us at the Shrine tomorrow.

At the moment, we are busy preparing the final program of activities of the forthcoming Silahis ng Pasko sa Baguio 2017 celebration. Premier participants in the monthlong December calendar of events are the Philippine Military Academy, Baguio-City national High School, PHASES Learning Center, SLU SVP Housing Cooperative, BAMARCOM, NCCB’s Annual Quest for the Baguio Lucky Foreign Visitors’ 17 and special event sponsors Balikbayans Bonnie and Jossie Delenila and U.S Navy Veteran Angel Villalavaro and family. Except another bonanza Christmas Season program from the NCCB, CSWDO and the Baguio Elderly Assembly. Take care and God Bless as we extend once again our heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the bereaved members of the families and our departed friends this month. to Baguio to deliver a talk before the Bankers Association of the Philippines. Once to give inspiration to some city employees, we drove to the Batangas Port and took a RORO to Calapan in Mindoro before heading to some far and isolated resort. Just to speak.

As a guest of a Mayor I was given a police escort just to catch a flight despite the traffic, and made the flight just in time. Advice was given to airport officials that a VIP will board. This takes the cake, I had the privilege of being escorted by the Presidential Security Group to catch a flight just after the Presidents SONA. A call was even made to GM Cusi of NAIA to prepare our boarding passes and get in straight to the plane. Wow!

I was given the privilege of opening the Cabinet Meeting held every summer in the Mansion House in behalf of the President. This was also the same accorded to me by the Chief Justice for the Supreme Court during the start to their summer sessions. Indeed we are recognized as the Summer Capital of the Philippines.

Every year as the Mayor I was to give the Mayor's Saber in PMA to the most outstanding athlete. An inspirational speech expected and lunch with the cadets was to be had after. Voltes V was one of those speeches I can recall.

In most cases I would share a story that I have archived through the years. Surely rehashed but seldom heard by the same audience. I made sure every time I had to use a story, when it was delivered and to whom. I will also at times print out a copy of my speech as in some cases it was requested.

Finally I successfully delivered a traditional Ugayam (chant) before Jaime Zobel de Ayala during the opening of the Advertising Congress. This was accompanied by a Tayaw (dance), instead of a speech. Easy.