As reported earlier by Evil Bill Bilig, Gloria mentioned three of our kailiyans during her State of the Nation Address (SONA). They are Mt. Province Governor Maximo Dalog, Warren Ambat and Hester Umayam. Of course, she mentioned many other politicians (55 according to Newsbreak) and several other private individuals.
What’s up with all that name dropping? We think it is her attempt to maintain those politicians’ favor. She also mentioned the names of private persons who have achieved something (won awards, etc.) in order to appropriate their achievements and to make us believe that these people are winners because of Gloria. Anyways, let’s look at what Gloria said in relation to the Cordilleras. First, here’s where she mentioned our roads (Halsema and the Tabuk-Tinglayan road) and where she gave a shout out to Governor Dalog: Continue reading →
The following report on Gloria’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) is an attempt by Bill Bilig’s evil twin a.k.a Evil Bill Bilig to be a cool kid.
If you want to see if his report is reliable, you should visit Tingog, the Voice of the Filipino People which has the full version of the SONA. Evil Bill apologizes to Kayni in advance for including her in Gloria’s nonsense. The good (ehem) Bill Bilig’s reaction to the SONA will be up soon. According to Evil Bill Bilig, Gloria’s state of the nation address went like this:
Yadaa, yadaa, yadaa, yadaa. Blaa, blaa, blaa, blaa. The Philippines will be world class in 2010. Yadaa, yadaa, blaa, blaa. We will have first class airports, first class seaports, first class roads. Yadaa, yadaa, blaa, blaa. [Mentions name of politicians.] Yadaa, yadaa, yadaa, yadaa. We will send Filipinos to the moon. Yadaa, yaddaa, quack, quack, quack. [Mentions name of Mt. Province Governor Maximo Dalog.] Yadaa, yadaa, yadaa, yadaa. Halsema Road will be world class. Tabuk to Tinglayan Road will be world class. Blaa, blaa, blaa, blaa. Quack, quack, quack, quack. [Mentions names of more politicians.]
Tomorrow, Gloria a.k.a. Gollum will be delivering her State of the Nation Address (SONA). Of course we are interested in what she is going to say. We’re particularly interested kung ano ang sasabihin niya tungkol sa Cordillera.
In the meantime, let’s review Gloria’s SONA last year where she said the following: Continue reading →
Congratulations kailiyans! This team from the University of the Cordilleras captured three championships during the Universal Reality Combat Championships held last June 30 at The Fort in Taguig City. From left: Kevin Belingon, Edward Folayang, Mark Sangiao, and Rey Docyogen.
Belingon, Folayang, and Docyogen emerged as champions in their respective categories. Sangaio is the coach of the team.
Our posts on languages generated several thoughtful comments so I decided to upload two of them here for those of you who don’t visit the comments section. [Aha, you are missing 2/3s of your life if you don't read the comments in this blog hehe.] The first comment is from an anonymous commenter (Hi Anonymous!) and the second one is from Layad who, incidentally, has a blog that you should visit. Thanks you two!
Anonymous says: Languages do come and go. When a language dies so does a memory of a culture, a way of life.
We’ve been quite critical of Baguio Congressman Mauricio Domogan but we are not blind to the good things he has done or tries to do.
In one of our early blog posts, we noted that Domogan filed a bill in Congress which seeks to mandate the teaching of Cordillera languages in our region’s universities. We identified such bill as our favorite of all the bills filed by Cordi Congressmen.
Domogan’s bill went nowhere in the previous do-nothing Congress so we’re glad to know that he is filing it again. We’re not quite sure if this re-filed bill will have a better fate but we have to acknowledge Domogan’s persistence. Here’s Dexter See’s article from the Manila Bulletin: Solon seeks teaching of 8 Cordillera dialects in colleges, universities By DEXTER A. SEE
As we promised earlier, we are publishing 1) the letter of Eric Tamayo, Philippine Consul to Japan, which responds to Dan’s article as well as 2) Dan’s subsequent suggestions. Thanks Dan for sharing these with us. First, we give you the consul’s letter which goes:
Rain or shine, Agpal-look tayo latta/ Men-gangsa tako kayet! by Dan and Silahis Peckley
Rain or shine. This was what our kaka-ilyans, the Cordillerans in Kanto, Japan, agreed among themselves the day before their performance at the Philippine Fiesta 2007 in Yoyogi Park in Tokyo. True enough, typhoon notwithstanding, the ladies in the colorful Cordilleran tapis/dresses and the men in wanes/g-string danced the pattong/pal-look with pride and gusto at the event, although the performance was not exactly as practiced.
Here’s a video with a timely (and timeless) message. It is fun to watch and it helps that the singer is also having fun. The song is in Kankanaey but, to be honest, I don’t know what the following words mean: bigis (worm/pest?), kipkipita’m (close one’s eyes?), pina-ugam (impregnated?), manmisa (go to church?). The song is in Benguet Kankanaey so I’m not familiar with some of the words.
Anyway, I’m going to follow Wil’s example and ask for your help in translating the song. A translation attempt for non-Kankanaey speakers is found below: Continue reading →
Have you ever heard of Princess Urduja? If your elementary teacher was like ours, she would have told you about the warrior princess who is believed to have ruled the Kingdom of Tawalisi way before Magellan begged the Queen of Spain to give him those danged ships to, in the words of George W, circumcise the globe. [Note: The painting above right is a visualization of Urduja by National Artist Fernando Amorsolo.]
Princess Urduja and her kingdom [queendom?] was first mentioned in the travel accounts of Muslim explorer Ibn Battuta. Our national hero Jose Rizal then speculated, based on the time and distance it took Battuta to travel from said kingdom to China, that Talawisi was in Luzon. Subsequent scholars placed the kingdom in Pangasinan and its neighboring areas. Anyway, there is an ongoing debate whether Urduja ever existed and whether the Kingdom of Tawalisi really is modern day Pangasinan. Incidentally, the province of Pangasinan honors the memory of Urduja by naming its capitol the Urduja Palace and by putting up a statue in her honor.
As reported earlier by Evil Bill Bilig, Gloria mentioned three of our kailiyans during her State of the Nation Address (SONA). They are Mt. Province Governor Maximo Dalog, Warren Ambat and Hester Umayam. Of course, she mentioned many other politicians (55 according to Newsbreak) and several other private individuals.
