The mountains of Iloilo
cradle one of the country's richest treasures.
It is home to the
Tumandoks or Suludnon or Panay Bukidnons. They are known for their epic chants,
the longest in Asia; their Binanog Dance or “The Way of the Hawk," a
ritual which mimics the flight of the mighty bird; and their detailed form of
embroidery known as the panubok. This is also the cultural group of the binukot, considered a princess who is chosen to live her life in seclusion.
Yet, they have suffered
neglect because of their remote location. Their art is dying because of lack of
attention. Progress eludes them.
So, our group TRails to Empower Kids decided to help
them.
We targeted three Schools of
Living Tradition – Masaroy, Garangan, and
Agcalaga.
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| Masaroy School of Living Tradition |
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| GAMABA Learning Center |
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| Agcalagan School of Learning Tradition |
The members of the cultural community were
very conservative in their request. All they asked for are financial
assistance for their feeding program,
school supplies, and materials for
embroidery.
Schools of Living Tradition
In these schools of living tradition, children learn not Science,
Math, English, Filipino, and Civics, but
their epic chants. Their oral tradition, called sugidanon, which uses archaic language and traditionally chanted
while lying down in a hammock, is the longest in Asia.
The chants tell stories
about the legendary warriors of the cultural group and their heroic exploits. There are
stories about a dog with extraordinary powers, a strange-looking bamboo tree, a
man-eating witch, and a hermit who accepts two girls as payment for a misdeed.
The maidens are locked down in a golden chamber, cared for and became binukots.
Children also come to
these schools to learn their dance called “binanog,” a courtship dance that involves the use of scarves or a
piece of cloth to catch or elude a partner.
The children also learn
about 48 phases of the moon and names for the
constellations, learn to read patterns in the sky, and predict the weather.
They also study the “panubok,” their embroidery.
Each design of the panubok has a story and meaning, culled
from the cultural group’s rich culture.
The Outreach
Years ago, I met Elsie
Caballero Padernal, Bato Balani Foundation’s The Many Faces of the Teacher honoree, who
told me about these schools and her effort, together with her clan, to promote
their culture.
Caballero showed me a
worn-out notebook where she had written down every detail of her cultural group’s
identity that she had learned from her elders.
She also shared with me
their struggles as indigenous people. They are, just like the other cultural communities in
the Philippines, not exempt from discrimination. They were branded as mangmang or ignorant because they have no
Western-style education.
Caballero recalled that
once a member called her attention for performing their native dance in
public. That person thought it was better for them to just blend in and not
brag about their being indigenous people.
As their identity is also
our identity as Filipinos, I invited our group to help them.
It was the first time we
conducted an outreach program outside Luzon. Our group is not a formal
organization and we do not have a budget for logistical expenses. Whenever we
go out, we take care of our own expenses so for a long time we have been
reaching out to cultural groups that we can reach by bus.
Fortunately one of our
most active volunteers, Ailene Mae Leal, is from Calinog’s neighboring town of Lambunao. She got her family and
friends to help.
A local group called Kulas
assisted us with logistics. We were also linked up with the Panay 4×4 Club,
which helped us transport donations.
The Trek
The road up the mountains
of Iloilo was not paved and afternoon rains added to the challenge. No public
vehicle operator would take us up the mountains.
We initially planned a
two-day activity but there were reports of ambushes in the mountains so we
decided to squeeze all activities into one day.
From Lambunao, we went to the first school on our program, Masaroy
School of Learning Tradition, which was also the farthest. There was no
electricity in the area and most of the people there are farmers.
We were welcomed by the
sounds of gongs and drums. I almost ran on the trail in excitement, except that
I couldn’t because I was still recovering from an injury from a
climbing accident.
We brought blackboards,
teaching, and school supplies for the kids’ weekend classes. We also brought
sewing machines, cloth, and threads so
the kids could have costumes when they practiced dance.
We also brought tools for
minor repairs of the classrooms, and rice to help the community with its
feeding program.
We also gave the community
a mini-library of storybooks and gifts for the kids, including bags, hygiene
kits, toys and loot bags—all donations from our families, relatives, friends,
colleagues, and people we met online.
We visited the place two
months earlier to check its viability as a beneficiary and research on the
needs of the schools.
Festive Welcome
That morning was about festivities. The kids danced while the
elders led the welcome chant. And we thanked them for sharing their culture
with us and handed them the gifts.
After the turnover, we
rushed to Garangan, where Federico and wife Lucia Caballero reside. Federico Caballero is a Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan awardee or a National Living Treasure.
Immediately,
the cultural group started the “panimo,” a ritual
to bless the newly harvested rice.
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| The Panimo |
Part of the ceremony was
drinking rice wine, which I tasted for the first time. It was an honor accorded
to the group that heeded the call for help in maintaining their school.
After the ritual, I was
invited to lunch with the Caballero family. There were no fine linens and fancy
china, but there was something a lot more beautiful—a table covered with grass cuttings
and flowers.
Then they served us binakawan, a traditional pork dish, and binakol, both cooked in bamboo tubes. They
also served as dinuguan.
They spoke Hiligaynon,
which I could not understand but I didn’t mind. We were all smiling and laughing.
I understood enough.
After lunch, even with
rain clouds darkening the sky, the cultural masters danced.
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| Prayers |
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| The cultural masters |
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| The volunteers with the members of the Panay Bukidnon Cultural Community |
By the time the program
finished, the rain had started to pour
and we had to rush to our last stop, the Agcalaga School of Living Tradition,
where we barely had time to turn over donations and where I got, as gifts, two
traditional musical instruments carved from bamboo from a fellow volunteer.
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| Last turnover |
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