UPB’s “Cordillera Literary Competition”

The University of the Philippines Baguio (UPB), in partnership with the National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCCA), launched early this month a Cordillera-wide literary competition believed to be the first of its kind in the region’s literary history as entries are to be written in either of the following Cordilleran languages: Ibaloi, Kankanaey, [...]

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Bog-oy

I am Bog-oy:
I take what others take — eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, life for life;
I give what others give — shock and fear, grief and rage.
I despise the serenity of Saltan, I glory in the turbulence of Chico;
I despise the killing of Dulag, I rejoice in the death of Ka Ambo.
Strike [...]

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PGMA’s SoNA 2008: Fashion Show

Bollywood/Hollywood-like characters (a.k.a. lawmakers, their spouses, et al.) wrapped in specially designed apparels self-consciously strutting along the red carpet. Pro-Administration officials issuing the usual spirited display-even-the-padded-KRA (Key Result Areas)-stats defense of PGMA’s annual report. Anti-Administration people acting according to their predictable find-nothing-good-about-this-administration script.
All of these amply illustrated one aspect of the recent SoNA affair: Wardrobe [...]

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Igorot! (II)

Igorot II
I
remembered a MacArthur
his smoldering tunnel in Malinta hankering for the smoke of his pipe
and his tunnels in Lepanto piping up a high grader’s song.
I
wept for a Campbell,
her worms boring holes through Masferre’s sleek shots
while their kins burrowed into the Terraces.
I
was shamed by a Scott,
his prolific quill inking the blank, dusty notepads of [...]

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Igorot!

Igorot

Gawked at in St. Louis,
Hailed in Bataan.
Begged at Botanical Garden,
Feasted in Congress.
Scarred in Batong Buhay and Lepanto,
Soothed in Banaue and Sagada.
Hoped for autonomy,
Dodged its guillotine.
Voiced out my ideology,
Splintered by its missiles.
Prided in my ancestry,
Haunted by its ghost.

- smsaboy, 0508
Related Post: Igorot II

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Francesca and Igorots (II)

The bonfire of inanities stoked by careless comments (maybe similar to this one :> ) continues to rage in Francesca’s blog. Several comments are worth interrogating, but this anonymous post made the strongest jab at my yoyok (armpit, in the Banao language):

And if we say the word ‘IGOROT’ be honest lang poh what comes first [...]

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Francesca and Igorots

Is he an igorot, thats why he doesnt understand the importance of paper works and time?!!!
….I started to guess, baka nga Igorot eto? I dont have any goat or hen to pay him, if he doesnt want money haha.
These misguided, unnecessary lines were posted by a Filipina in France named Francesca who is married to [...]

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Re: Call Centers and Racism

Below is an insightful reaction to my article “Call Centers and Racism” by manang Mary Ann Foy-os Apopot, a nurse who has been working in the US for over a decade now. Over the last two months or so, I have been corresponding with her and her husband, manong Martin, after they stumbled upon my [...]

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New Cordi Website

http://cordillerans.com/ seeks to be an “online rendezvous place for Igorots all over the world.” I’m sure this site will prove to be a great resource about anything Cordilleran!

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“No mamaid na ugale, mamaid tako abes”

One of the joys of blogging is that you get to meet new friends in this limitless cyberspace, folks who happen to relate to a particular theme you yourself are passionate about. In exchanging thoughts with them, your life continues to be enriched by their wisdom.
One of these friends is manong Martin Apopot who [...]

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Cordillera Day

24 April 1980. Kalinga pangat (tribal chief) Macli-ing Dulag is killed by government troopers led by Lt. Leodegario Adalem in Bugnay, Tinglayan, Kalinga-Apayao (now Kalinga). The cold-blooded murder of Dulag all the more solidified the opposition of the indigenous peoples in the area to the Chico River Basin Hydroelectric Dam Project. Five [...]

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The Gallant Igorots of Bataan

While watching on TV some of our remaining WWII veterans who joined yesterday’s 66th commemoration of the “Fall of Bataan,” I was reminded of the stirring accounts of heroism in Bataan which I have come across in my readings, one of which is the gallantry shown by fearless Igorots who fought alongside American troopers. [...]

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Cordi Books @ “Project Gutenberg”

Looking for a free downloadable copy of Fay Cooper-Cole’s The Tinguians or of Albert Ernest Jenks‘ The Bontoc Igorot? Follow these links:
♦ http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12849
♦ http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3308
Also available for easy download are some other Filipiniana works like Philippine Folk Tales, Doctrina Christiana, The Indolence of the Filipino, Mabini’s Decalogue to Filipinos, Anting-Anting and other Strange Tales of [...]

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IGO Meet in Ifugao

The Igorot Global Organization (IGO) will hold its “7th Igorot International Consultation” in Banaue, Ifugao on April 12-15, 2008. The theme for this year’s IIC is “NURTURING OUR CULTURE AND RESOURCES TO CHART AND SECURE OUR DESTINY.” See program in PDF here.

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1st Int’l Meet on Cordi Studies: My General Impressions

Overwhelmed. Shamed. Provoked. These words sum up my impressions on the recently conducted 1st International Conference on Cordillera Studies.Overwhelmed. Who would not feel swamped by the flood of scholarship pouring forth from the more than a hundred papers scheduled to be read during the three-day affair? Like apo newsman Ramon Dacawi who had wanted to [...]

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Cordillera Studies Conference - Day 2

There is no doubt that all participants eagerly faced the sunrise of Day 2, looking forward to being fed with more fruits of scholarship.
Among the early birds at the conference site, apo newsman Ramon Dacawi and I chatted for a while as we awaited the start of the first set of the parallel sessions for [...]

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Cordillera Studies Conference- Day 1

Rousing Start
UP Baguio’s “Bulwagang Juan Luna” looked gay yesterday with the colorful hand-woven tapestries (courtesy of Narda’s) hanging on its walls as it warmly welcomed about 300 participants to a yet another historic event in the region and the country, the “1st International Conference on Cordillera Studies.”
The affair went off to a rousing start with [...]

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Historic Meet at UPB

1st INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CORDILLERA STUDIES
The University of the Philippines Baguio (UPB), through its Cordillera Studies Center (CSC), will hold the 1st International Conference on Cordillera Studies on 7-9 February 2008 in Baguio City, Philippines.
Held in conjunction with the celebration of the Centennial of the Philippines’ premier university, the conference will address the [...]

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“1st International Conference on Cordillera Studies”

University of the Philippines Baguio (UPB), through its Cordillera Studies Center (CSC), will host the “First International Conference on Cordillera Studies” on February 7-9, 2008.
Click here to know more about this historic event.

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new must-have, must-read book @ UP Baguio!

Below is an emailed announcement from the widely known author and inimitable professor Dr. Delfin Tolentino, Jr. of the University of the Philippines-Baguio. I am quoting the message in toto as there is nothing substantial that I can add to it… Those of you who go gaga over great tomes and are near Baguio better [...]

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