Entries from September 2006 ↓

Find the Baguio beans among these Peemayers. From left: brothers Joseph Orland and Michael Gotong; Cesar and Jomar Canazares; and Randy and Romel Sotero. Photo courtesy of the Inquirer.

Continue reading →

Hey you Sagada people who think that your town is unique, here’s a message for you: Sagada is not unique. Yes, you can brag about your caves, rocks, hanging coffins, underground rivers (with no water sometimes), sinking rice terraces, Balugan tomatoes, Antadao persimmons, and Pidlisan coffee but, I repeat, Sagada is not unique.

Before people from Kalinga, Bontoc, and Tabuk gloat and look down on poor Sagada for not being unique, here’s also a message for you: Your place is also not unique. Of course, no one in his or her right mind would ever say that Mountain Province, Cordillera, and Abra are unique. For the record, La-Trinidad is also not unique.

Continue reading →

In our continuing feature of Igorot achievers, let us take our cue from schools who sing praises to their graduates who land in the top ten in board examinations. In this blog entry, we will be singing praises to our Igorot brothers and sisters who topped their board exams. They do make us proud and it’s about time we recognize their achievements.

But first, a clarification: this list is incomplete since it is based on only two sources 1) the website of St. Louis University (SLU) in Baguio City and 2) the website of the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) which has board exam results from 2004 to 2006. This means that, except for Rufino Bomasang, topnotchers from other schools before 2004 are not included here. (We do hope to include them in the future.) Bomasang was once profiled in the Inquirer so we know that he topped his exam in 1964. (He also made it to the second installment of The List.)

Continue reading →

This picture of Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Arthur Gosingan (right), shaking the hands of a Chinese official was originally posted in The List: Part 5 but Blogger kept messing it up (or maybe it was my fault he he) so I decided to make a separate post on him. The Commandant, who hails from Bontoc, Mt. Province, has been in the news lately since he is leading the Coast Guard in cleaning up the mess caused by an oil tanker which sank off the coast of Guimaras Island.

Continue reading →

The mountaineer in me is always intrigued by the sea. That’s why I enjoy novels like Mutiny on the Bounty and movies such as Pirates of the Carribean. There’s something about the sea that is mysterious and inviting. So I consider it a blessing when I have to take a long trip by boat to the Visayas or Mindanao rather than the shorter one-two hour/s plane ride. Nothing beats watching the sea change its color to different shades of green or blue, the quietness of the breeze, the salty air, the white waves that roll on and on, and those flying/jumping fishes. Huh, I’m getting carried away here. But you know, maybe the sea is home for us mountain people. After all, if the history taught us in school is correct, didn’t our ancestors travel by boat from Malaysia/Indonesia. So maybe there’s a seafarer deep in our souls that long for the sea and that sometimes, the sea is calling us home. Ha ha, like the elves in the Lord of the Rings you know.

In any case, the sea is home for two ships named after two Cordillera provinces — the BRP Kalinga-Apayao and the BRP Benguet. For some reason the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) decided to name its amphibious warfare ships after Philippine provinces. Since the AFP doesn’t have as much amphibious ships as there are provinces, we should consider it an honor that these two ships are so named.

Continue reading →

Continue reading →

Here’s a picture of The Wall where Macli-ing Dulag’s name is inscribed along with the names of other Filipino heroes and martyrs. The Wall of Remembrance (located at EDSA corner Quezon Avenue in Quezon City) seeks to honor those who were brave enough to confront the Marcos dictatorship when most Filipinos were saying, “Hallelujah Marcos. You are the savior of the country.”

Continue reading →

This is a song I learned from my high school Practical Arts teacher. I don’t know what teachers call the subject these days but during our time, Practical Arts is where we learn stuff like carpentry and gardening. I’m not quite sure how this song relates to either carpentry or gardening but I’m glad our teacher taught it to us. I appreciated him then but I have a much higher appreciation for him now.

I’m also not quite sure if the song means something. I think it’s just a play on words and the words themselves might not mean anything. I say “might” because I don’t know all the Cordillera languages and “Bagbagto” just might mean something in Ifugao or Ibaloi or Kalanguya or Isneg.

Continue reading →

The previous posts have been kind of serious so lets lighten up a bit before we are justly accused of being G and D (Grim and Determined). Anyway, lets do some riddles or bolboltiya or burburcha which I copied from abrenian.com.

As riddles go, these are a bit risqué. Don’t tell me you weren’t warned. If you like this kind of stuff though, you might want to join our Abrenian friends here.

Continue reading →