Let’s take a break from covering all things Cordillera to get, ehem, religious. I’m not a particularly religious man but I’m not an apostate either he he. For those of you who don’t already know, I am a member of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines (ECP) which, in turn, is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
My church, the ECP, is doing alright but the Anglican Communion has been in turmoil for some time now. Mostly, the crisis in the Communion centers on the conflict between the liberal side (represented by the Anglican/Episcopal Churches in North America) and the conservative side (represented by Archbishop Peter Akinola of the Anglican Church in Nigeria).
Earlier, when we blogged about a video documentary on Igorot soldiers during World War II, we wondered why the producers were giving special mention to Benguet. We denied being nitpicky then but maybe we actually were. (But we also had a point, he he.) Well, this is what we said:
Not to be nitpicky but what’s up with Benguet being specially mentioned? I’m sure there’s a reason but the video didn’t clarify. Did the then sub-province have more soldiers in this particular infantry regiment? Or is the video specifically directed to a Benguet audience?
Our friends from the left will be celebrating Cordillera Day in Baguio City on 23-24 April. As you may already know, Cordillera Day was used to be called Macli-ing Dulag Day because it was initially held to commemorate the death of the man who led the people’s opposition to the Chico River Dam. [You may want to read our brief posts about Dulag here and here.]
If you have not yet read the introduction to this post, you can read it here. For those who read it already, this now is the first installment of our attempt to list the stereotypes about us Igorots. For the most part, we will be getting examples of these stereotypes from media/movie portrayals. Your suggestions about other stereotypes that should be a part of this list are welcome.
Stereotype: A standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment. (Webster definition)
This is an attempt to list the various stereotypes about us Igorots. Since this is going to be a continuing project, please feel free to add your own suggestions about Igorot stereotypes. We will then either update this list or make another blog entry to include your suggestions.