Igorot diaspora

ONE reason I like with Igorot international gatherings like the IGOROT INTERNA TIONAL CONSULTations (IIC) is the opportunity to catch up with the greater tribal community. We were given an opportunity by Rev. Jay Watan during one workshop of IIC12 in Hawaii last August 2-5, 2018. IICs are great opportunities to meet since participants come from the motherland and particular to IIC12 were participants from USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. I am not sure if we had participants from other Asian countries

Rev. Watan called it the circle of trust, encouraging participants to approach people we do not personally know and ask personal questions to know more about the person. It was a limited time as we were given a question to ask and spent only two minutes with the person before we move on to the next person. One of the questions was “how are we related?” and the person I met was Edralin from Hawaii and here is her story. Edralin was born in Hawaii and recently have taken genealogy lessons and so was able to find trace of her ancestry Duterte administration a mawaswas ti nakuna nga amnestiya. Kinapudnona maad-adalen ti amnestiya met a naipaay kadagiti kadua ni Trillanes iti Oakwood Mutiny.

Inda sukainan amin ti record dagitoy no nagtungpalda met laeng kadagiti alagaden sakbay a naipaayanda iti amnestiya. Kayatna a sawen a no adda met panaglabsingda…natural a sagrapenda met ti kas linak-am ni Trillanes. Dua laeng a kangrunaan a ramen ken alagaden tapno maipaay ti amnestiya kas imbinsabinsa ni Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque: legal nga aplikasyon iti amnestiya ken panangako a nagbasolka. Ngem iti benneg ni Trillanes, innayon ni Roque…saan a natungpal dagita nga annuroten. Awan kano ti negatibo nga epekto iti pulitika ti pagilian iti pannakawaswas ti amnestiya ni Trillanes gapu ta maipatpatungpal laeng ti gobyerno ti alagaden ti linteg.

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Iti met benneg ni Sen. Trillanes…saanna a maako ti napasamak kenkuana. Maysa kano a political persecution wenno harassment ti inaramid ti Palasyo idi impaulogda ti Proclamation No. 572 a nangwaswas iti amnestiyana nga inyetnag ti Aquino Administration idi Enero 2010. Impinget ti senador nga inaminna kano a karaman daytoy iti addang kontra iti administrasyon idi ni GMA isu a naaramidda ti Oakwood Mutiny, Marines stand-off ken Manila Peninsula siege.

Isu a nakunana: “So, absolutely complied lahat yan. Yong mga kaso sa civilian courts na-dismiss siya. So ngayon, ano ngayon ang magiging basis ng pag-aresto? Hindi mo puwedeng bawiin ang amnesty. Ano bay un? I was already subjected to that nung na-try ako tapos nadismiss. Ano ngayon, uulitin yun? Ano ba yan? Magpaturo from the Philippines. She is not sure as she has never been to the Philippines but would remember stories of her grandparents talking about her roots from a place that is bounded by Abra, Ilocos and Sagada. That could be Besao. She also remembers Baguio and Naguilian as possible residence of her great great grandparents. She attended the IIC with her mother with the hope of giving more clear snapshots of her ancestry.

The next question was “what makes you happy?” and the person I met was Lucena, 89 years old, migrated before the war, and is now based in Hawaii. Her answer to being happy is being with in laws, children and nga sila sa mga law students. I will abide by the wisdom of senate leadership and my lawyers are exhausting legal remedies to void this stupid executive order. I will not resist arrest, I will not escape so harapin ko ito. Pero ang tanungin ni Mr. Duterte sa utak niya, ‘pag dumating ang panahon niya, haharapin ba niya?” Iti kaudian a pasamak, impakita ni Sen. Trillanes iti media dagiti eggemna a dokumento a mangpanpaneknek a nagaplay daytoy iti amnestiya ken simmurot kadagiti pagaladan tapno maragpatna ti amanestiya. Daytoy ket kas panangkontrana iti posisyon ti administrasyon a panangwaswas iti naited nga amnestiya gapu kano iti naglabsinganna.

