We have been quite busy these last two weeks so we have not had a weekly roundup on Cordillera affairs as we did in the previous weeks. Anyways, to make up for that, we decided to do a round-up on what’s being said in the blogosphere.

If your spouse leaves you, files for divorce and marries in the U.S. can you file a bigamy case against him/her? Who will win in Kalinga’s congressional race? What would you do if a cement company builds roads to your barangay but destroys your mountains? Are you planning to watch the movie “300” but don’t know whether it is a good one?

We don’t actually have the answers to the above questions but our fellow bloggers have.

So can you file a bigamy case against your spouse if s/he divorced you in the U.S. and married another? According to Atty. Mandy Dornagon, the answer is no. Read his explanation here. He also has some advise for those who “no speak English” but who want to become a U.S. citizen. [Sabi ko sa inyo marami tayong matututunan kay Mandy eh. Libre pa, di kailangang magbayad ng attorney’s fee.]

Meanwhile, our newest kailiyan in the blogosphere, Images of Sagunto, has a post and a photo on the Northern Cement Company’s negative impact on the environment. Quote: “Thousands of trees were killed, the animals that lived on those trees gone, and the life-giving oxygen produced by those trees extinguished.” Read the full post here. By the way, Sagunto is an upland barangay in Sison, Pangasinan populated mostly by Bago Igorots.

For those of you into poetry, Jocelyn Noe has a poem in Besao-Kankanaey here:

Passage: “No tikidem nan na-ay ginawang
Magapo ka ad guab di Nakawang
Ila-em nan paypayew ay nakgang
Ay mangtatangad as bato ay nipapatang.”
Read full poem here.

Fongakhan of Bontoc Ikholot has a poem about get-togethers/reunions in Finontok here.

Passage: “Ad-i ngen khawis nan kasin tako masab-atan.
Nan sanga ya iliw enna pen kaan.
Ad-i karkarpasan nan okhod tako.
Nan ango et kag ad-i kakonto.”
Read full poem here.

Meanwhile, Igorot poet L. Angeleo Padua started a community poem here.

Passage: “Black dots appeared on the face of village elders
Borders were drawn, again
Borders were drawn…yet again
A boy woke up…left the world
Brown skin became sin
Butterflies struggled against the wind”
Read the poem and add your verse here.

From poetry, let’s move on to books. Grace of Pukengkeng Liberation Front reviews a book written by our kailiyan Rosita Pinkerton, An Igorot’s Journey. Quote: “It is almost as if, I am there in an imagined village beb-egan (a place for females to sleep and socialize), hearing how she dealt with first loves, jealousies, interrupted formal education, unplanned pregnancies, and the choices associated with all of these things.” Read Grace’s full post here.

Speaking of reviews, Wil Reyes has a post on the movie “300” which, according to him, is basically about angry guys with six packs. Meanwhile, in London, The Nashman meets my favorite hobbit Frodo a.k.a. Elijah Wood. Kakainggit talaga itong si Nashman ano, nakita niya in real life si Frodo. Pero sa totoo lang, mas interesting si Sam kaysa kay Frodo (either that or I’m just trying to be not too envious with the Nashman’s good fortune hehehe).

In politics, Pagano shares his thoughts on alleged coup-plotter now turned senatorial candidate Antonio Trillanes; the Voice of Kalinga wonders whether cousins Manuel Agyao and Macario Duguiang will end up losing in the congressional race because neither of them gave way to the other; Sandati asks “Why are they calling Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ‘Igorota’?”; and Art Allad-iw writes about the most interesting election contest in Baguio, the Molintas-Domogan congressional race.

Earlier, we posted the names of the the congressional and gubernatorial candidates in our region; those of you looking for candidates for the other positions (vice governor, mayors, etc.) can head over to Frank Cimatu’s Pine for Pine [here and here] since he has a more comprehensive list of candidates.

Meanwhile, for those of you who missed the Arya Abra Festival held last March in Bangued, you might want to visit Bangued Online who has some great photos of our Tingguian kailiyans taken during the festival.

Lastly, Pei Qian Long, our kailiyan in China, blogs about the infamous St. Louis World Fair where Igorots were used as exhibits to be gawked at.

Image Credit: SiliconValleyWatcher.com.