Rizzalyn Vales

IT’S THE VOICES OF THE PEOPLE IN THE MOUNTAIN THAT LED US UPHILL (Journal) Nakauwi na… (Home, finally…) As I set foot in the old mountains, the butterflies in my stomach went free and flew away with high hopes that the wings they have will never lose its power — to fly and to be free. I stumbled upon running waters and I flee together with the thousand voices that carry me through. The moment my feet felt the mud, I knew that I am one with nature; with its fresh breeze that takes me uphill and lets me lay my bones on the ground, I knew that this is my home; my land to defend. Ang Paglubog (Diving In) It was two in the morning and people are gathered at a gasoline station, sharing tell tales and other whatnot. I think they’re excited to go to the mountains but whatever their reasons are for joining, I think it is all for good deed. I recognize faces from the “scene” but we’re not that close so I just stood there; observing, thinking why did I joined in the first place. Fast forward, when we already reached the place to be, we were welcomed by a community that people often read about in reference books and believe me, they are more than those words in some petty textbooks that teaches us how to read about life and history rather than actually living and uncovering our roots. I believe that there is unity in diversity and whilst diving in, I’ve learned that there is more to life than what we are doing everyday. Living simply is one way of cleansing and healing yourself and as I went deeper, I felt like I am home. I’ve found a family and I saw how they give importance to each other. I saw how they value the word “family”; how they eat,how they treated us like their own children and siblings. How they give love to people despite our differences. I asked one of the teenagers there, named Teresa if what do they want to be when they grow up and she answered “maging isang guro” (to be a teacher). I asked her why and she told me “gusto kong lahat kami rito matuto, napakahalaga po ng edukasyon lalo na sa mga kagaya namin.” (I want all of us here to learn because I know how important education is especially to people like us). “At saka po para di po kami mamatahin” (and for us not to be belittled). Often, they are feeding our IPs the educational system that has high risk of eliminating them in their own land. That system is used to civilize them and thus destroy their cultural identities. What indigenous people needs is a quality education that is sensitive and aligned with their learning needs that is systematically delivered in a culturally strategic way of teaching and setting. The conversation went on and as I dig deeper, I saw a sparkle in their eyes, I saw hope. All I could say is that I’ve seen love in the mountains – love for each people who devotes themselves in the cradle of the masses; love for the sense of solidarity that bridges the gap between the IPs and the city people; love that can weather the storm and love that builds those who are broken. I had the chance to talk with my Apo (grandmother) about their everyday lives in the mountains and she told me “Kami rito, araw araw kung hindi ka magbabanat buto, hindi ka makakakain. Pero laking pasalamat namin na kahit saan ka lumingon, may pagkukunan ka. Nar’yan mga tanim namin, yung mga ilog napakaraming isda saka ang pangunahing kinabubuhay namin rito ay ‘yung pamumuso. Aakyat ang mga kalalakihan sa taas ng bundok para manguha ng puso ng saging at saka ibababa sa patag para ipagbili”(Our life here is like if we will not work, we won’t be able to eat but thankfully, we have a lot of resources here. We have root crops, fishes in the river and the primary source of living is picking banana bud and we will go down to the bottom of the mountain to sell it). She added “Minsan kapag maulan, walang pagkain. Pasalamat nalang kami may mga prutas kaming makukuha, sipagan mo lang ang paghahanap. Saka nga pala, ‘yang tatay mo (referring to my foster-father) masipag mag dala ng puso ng saging ‘yan sa baba kasama ng kalabaw niya.” (Sometimes when it is raining, we have no food but luckily there are a lot of fruits everywhere that we can eat; you just have to be patient in finding one. By the way your father is really industrious when it comes to bringing banana bud at the bottom with his carabao). “Masaya kami kasi pumupunta kayo rito, nagkakaron kami ng mga panibagong anak, apo, kapatid saka nararamdaman naming hindi kami nagiisa rito sa kabundukan.” (We are glad that we always have an additional to the family and we feel like we are not alone here in the mountains.) Buhay na lupa na nagsisilbing buhay para sa mga katutubo. After that meaningful conversation with my Apo, my Nana Emy (Mother) told me that we should add more translated tagalog