Definitely worth fighting for

Chuyo landscape

Kasifa nu eg tayo idavan...

Chuyo Updates

Early this morning, my sister Jessica brought some folders to the national office of the NCIP in Quezon city. These folders contained the following:

1. Certified xerox copy of the file of the Heirs of Mateo Carino and Bayosa Ortega docketed as BC-0364-CJ presently undergoing processing by the NCIP Baguio office since 2004, including earlier documents from the DENR CSTFAL.

2. Protest filed by the Heirs of Mateo Carino and Bayosa Ortega against the Petition for Validation of CALC and for Issuance of CALT by the Heirs of Ikang Paus docketed as BC-0122-GVJ, dated December 9 2008.

3. Order of the NCIP Regional Hearing Office CAR on the above mentioned protest, dated December 10, 2008, which advised the Commission en banc to suspend deliberations on the CALT application of the Paus family.

Jessica had these folders received in the offices of four commissioners, and by the clerk for the 3 other commissioners. Only one commissioner, Commissioner Rizalino Segundo of Region 2, was present. He informed her that the Commission en banc had already deliberated on the Paus claim positively, in a meeting in Baguio. Since this was endorsed favorably by the NCIP Baguio Officer Gladys Lasdacan, NCIP CAR Regional Director Amador-Batay-an, and Ancestral Domains Officer Myrna Caoagas, the Commissioners are ready and just waiting to sign the resolution awarding the CALT to the Heirs of Ikang Paus.

NCIP Chair Eugenio Insigne was not in his office. Jessica was informed that he would be out for the day, and would be going to Malacanang tomorrow. Hopefully, this visit to Malacanang does not have anything to do with Chuyo.

In a phone call this morning, Commissioner Insigne informed UNPFII Chair Victoria Tauli-Corpuz that the Commission was deliberating on awarding 67 hectares to the Paus family because they showed proof that they developed the area for 60 years.

These developments look bad not only for the Carino claim, but more so for the NCIP, whose mandate is to uphold the rights and well-being of the indigenous peoples. We hope that with proper consideration of the submitted documents, the NCIP Commission en banc will realize the validity of the Carino claim, and give due recognition to our rights to our ancestral land that we have long been fighting for since as early as the American colonial regime.

May the Commissioners be guided by the wisdom of our ancestors and by their commitment to uphold the rights of the rightful claimants and the indigenous people in the country.

And to the descendants of Bayosa: Hey folks, get moving. Don't be a sitting duck in this brazen case of corruption presently unfolding.

A Land Scam in the Making

Engineer Victor Bumatnong of NCIP Baguio Office,

and Atty. Stacey Ann Dumalan of Department of Agriculture

conducted ocular survey of Chuyo with the descendants of

Mateo Carino and Bayosa Ortega

on February 7, 2008.

Despite going through an ocular and actual survey of our family's ancestral land claim over Chuyo, the NCIP Baguio Office recently endorsed the claim of the Heirs of Ikang Paus, over the same piece of land to the Commission en banc.

The processing of fraudulent CALTs by the NCIP may be the next big money-making venture for enterprising NCIP officials.

Resuscitating a Dead Cat

This cat has died many times over. But its creators rage against this fact, and employ black magic to resuscitate the dead.

You can find here and here some links to some chapters in the saga of the ancestral land claim of the Heirs of Ikang Paus to the Baguio Dairy Farm in Chuyo, Baguio city.

Here, and here, you can find decisions from the Court of Appeals on a preliminary injunction issued by the NCIP Regional Hearing Office to the Heirs of Ikang Paus.

Close Encounters With Corruption

94 hectares in Chuyo

is the object of greed and corruption.

I have always known that our government is corrupt. But now, I have the opportunity to witness it up close and personal, as a scam presently unfolds.

 Allow me to share with you updates of our dealings with the National Commission of Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), as we try to get a CALT to  our ancestral land in Chuyo. Being one of the last undeveloped wide areas in Baguio, this land is coveted by the greedy and unscrupulous. Not all the main characters in this drama have been identified yet, but will soon be, as events will soon disclose whose sticky hands are in the pie.

For a background, Chuyo belonged to the family of Bayosa Ortega four generations back. Cows grazed there. A portion was planted to camote. And a few family homes were scattered in the hillsides. It is said that among some rocks in a steep slope are the bones of our ancestors.

In 1920, a survey plan of the area was applied for and approved by the Bureau of Lands in Bayosa's name. Also in her name is a tax declaration over the property dated July 6, 1929. In 1945, then President Manuel L. Quezon issued Executive Proclamation 603 which declared roughly 94 hectares of Bayosa's land as public reservation for animal breeding purposes. This is now known as the Dairy Farm located at Green Valley. Since then, our family has been deprived of our rights to our ancestral land.

