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.
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.
Here’s a a picture of a beautiful sayote painting by our blogger friend Nats Dalanao of Tabuk, Kalinga. You can view his other paintings here; we especially like Living Wonders and Innocence Caught Between Rivals of Urban Politicians which was Nats’ entry to the 2006 International Art Contest. Make sure you visit the links because we’re not sure if Nats’ will allow us to “steal” more of his paintings hehe. We “stole” this sayote painting without his permission and we don’t want to abuse him further. Great paintings, Nats!
Nats also heads the Kalinga Arts Guild (if we’re not mistaken). He also blogs at Kalinga, the Land of the Brave and is the owner of kalingatambayan.com which has a forum that is becoming more and more popular. Aba, hindi yata natatakot ang mga forumers na mag-expose ng mga kababalaghan hehe.