words in my notes. They helped me with the development of a song that I am writing. “Nak, sabi ng tatay mo dagdagan natin ‘yang nasa notebook mo” (Your father told me to add more words in your notes) then we started translating and the most remarkable thing about being huddled with my foster family is that we are on the ground, exchanging words and stories that will be marked in our lives forever. My father, Tatay Denis has a guitar in our house so I used it and sang the first draft of the song to them. They are the first ones to hear it and my heart melted when they hugged me after singing it. I swore to God that it’s not everyday that I’ll be feeling that kind of rush in my veins before and that moment, I felt like I’m loved. So I made a promise that I’ll be singing that song to people and keep on telling their stories to show them that there is civilization in the mountains; that there is love in the mountains. “Ninais kong ilapat ang aking buto sa lupang ninuo pagkat ito’y biyaya ni bathala. Hindi magiging madali ang laban ngunit alam kong taas noo naming ilalathala sa pahina ng kasaysayan ang pag buka ng pakpak ng mga dati’y ibong ikinulong sa hawla. Sa bundok ko natagpuan ang pag-ibig.” See, when you look at the bigger picture, they don’t differ to us who lives in the suburbs. We eat the same food, we work hard to live, we reap what we sow, we walk on this holy ground where our time is limited and we roam the land that gives us life.  It’s just that, our life here in the suburbs are very much fast phasing. It demands more time sitting on a four-walled building where we need to beat deadlines to earn a penny. We need to exert more effort to pay the bills and everywhere you look, it’s all about “how to make money” kind of living that you’ll see. Unlike in the mountains, their resources comes from the land that they are taking care of. That’s when I proved to myself that they are so much richer than us because they don’t need money for them to have food or to live. What they have is their land, their rivers and their animals most especially, they have each other. Development Aggression (Pagkudkod sudsod) I’ve seen it through my eyes. They have this distinct culture that would make you realize more profound meaning of the word civilization. Our indigenous people are experiencing oppression and land grabbing where in their communities are at risk due to development aggression. Development aggression means a forceful procedure or action in order for “development” to happen in a snap. From the words “development” and “aggression”, the idea of ethnic cleansing came to my mind as soon as I set foot on our ancestral lands. (Kailangang mawala sila para may pag-unlad para sa mga taong alipin ng salapi) The greens are lush and thick until we came to the bottom of the mountains which they call “patag” or suburban where bulldozers crawl in our motherland to build a temple of money which we never know if we can even set foot into it. The natives, along with other municipalities are experiencing militarization and aggression. “Peasants are facing displacement for over 9,500 hectares of our ancestral lands” courtesy of KAMANDAG.NET. For the sake of profit, they are willing to sacrifice people’s lives and worst, not a single indigenous people will benefit to those projects they are making. Almost a hundred hectares of crops were destroyed by bulldozers and backhoe. “Alam mo dati, nung nasa patag kami at nananahimik, pilit na inagaw samin ang mga lupa sa ibaba, ngayong nasa itaas na kami ng bundok, pilit pa rin kaming itinataboy na para bang wala kaming karapatang mabuhay ng payapa” -Apo Baby (Way back when we were residing at the bottom of the mountain, they eliminated us and forcefully took away our lands. Now that we went uphill, they’re still trying to get the land that we only have as if we have no right to live peacefully) Indigenous people (IP) are experiencing abuse of the rights because their land is being taken without the group’s informed consent and due compensation. “Mahirap, nakakapagod, nakakabalisa, oo. Ngunit hanggang nandyan ang mga katutubo para lumaban, kakapit kami sa kanila at patuloy rin ang laban. Ika na ni Kaka Johnny tayo’y para lamang kandila. Kundi pagaalabin ang buslo, walang saysay na naging kandila ka. At kung pag alabin ay maaring umiksi ang buhay mo, Ngunit alam mong nagliwanag ka.” If one will actually go deeper and immerse themselves, one could say that they are so much richer than those people living at the bottom of the mountain. They have a lot of resources that can provide their everyday needs; brackish waters, rivers, fishes, loam soil and lush vegetation to name a few. It saddens me that there are creatures who are destroying our natural resources for their expense, calling