With  openings in recent legislation to correct historical injustice (eg. DAO 2, IPRA), the family pursued our claims, first under the DENR, and presently under the NCIP. Unfortunately, these claims, though backed by hard documentary evidence, never prospered to this date.

In 2002, I first got personally involved, when we built a small house inside the Dairy Farm. This was my first taste of the corruption and violence involved in attending to ancestral land claims in Baguio city.

In 2004, we filed our application for CALT in the NCIP Baguio office. We complied with all requirements and steps. And this slow and painful process has finally brought us nearer to our goal, as we had accomplished a survey of the Dairy Farm last November 14, 2008, in the presence of officials of the Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Animal Industry, and the NCIP.

However, while following up and waiting for the good engineer of NCIP Baguio to finalize his report on the survey, we discovered that another family claimant, with no relation to the Carinos, is like a galloping stallion to our handicapped mare, and is winning the race to the finish line.

We were informed in the NCIP Baguio office, that this other family was able to accomplish in two weeks what we were striving to do, for the past two decades. Well, I believe this is a scam in the making, and I hope getting people aware of these facts will help put a stop to this brazen sins of corruption happening in our midst.

Abangan ang susunod na kabanata...

Masaplora

If you have a taste for ampalaya salad, try another delicious bitter vegetable, masaplora shoots.

These shoots come from the native variety of the passion fruit, which produces egg-sized fruits, which turn purple when ripe. In my childhood, masaplora vines used to thrive around our home, and we collected the tart and deeply-flavored fruit for a delicious snack and to make juice with, for bringing to school. During those days, this variety was the more common one, and when we came across the American masap with fruits that turn golden when ripe, and have a sweeter but less intense taste, we used to fight over these treasures. Now, with the wisdom of my years, I come to appreciate the purple masaplora over its golden counterpart. Unfortunately,  this variety is now difficult to get hold of. The rare times I see them for sale, I buy a few and savor a flavor of my childhood. During the Adivay Festival, I was able to buy a bunch.

Being a city-bred girl, I did not know that the shoot of this vine is edible. Only later, meeting the likes of Santong, did I come to appreciate this food. The leaves are a healthy, glowing and growing shade of green, and can reinforce one's healthy resolutions. They are best prepared simply, by sauteing some garlic then the freshly washed leaves, allowing the leaves to cook in several teaspoons of water. Season with salt, and the dish is ready to be served with rice. A bite of this dish is nutrition-packed, and brings to mind simple lifestyles and less hectic times.

I know some people who swear that their favorite food is lightly sauteed masaplora shoots. A first taste may shock the uninitiated, but as you continue eating, the unique flavor grows on you, which drives some people to regularly search for this vegetable.

The shoots are available for sale in one of the stops along Mountain Trail from Bontoc to Baguio. I have also found them being sold outside the Hangar market. Twenty pesos gives you a good bunch enough to serve 3 or 4 people as a side dish.#

Expertise in Waste Management

Baguio city is experiencing an unprecedented garbage crisis which has stumped our city officials.

Here is my unsolicited advice to the newly-organized City Environment Management office (CEMO): Consult the indigenous experts in waste management. The indigenous migrants in Baguio city are bearers of traditional knowledge and cultures with extremely light ecological footprints. From them, we can learn how to deal with garbage at source, before it needs to be collected and transported to dumpsites or landfills. Before recycling became the rage, indigenous peoples had mastered the art of zero waste management, making optimum use of resources at hand.

One shining example is to be found in Barangay San Luis, where migrant families from Mt. Province continue to practice their tradition of simple living. Geraldine Cacho of ORNUS shares the following innovations and practices of the indigenous migrants in Barangay San Luis, which surely go a long way in reducing, reusing, and recycling wastes.

Organic wastes are put to good use in their home gardens. Animal wastes, ashes of burned dried leaves and papers, and biomass from wild plants like sunflower are used as fertilizers. Those who raise pigs collect left-overs from food chains, restaurants, and hotels; fruit and vegetable rejects and peelings from the Baguio market and La Trinidad Trading Post. Jeeploads of these valuable organic materials are recycled for pig food. Those who cook the food for the pigs use waste paper, cartons, and dried leaves and twigs.

Cans and plastic containers are recycled by the San Luis residents. Big cooking oil cans are used as water containers and for planting vegetables and medicinal plants. Small cans are used in gardens  to help retain the soil at the top of their stone walls.

Due to lack of water in the community, available water is optimized. Rainwater is harvested and grey water from washing clothes is reused to clean the pig pens before finally being channeled to the garden.

