Here’s an interesting article on a 1988 demonstration by Igorots/iCordilleras in Baguio to protest against then Baguio City Mayor Ramon Labo’s remarks about Igorots. This is what he reportedly said, “We will not lose [the elections] to those Igorots. They urinate anywhere . . . that is why we club them. . . . The Igorots are traitors. They are civil in front of you, but once you turn your back they stab you.”
I was still too young to be a part of this demonstration. (Hehe, that’s a joke. I was actually based in Manila by then and didn’t know about Labo’s remarks.) I wonder if some of you were a part of this rally and would want to re-live the experience by reading about it. This article is actually part of the first chapter of a book on the Cordilleras written by Gerard A. Finin, The Making of the Igorot: Contours of Cordillera Consciousness. The book was published by Ateneo Press and was a finalist in the 25th National Book Awards.
Here are some interesting links that you might want to read:
► If you were Takit Bersamin, what would you do first and why? Abrenian.com asks its members and readers to give some unsolicited advice to Abra’s Governor-elect. Join them here.
► Do you remember the video of Luke-Abeya Torrevillas which we uploaded here? Apparently said video is now in competition at lonelyplanet.tv. You might want to rate and vote for the video here. Voting ends May 23, so you better hurry up, my friends.
Let’s continue with our installment of funny videos produced by our kailiyans. This one is about the Filipino’s favorite gadget and how your ehem can discover whatever secrets you keep in that darned cellphone. The singer’s advice: Throw your cellphones away. Kind of a tough advice but a good one if only to save your relationship, no? Or you might learn to use codes that your wife/husband/lover/boyfriend/girlfriend/etc. can’t decipher. [Note: We are not endorsing infidelity okay? Besides, cheaters go to hell.]
The movie is about an Ifugao boy and his all-consuming desire to own a pair of shoes. Honestly, I find it a bit hard to be drawn into the story and to sympathize with the boy mainly because I kept thinking, “Hey kid, it’s 2006. You are from the Cordilleras where there are ukay-ukay/wagwag stores in every corner. Surely you can buy a used pair of shoes for P50.”
So I must admit that for most of the movie, my mindset was like, “What is the fuss about? Take the kid to an ukay ukay store and be done with it. It’s not like he is dreaming of a pair of shoes worth P5,000.” I might have been willing to suspend my disbelief if the movie was set in the ’80s where owning a pair of shoes was more of a financial challenge. Or if the boy was dreaming of something that is harder to buy now, say a cellphone or a computer. Having said that, I would still say that the movie is good and is much much better than the mindless crap that local movie producers are making these days. However, I might have been better off if I just bought a VCD copy of the film since digital movies like Batad really do not project well in movie screens. [Based on experience, much of the color in digital movies gets lost in in the big screen so they sadly end up looking lifeless and grayish.]
I was still too young to be a part of this demonstration. (Hehe, that’s a joke. I was actually based in Manila by then and didn’t know about Labo’s remarks.) I wonder if some of you were a part of this rally and would want to re-live the experience by reading about it. This article is actually part of the first chapter of a book on the Cordilleras written by Gerard A. Finin, The Making of the Igorot: Contours of Cordillera Consciousness. The book was published by Ateneo Press and was a finalist in the 25th National Book Awards.