it “kaunlaran” (progress) when they actually mean ethnic cleansing. I encountered the term ethnic cleansing when I was in high school. Our teacher told us about what the oppressors do to our people. Technically, ethnic cleansing is the systematic removal of ethnic and cultural groups from a specific geographical area. What is systematic in forcefully removing people out of their homelands? What is good when bulldozers excavate almost half of the land to build towers of money and a dam that can pollute the rivers and affect the fishes that usually take their reproduction process upstream? What is good when you cut down trees to build shelter that would eventually washed out when soil erosion takes place? What is good when you treat people as an accessory to your aesthetic historical crap? What is good with progress when it is not for the common good? Through immersion, one will have a better understanding of one’s culture. This is an awakening for all of the people who immersed and live with the indigenous people. It is a way of diving in to their way of life and having concrete knowledge about what they really do and who they are in this land. Their Strength Becomes Ours, Too (Ang Lakas Nila’y Siyang Lakas Namin) Their land is their life and without this, indigenous people will have no means of survival. We have to consult them before using their resources and we need to include them in every discussion about land usage. Of course, we couldn’t do this all by ourselves that is why we need to build awareness among the public. This is a responsibility of all. IPs depends on the land for their living – food, shelter and identity; meaning to say, we need to recognize their role in conservation. After words has been said and things has been done, my last words for this would be: our Indigenous People are the source of our strength and we go to the mountains because that is where we find the masses. As I went down the mountains, I told myself these words: “Sa bundok, kung yayakapin mo lamang ng buong puso ‘yung kultura nila at ika’y lulubog, malalaman mo na mas malakas ang kanilang impluwensya sa isang tao. Na hindi sila mahina kung ang pagbabasehan ay yung pagkakakilanlan ng mga taga-patag sa kanila. Napakalakas nila sapagkat sila’y may dugong mandirigma at hindi ‘yon maipagkakaila sa tibay nila sa mga panahon bumabagyo at apektado ang kanilang mga pananim; sa tatag ng kalooban nila sa panahon ng delubyo at sa kalinisan ng puso nila na handang ilahad ang mga braso nila sa ibang tao. At kaya kami lumalakas ay dahil ‘yon sa kanila.” Lapat ang paa sa lupa habang binabagtas ang kabundukan. Kasama namin sila sa pagbaybay ng lupang tarik at dulas ang hatid sa amin. Sa pagpatak ng kanilang pawis sa noo, sabay hawi sa mga sangang tila ba sinasalubong kami at waring inaangkin kami, naramdam kong kumawala ang aking sariling gunita sa ‘king katawan. Hindi inaalis ang tingin sa aming mga kasama at napagtanto ko, sa pagbaybay namin, habang inaabot nila ang kanilang kamay, na kami’y kumukuha lamang ng lakas mula sa kanila. Mula sa kanilang hindi inda ang init at pagod at sino kami para indahin ang iilang oras na paglakad kung sa kanila’y ito ang kanilang pang araw-araw. Nakakuha kami ng sapat na lakas mula sa kanila upang magpatuloy sa paglalakad at mentras paakyat kami ay syang paglubog namin sa kanilang kaibuturan at duon namin napagtantong sila ang aming mga bayani; bayani ng kalikasan, bayani ng lahing mandirigma. Bayani na nakapagpamulat sa aming mga taga-patag na sila’y naroon sa kabundukan upang pangalagaan ang kalikasang bigay ni Bathala. My answer for “why did I joined?” would probably be this thing: We live and die, without knowing the sense of life that we are looking for the entire span of living that we have but then one instance changed the way I look at life. I thought I knew all about life but those people left a deep excavation inside me and filled it with unseen presents; a gift of life and understanding — of accepting and the gift of courage. They thought me how to keep my feet rooted on the ground whilst stepping on it bare foot. They showed me that if we care a whole awful lot to humanity and our environment, we’ll come to realize that we co-exist — we are one. We are all human and that we have to respect each others’ culture and tradition, most especially each others’ rights. Why did I joined Project Pisapungan? To fulfill my life purpose and that is to uphold the values of a humane society. Sources | Inspiration | For Fact Checking: http://kamandag.net/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/08/indigenous-people-have-a-right-to-quality-education-but-so-far-we-ve-failed-them/ https://jcnegrilloasiaworld.wordpress.com/ https://redshoemovement.com/what-is-cultural-sensitivity/