Si Morris et damomo
Sotsoten da i-idyana
Sot sot ak ak sot.
If I am not mistaken (and I may very well be wrong), this used to be the jeer/chant that Sagada boys use to taunt their fellow boys who are old enough to go to sleep in the dap-ay but who continue to sleep at home with their parents.
We are dedicating the song to our favorite Cordillera Congressman because he apparently continues to receive allowance from his Mama.
What do Cordillera people think about autonomy? Attempts by officials to make the region autonomous was voted down in a plebiscite in Jan. 30, 1990 when the provinces of Kalinga-Apayao, Abra, Benguet, Mountain Province and the City of Baguio voted no with only Ifugao saying yes. The second attempt was also foiled with only Apayao voting yes on March 7, 1998.
What is autonomy? The people must have been right in their decision at the very first and second take. What chances do the third take give? Have the people become wiser, more informed, or they are already wise and informed in the very first place?
Continue reading Gina Dizon on Regional Autonomy: Once More With Feelings
Update: Those who are not from Mt. Province but who are concerned about the project might also want to include their names. We will identify you as “Friends of Halsema/Mt. Province”. Thanks.
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Now, here’s the open letter:
15 October Updates:
citynews.ca: CityNews has a report and a video on the vigil/prayer rally held for Jocelyn Dulnuan. An excerpt:
Wiping away tears, dozens of people filed into the solemn service, where Dulnuan was remembered for being a loving mother who came to Canada to build a better life for her daughter.
“As a parent she wants to provide her daughter with a better education, a better future,” recalled relative Fay Hangdan to those on hand. “As a sister she wants to help her siblings back home.”
One would think that Mankayan, home of Lepanto Mines, would have better roads than the rest of the Cordilleras. But, no, this is what we’ve got — an unpaved road and sinking homes. According to Baguiocity.com the houses we see in the picture used to be at the same level as the road but they have now sank. Residents blame all that tunneling by Lepanto to get at the gold.
But where did all the gold go? The bulk of it went to the pockets of American and Makati-based stock holders, a teeny bit was given to the government in the form of taxes, and a teeny weeny bit was paid to our kailiyans who worked in the mines.