Here’s Part 2 of Gerard Finin’s article on the Igorot rally against then Baguio City Mayor Jun Labo because of his anti-Igorot remarks. You can read Part 1 of this article here.

The 1988 Igorot Demonstration
by Gerard A. Finin
Among the many protesters marching in groups were highlander commissioners and staff of the Cordillera Regional Consultative Commission, a body that had recently been appointed by Pres. Corazon Aquino to draft provisions under the newly ratified Philippine Constitution for granting the Cordillera a special status (along with parts of Mindanao in the southern Philippines) as an autonomous region—contingent upon approval by Cordillera voters in a plebiscite.

Continue reading Blast From the Past, 2: "You Backstabbing, Public Urinators!" →

Here’s an interesting article on a 1988 demonstration by Igorots/iCordilleras in Baguio to protest against then Baguio City Mayor Ramon Labo’s remarks about Igorots. This is what he reportedly said, “We will not lose [the elections] to those Igorots. They urinate anywhere . . . that is why we club them. . . . The Igorots are traitors. They are civil in front of you, but once you turn your back they stab you.”

I was still too young to be a part of this demonstration. (Hehe, that’s a joke. I was actually based in Manila by then and didn’t know about Labo’s remarks.) I wonder if some of you were a part of this rally and would want to re-live the experience by reading about it. This article is actually part of the first chapter of a book on the Cordilleras written by Gerard A. Finin, The Making of the Igorot: Contours of Cordillera Consciousness. The book was published by Ateneo Press and was a finalist in the 25th National Book Awards.

Continue reading Blast From the Past 1: "You Backstabbing, Public Urinators!" →