‘Di ako Igorot, parents ko lang.
– Manila born Igorot
child of an Igorot who resides at the St. Andrew’s Theological Seminary
(just behind St. Luke’s Medical Center)
Logic: I was born in Manila and grew up in Manila (Quezon City to be exact). Since igorot means from the mountains, and since I am a lowlander since birth, then only my parents are Igorot. I am not.
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.
– Baguio ex-Mayor Ramon ‘Jun’ Labo, Jr.
as quoted in a Manila Chronicle column (September 4, 1988)
This, in part, is the reason why Mauricio Domogan kept on winning in the local elections. Backlash.
The fact remains that the Igorot is not Filipino and we are not related, and it hurts our feelings to see him pictured in American newspapers under such captions as ‘Typical Filipino Tribesman.’
– Carlos P. Romulo, (1943) Mother America. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co. p. 59.
Romulo was once General MacArthur’s aide–de–camp, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines and President of the University of the Philippines.
I made a term paper showing that my Igorot sample (chosen for the sake of convenience — those residing and studying in Metro Manila at that time) wished to eradicate the negative Igorot stereotype by passing on those stereotypes to the Aeta. This was what Romulo tried to do in his book, Mother America. He wasn’t wild, primitive and black; the Igorot was.
Check this out: The Igorot: Filipino or not?
Clarification: Romulo’s original intent was to disassociate himself from the stereotypical image of the Igorot which to the Whites was the same as their (mis)conception of the Filipino (post-Hispanic rule definition). That means Romulo wrote that the Igorot was not Filipino kasi nahihiya siya sa balat niya.
Romulo eventually brought up the Filipino originally meant Spaniards who were born in the Philippines and much later, indios who agreed or were forced to become subjects of the King but not citizens of Spain. So technically the Igorot were not Filipino because they never became subjects of the King of Spain. argument — which is true, by the way — as a way of saving face.
Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer’s Northern Luzon Bureau got quotes from my naughty Igorot entry. As usual, the article doesn’t have a link back. The article was intended for print and when it was uploaded online, nobody was tasked to ensure that the article linked to its sources. Oh, well.
According to BIBAKNets, the statue is no longer on display. Sayang, it was a clever way of telling patrons “CR this way” jut like a smoker has a “no smoking” sign in his room, pa naman sana. Sarcasm is a brand of humor that finds it hard to fly. (Customer:Sa’n yung CR dito? Guard:Ser, dun sa may bawal umihi, pag nakita nyo po, liko kayo tapos diretso lang…)
And it reminded me of how the statue of Our Lady of EDSA was redone so that its strong Asian facial features became the usual meek Caucasian. Kasi yun ang gusto ng mga churchgoers. And the sculptor’s vision was destroyed.
The never ending quest of Igorots to ban everything that puts them in a bad light.
OMG! These photographs of Igorots should be banned from the web because they promote an unhealthy lifestyle — smoking.
The thumbnail photos of Lakay Kabayo and Lakay Pecdasen where shot by Masferre.
If you wish to demolish stereotypes, you should not just be too eager to demolish false or unfair ascriptions; you must also have the balls to accept the truth, even if it puts you, your family, your clan, your community, or your nation in a bad light.
This is not just about the peeing Igorot statue erected along the Igorot Stairs of Barrio Fiesta in Baguio City. But since it is the issue at hand, let’s talk about it.
Do some Igorot men, like some other Filipino men (and some men regardless of ethnicity or nationality or citizenship) urinate on walls? Yes. (Partial list of areas where men urinate outside the toilet: India, Uganda, Philippines, and everywhere else)
Is it bad to urinate against the wall where you can read right before you a notice that says “bawal umihi dito?” Let’s say your answer is yes for now, although we can argue about that later.
A person who happens to be an Igorot does not have to be a saint, hero, the most intelligent, handsome, beautiful, talented, or successful to be recognized as an Igorot. Lineage is the only requisite.
I am not a sculptor, but if say I get lucky and get to finish a book that partly details bad things that Igorot individuals do, would you kill me?
Get a grip of yourself. Take off your rose-colored glasses. You don’t like anyone pissing you off by pissing on walls? Teach them (everyone of them, not just Igorots or Filipinos) not to. How do you teach them? Put up statues just like this everywhere:
Pwede: Uh, OK, mali pala. Di na uulit.
