To: Rain ,Icarus and ambers
Remote Name: 67.10.78.233
Date: Friday, June 25, 2010


Message
Napadasak met ti nakidayag kadagiti gagayyem tay nga taga ngato ket husto dayta imbagan. Kasla binalsig ti iwa ti karne. Nagdadakkel. Yes, they are friendly and hospitable. No bumaba kam ket nagado ti ipaw-iwad da nga nateng. Ngem adda met ti kalkalikaguman da nga sukat na, daytoy ket diay famous nga basi tayo. I had really nice and memorable stay in Tublay, Benguet. --Alakdan

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Jun Millano over the phone related to me an experience he had in Atok, Mountain Province where he worked as a nurse (by the way, he mentioned that he and Oscar Agtarap are some of the first male nurses in Asingan. During that era, some fathers do not think that Nursing is appropriate for men). Anyways,Jun told me that he attended a Caniao for a relative of the affluent one time Mayor Dangwa of Baguio City.Caniao took place several nights, he said.A grisly thing he saw during the ceremony was the sight of the dead person seated in a corner facing his guests(!). But that is one of the traditions of our highland brothers..The animal used in that particular ceremony was a carabao. Remember the carabao slaughter scene in the movie APOCALYPSE NOW by Francis Ford Coppola? ( the very last major Hollywood film to be shot in the Phil).The killing was similar to that movie scene. Men with long bolos gathered around the doomed beast and they started hacking it to pieces which then were soaked in a big vat of boiling water. Each guest was given a piece which he was expected to finish. An unconsumed portion must be brought home. Jun's unfinished meal was wrapped in paper and some of the guests called him "Balcot" ( wrapping )..To Amboy, the dead relative he said was buried RIGHT UNDER THE STAIR CASE GOING UP THE HOUSE.Why? I can only guess they believe that his spirit woud be guarding his house 24/7 thus discouraging possible intruder/burglars from committing any dastardly deed..Before I forget, I read somewhere that in some places of the Mountain Province, the dead are buried seated. I guess rigor mortis set in while the corpse was in a seated position. I also read in another article that some of the dead are mummified by smoke and their bodies are kept in a special house in the premises...Which brings to my mind the body of the late Ferdinand Marcos. I heard it is still drawing some tourists in a special viewing room in his hometown in Ilocos. Some comment the body is no longer the original but it is just a wax replica...Believe it or Not! ( apologies to Mr. Ripley )---Vic

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You folks are talking about highland lives and it's good to remember them,having spent my pre-grade school years in Balatoc Mines,in Itogon and Acupan, by the Mill Site,we lived in communal residences called bunkhouses, sometimes three to four stories high.living in mining communities is okay ,we have our own supermarkets,hospitals, schools and even school buses to go to Baguio City for higher education.Anyway growing up with the Ibalois and Igorots, my mom used to have me wear the 'baag" /G-string to avoid unnecessary dirt in my pants.The ceremony of burial is sacred to the highlanders and all the tribes have almost the same customs, where the dead relatives were buried within the vicinity of their dwellings ,animals (mostly pigs, cows, and carabaos) were butchered fresh and cut in chunks and dumped in boiling water,come chow time each person is given the ubbak ti saba as their plate(as time goes by..paper plates metten)with a good portion of upland rice and a pinch of salt to season the meat, plus the local rice wine,tapuey,for older people, it is imperative to consume the food, no leftover as much as possible ,but you're allowed to take home as long as you remind the grieving family.The Igorots of the deeper Mt. Provinces have this unique way of having their dead relative in a sitting position during the wake where they take turns in fanning away flies that come near the decomposing body, they do this ritual especially for respected elders and women/men of lengthy ages.Hope my memories of the past corrects me well and Manong Vic .just for the laughter of it, La Trinidad is in Benguet, i believe sometime in the '70"s the Cordilleras were divided into what is presently now,the provinces of Benguet,Ifugao,Kalinga,Apayao,and Mt. Province,or the popular name of Bontoc.Having a degree in Mining Engineering from SLU, i was able to work in Philex Mines,in Tublay and then eventually transferred to Batongbuhay Gold Mines in Pasil,Kalinga-Apayao, i learned a lot about the customs and traditions of these brothers,having attended a lot of rituals/budongs(peace pacts)and weddings the highlanders way from Sagada, Lagawe all the way to Tinglayan and Pinukpuk it's an experience and it will stay forever in my heart...... Mr. Pogi

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"during the wake where they take turns in fanning away flies that come near the decomposing body,.." Grisly as it sounds, it is true. Boy, this posting is not good to be read before you have a meal, but sometimes it could add to our knowledge of some facts about the culture of our brothers in the highlands..To add to your statement, Jun Millano said last night that the relatives of the dead put a basin under the seat of the dead relative.."WHY???" I asked, out of curiosity.And as you know, curiosity sometimes kill the cat..:)...Jun said, "the family members do not like their dead to be embalmed, so as the body decomposes water drips down to the basin below..It is a medical fact that water makes up more than 50 % of our body."..With us lowlanders, we have our dead embalmed and we are aware of what the embalmers do to them. I heard that when I was a kid right after my grandmother died..I was still 6 years old then...Well, let me end this posting with a joke to lighten up the sombre mood. Maybe you heard this already. A man was asked by the funeral director about his just recently died Mother In Law.."Sir, what do you want to do with the corpse of your Mother In Law? Embalmed or cremated?.." The man answered: "Embalm and burn her: I just wanna be sure she is really dead.."---Vic