Daytoy ti nangikugnalan ti grupona tapno makaala iti TRO manipud korte. No paboran ti korte, natural…dumegdeg manen ti kontrobersiya. Saan laengen a kimat ken gurruod ti sumaganad nga eksena…amangan ta addanto pay ketdin Tsunami! Ngek!

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Iti baet dagiti addang ti agsumbangir a kuta (Duterte ken Trillanes) adu nga umili ti nakanganga nga agur-uray kadagiti sumaruno a pinanid ti gubatda. Adu ti maburburtia-an, adu met dagiti agsaksakuntip ken mabuisbuisit. Kasano a dika agpasidumri, pards…nagadu dagiti agdama a parikut ti pagilian nangruna iti presyo dagiti gagatangen, inayonmo pay ti naluglogen nga isyu ti bukbok ti bagas-NFA ken Formalin ti galunggong. Sa adda man daytoyen a gubat da Trillanes ken Pres. Duterte.

Sus maryunes a pigsol…papanantayo kanon? Ikararagtayo laengen ta maresolba koman iti kabiitan a panawen ti tensiyon. No agburek pay laeng…maryusep, adun ti agballa ken aghuramentado. Saan koma met apo. He he..intay sa laengen idiay bulan bareng ta naulimek. Nia nga naulimek? Ti idanagam ketdi ket amangan ta uray idiay bulan…addan nakapuwesto a drug lords! Patay! Adios mi amor, ciao, mabalos! family. Being grateful to be alive to serve God and people. She remembers stories about the war in Hawaii, the Pearl Harbor, World War II where her family served during the war and after. After migration she has never been back to the Philippines but she remembers stories of her parents about Igorot and Ilocano ancestry. She is excited to go home to the Philippines for the next IIC.

The time was very short when I met my third member of the Igorot Diaspora. He is Samson and Engineer from the Philippines but came to serve in the US Navy. He tells stories of his service in the USA, the disparities of the motherland and his adopted country specially in government service and lifestyle. He admits he has frequented the Philippines and just recently retired from the military.

The next person I met was a young man Scott from Colorado, has at least one fourth Filipino blood and believes that good morals and learnings should be passed on to the next generation. He talks of his parents but still needs to know more of the traditions and history of their country and the Igorot tribes. He is in search of connectives of the past and the present.

Meeting younger generation member Geraldine from Canada was a rushed one as we talked of people who mentored us. She said she was mentored by her parents, teachers and friends. She also is excited knowing that the Igorot village is a place to raise a child. She has high hopes for the next generation and hopes that IICs will help the younger generations in connecting to their roots.

After meeting some more members of the Igorot Diaspora I see a common denominator of continued search of connectives and opportunities to reconnect with their heritage whether they were born overseas or in the Philippines. Attending the IIC was an intentional move towards this purpose. If there was one thing that the Igorot Global Organization (IGO) has accomplished it would be thisthe IIC the reconnects families and tribes of the Igorotlandia. It has created a regular venue of meeting people and visiting the places where descendants of the Igorots have moved on, lived and call home. In this particular IIC, it was to visit Hawaii where Ilocano is considered a majority ethnic identity, and where Igorots have called home. So much so that the other participants were so proud to say “teken nan wada nan agi isna” it is different because we have relatives here, who took the time to host us and lead us in the sightseeing activities. They were proud of Hawaii and being part of it, that many of the participants had prolonged stay after or before the conference.

This is also true in some of the IICs I attended where relatives brought us around and hosted our pasyar in London, in Melbourne and in the other IIC locations. And I reiterate the comment of many”kagagasing nan wada nan kabagian ya kaising.”

7. Whoever does not want to work will not eat.

8. Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.

9. Envy must not be the motivation for toil and achievement or else work is meaningless.

10. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone

and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.

We must always remember that the work we do, even how great or small it is, whether be it in a positive or negative execution, has an impact to other people, the environment or community. The principle of sowing and reaping will always apply. And how we give importance to work is directly proportional to the realization of its goal – the less we value work, the less result we have; the greater value we give to work, greater harvest shall we reap.