Pwede rin: Anong mali doon?
If you want to do something more complicated, you can suggest Barrio Fiesta to
Read also: Ban this, ban that, remove this remove that
I wonder.
From a Craigslit post:
IGOROT style models needed
Reply to: images001@yahoo.com
Date: 2007-01-23, 11:26AM PHTUS-based oil painter seeks IGOROT style tribal amateur models to work with pinay photographer in the Manila, Cavite, Papanga or Baguio areas for old style portraits to capture a look of yesteryear.
Good “P”ay for your time.
Models only may contact rightbrainy@gmail.com for more details.
* Location: Manila/Baguio
* Compensation: OPEN
* This is a part-time job.
* Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
* Please, no phone calls about this job!
* Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.Posting ID: 266916618
‘We,’ here, means the Igorot community, so if you’re not one, this piece isn’t for you. No we don’t want Paulo to acknowledge that he is an Igorot so he could harvest sympathy votes. He will have you not because of awa but because mapapa-wow ka talaga. That being said, on with the show.
Point one: Voting for Paulo just because he is a kailiyan is sufficient but too shallow a reason.
You’ve heard it before — Igorots aren’t celebrity crazy. So why should you contradict this mantra of yours? No, there is no contradiction. If Paulo is a kailiyan, then you aren’t supporting him because he is a celebrity (an unreachable personality) but because he is your 55th cousin or someone who is at least an am-ammo. Don’t throw away your logic just yet.
But this is a shallow reason. We as a group, have built a comparatively strong online network that can help us promote an agendum. Without this reason, we could then say that we get starstruck, too, and (gasp!) that is the beginning of the end. So what is the vested interest that we are promoting pala?
The inevitable question arises: Why should we want an Igorot celebrity?
Point two: Campaigns led by a politician, a historian, and a journalist have failed to correct the stereotyped perception of lowland Filipinos regarding Igorots.
Politician: Alfredo Lam-en, Sr. (governor of the old Mountain Province) re his response to Carlos P. Romulo’s Igorots are not Filipinos remark. Nobody remembers except the oldies and those at BCF (now UC). You couldn’t erase a misconception if only you, and not your target audience, knew the error.
Historian: William Henry Scott. At least he tried to correct what’s on record, but he himself self expressed that the future of the word ‘Igorot’ rests either on highland pride or lowland prejudice.
Journalist: Jack Dulnuan wrote: “I am an Igorot. Let me be treated as I deserve, but let the word Igorot remain… ” you see, even I forgot about this. Dig the archives of this blog. So my point? Forgotten. That’s the point.
This leads us to point three.
Point three: Paulo not acknowledging his Igorot roots is unforgivable.
This is the continuation of point one. We had to talk about point two first so this third point becomes more understandable. Point three is about the Igorots’ last hope: a celebrity — as in artista. Gasp! I thought we weren’t dealing with these kinds of people?
Proof? Marky Cielo. He was able to do what Lam-en, Scott and Duluan have failed to do, and that is to unite those in the Cordillera to say Igorotak! Igorotak metlang! Thank you Bugz Daigo. Of course he was adored partly because he somehow fit part of the stereotype. Mailalasinan ay Igorot, di ba? But he shattered the other parts of the stereotype. At least, may tinitingala na rin silang Igorot ngayon. Those celebrity-centric lowlanders. At least, some part of the stereotype has been shattered.
Now comes Paulo. It could have been perfect. He looks so different from Marky, but he is still an Igorot. Success na sana, di ba? Mapapaisip na sila. Sinu-sino nga ba ang mga Igorot? Stereotype shattered. On to the next agendum.
But alas. Why no Igorotak!? The first possible answer is backlash. Igorot na naman? Tama na. That would be from the point of view of the lowland viewer. And from the point of view of the TV station, we want to capture a bigger market. Hence this year’s winner should be from somewhere else. So if Paulo de-emphasized the Igorot trump card, then maybe he could up his chances of getting the top spot.
But that reason, no matter how valid, is not acceptable because it negates our agendum. Let me remind you that our agendum is to erase the misconception regarding Igorots by challenging it with alternatives like Marky Cielo and Paulo Avelino. If Paulo is not up for the challenge, sorry, no doughnut for you.