These initiatives are not documented by government, but definitely contribute towards reducing the wastes which need to be collected and transported to dumpsites. Hopefully, these efforts would soon be recognized, and these indigenous experts be tapped as valuable partners in solving Baguio's garbage problem.

Learning the Language of my Ancestors

Maumau Chaxadi Clan Reunion 2008

Finally, some city-bred Ibaloi folks are doing what they had previously resolved to do some day: to learn the Ibaloi language.

I have always been a bit shamefaced and sheepish when my relatives would try to start a conversation in Ibaloi, needing to decide quickly what to do. Do I just nod my head and pretend to understand, or be honest and admit that I never learned the language? And when we attend clan reunions, cousins joke each other that we need an interpreter to be able to understand what is going on. 

So, we have started our Ibaloi language lessons. Vicky Macay and Auntie Rebecca from Loakan are our teachers. We are learning the Ibaloi of Baguio, which is slightly different from the Ibaloi of Itogon, and other neighboring towns. Our strategy is to have informal conversations in Ibaloi, and to question each other and our teachers on ways to express common ideas and phrases. Each student takes notes, which are reviewed over the week, in preparation for the next lesson.

Our first lesson was full of laughter as we started to appreciate the humor and culture of our ancestors. Short and simple English words translate into multi-syllabic equivalents. Short is entitikey (NTTK in text language), and up is naikayang. And kayang is naijahangkang! Yes! Ibaloi is a wonderful language, making maximum use of sh, j, and f. 

Our strategy seems to be working. After two lessons, my notebook is filling up with Ibaloi words and phrases. I can understand what is going on and won't allow myself to be sold by my Ibaloi relatives.  We can now text each other in Ibaloi and I look forward to the day when we will be able to write articles, and maybe a song in Ibaloi.

It is said that each language reflects a unique world-view. As we acquire new words and phrases, we take a peep into the world of our great-grandparents. Here's a taste of Ibaloi philosophy: "No towey kad-an ni asok, sikatoy daguan mo". (Go where the smoke is.)#

Home Gardens in Barangay San Luis

Home gardens around the world are now recognized to improve the quality of life for urban dwellers. They promote food security by providing a year-round supply of nutritious food for the family. They complement family income with harvests which can be sold to neighbors or be brought to the market. They provide pleasant surroundings and contribute to greening up the neighborhood.

In Barangay San Luis, Baguio city, home gardens optimize the skill and traditional knowledge of indigenous migrants from interior villages of Mt. Province. For them, it is second nature to maintain a home garden, and those who do not are considered lazy. Gerry Cacho of ORNUS, alliance of urban poor organizations in Baguio,  shares the following:

Common Plants. Among the San Luis home gardens, it is common to find sayote, camote, gabi, and legumes like itab and patani. Sayote and camote shoots are readily available for a nutritious meal. While the root crops of camote and gabi provide healthy, filling snacks for growing children. Several varieties of camote and gabi are maintained: some for their leaves, some for their edible roots, and all useful for particular needs of the family.

Home gardeners also grow a few medicinal plants like lemon grass and ginger to maintain the health needs of the family. Fruit trees like dayap, avocado, guava and bananas are also part of the garden, when the necessary space is available.

Animal Raising. Animals are part of the home garden. Pigs, dogs and chickens are raised to support the practice of traditional rituals related to sickness, death and weddings in the city. Some practices require specific features such as a black pig or a native chicken, thus encouraging families to raise their own animals. Pigs are kept in pens, and are fed produce from the garden and organic wastes from the community and beyond. While chickens are allowed to roam freely, helping themselves to goodies in the garden.

Seed Exchange. First generation migrants carried their traditional seeds to the city, and propagated these in their home gardens in San Luis. They also carried with them their traditional practice of seed saving and exchange, sharing their seeds with neighbors, friends and relatives. This practice has maintained some varieties through the years to the present third generation of migrant families. Some varieties though have been lost, and some gardeners resort to buying commercial seeds in the market.

Children help out. Children are encouraged to maintain their own gardens and raise their own animals. They are allowed to sell their produce, and use the cash for their own needs. However, many children are losing interest in gardening, and are lured to other income-generating activities such as selling plastic bags or fruits in the market or sidewalks of Baguio. These activities are preferred because they are easier and money comes everyday, unlike gardening which requires patience and waiting for months before harvest.

Steps Forward. The community organization recently made an appraisal of their home gardens, and brainstormed on ways to strengthen the traditional practice. As a result, families are gaining inspiration and strength in improving their gardens and setting up new ones for new crops and vegetables, which will help them cope with the food crisis.

The San Luis home gardens are presently invisible to city planners and environmentalists, but surely enhance the city's ecology and increase biodiversity by converting empty lots and unused spaces to green patches which attract beneficial insects and birds.

Agbiag!