And that, kakailiyan, is the reason why Lorna Tolentino’s question was raised. Here’s the background — An Igorot blogger raised a similar question — Was Paulo one of the Parents ko lang ang Igorot city-bred kids? So if he doesn’t serve the purpose, why support him then?
Here comes the mother to the rescue. It’s her fault kano because she raised him to speak in English. English = better life.
So my point four is this:
Our elders worry about annihilation of Igorot cultures if those in power submerge our communities by building dams, but in their very homes they kill a facet of the culture/s they want to preserve by not teaching their kids at least ten Kankanaey/Ibaloi/etc sentences?
Well, Paulo did not have to say, yes I am an Igorot. Let’s digest this. Excuse number one: There was no opportunity for it. I can’t just blurt it out. On the contrary, you didn’t have to say ‘I am an Igorot’ exactly, you could have talked in Kankanaey when you introduced yourself, but oh yeah, you don’t know how to speak it. Marky Cielo turned a presumably Cordillera-woven (knitted?) muffler into a headdress. No words had to be said. And by the way, other contenders said these to answer the prompt Tell us something we don’t know about you: If I get eliminated, I’m bound for Japan; I’m a hosto in Makati; I’m a lesbian. Saying I am an Igorot would have been comparatively tame, but that would have meant a lot to Igorots.
Paulo did say on TV Igorot po ako because he was asked the question while distributing leaflets in Baguio. But by the time the sound bite was aired on TV, I had already written my previous article.
Would Marky Cielo have said I’m proud to be an Igorot had Splasher not raised it in his blog first? If you do not understand what pop culture advocacy is all about, that one is one. So if he raised a similar issue about Paulo Avelino and Lorna Tolentino became the spokesperson (wow, they read the blogs!), dapat mag-rejoice kayong mga Igorot. It’s not too late for Paulo to appreciate what his mother denied him — an appreciation of his Igorot background.
And that is point four: Building up an Igorot celebrity helps us promote our Igorot culture for the sake of multiculturalism and for the sake of the young Igorot population who are beginning to think that it ain’t that cool to be one. And yeah, for all the mothers and fathers na in the end sila pala ang nahihiya sa pagiging Igorot nila.
So be StarStruck. It’s part of being proud to be an Igorot. Start by voting for Paulo Avelino. Show some Igorot love.
Paulo Avelino from Baguio is this year’s lone Igorot contender for the annual StarStruck artista search. Through TXT, some learned that his mother is from Bangaan,Sagada/Bagnen, Bauko/Bontoc all in Mountain Province. But when Paulo was given the chance to introduce himself during the New Year’s eve elimination, he spoke in English (or was it Tagalog). The other contestants spoke in Kapampangan/ Cebuano/ Ilonggo/ etc. Some (Igorot) viewers got disappointed. Now comes the question: Ikinakahiya ba niya na Igorot siya?
Here’s one point of view:
I knew Paulo before he was circumcised. He was such a handsome boy. I still have pictures of him and his siblings taken in 1994 in Besao. I think this was the time we were entertaining the World Bank resident manager and his wife. I will try to scan some and post them here.
I have not been watching Starstruck but if Paulo did sound coño, what is essential is invisible to the eye. I think the boy attended SPED as my nephews and nieces did. In fairness to Mng Jenni, I do not think she ever raised her boy as a coño kid. Most of the SPED kids really do speak almost impeccable English. My daughter is also a SPED kid. While my nephews, nieces and daughter use English (their first language), they also speak our native tongue. It is understandable that Paulo does not because Mng Robert, his dad, is not an Igorot. I suppose she and Mng Jenni do not use Kankanaey to speak to each other. Sadly, Paulo was denied the opportunity to be acquainted with his mother’s native tongue. What is important though is that he acknowledges his ethnic origin.
Mng Robert is a simple guy. He is not the stereotyped Spaniard (the haughty one who uses the words tonto y tonta at every turn). Soft-spoken and always smiling. Guapo pay. Bagay da ken Mng Jenni. I remember that he used to drive a jeep -the vehicle for the family as well as the one for the delivery of his wares to his customers. I do not know if he is still in sales. I do know however that he mingled with Igorots. In fact, for a time, they were renting a place in Puliwes or San Vicente, where the language spoken is Kankanaey. [source: bibaknets]
Did he ever acknowledge on TV that he is an Igorot?
Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW)