Salutations to those who spearheaded the just concluded “Begnas Ylocos 2008”, the first ever provincial tribal festival, headed by Governor DV Savellano and Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Atty. Robert Tudayan, who are both members of Bago tribe, to our very own, Congressman Eric D. Singson, who himself headed the Candon city employees in the dance performance during the festival and of course to the energetic Candon city mayor, Allen G. Singson, who hosted the affair and who are very visible during the 3 days activities.

***

 Begnas Ylocos 2008, was the first ever provincial tribal festival which aimed, according to its organizers, to promote the identity, cultural heritage, costumes and traditions of the indigenous peoples of the province of Ilocos Sur. The month of October is actually an indigenous month and the Begnas festival celebration was coincided with the anniversary of the approval of the Republic Act 8371, otherwise known as Indigenous People Rights Act (IPRA) Law which was enacted on October 29, 1997. Begnas is an Igorot word which means thanksgiving or offering rituals.
The 3 major indigenous groups of people in the province of Ilocos Sur who participated the Begnas Festival and these are the Bagos, Kankanaeys and Tinguians.

***

According to the office of National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Indigenous Peoples are the more than 12 million descendants of the original inhabitants of this archipelago who have somehow managed to resist centuries of colonization and in the process have retained their own customs, traditions and life ways.
At present however, when one speaks of indigenous peoples, it is made synonymous to oppression, exploitation, discrimination and poverty. These groups of people are called tribal minorities who belong to the poorest of the poor. Some even believed that they are now at the verge of extinction and according to some, because of colonial mentality of most Filipinos on one hand and commercialization and rapid modernization on the other.

***

In some occasions or gatherings in the tribal communities, it is sad to note that people are more fun of dancing the famous tune of dayang dayang, boom tarat tarat, itaktak mo, papaya and other dances which are not in any way identified with their own culture rather than their cultural dances.

***

In UNP Candon, we formed a student organization whose members are those whose family are members of different tribal communities. Our purpose is to be able for these students to deepen their understanding and love on their own cultural identity and integrity. There are many students who were excited and very happy with the organization. However, some students whose family and roots are Igorots and whose surname are obviously Igorot, refuse to join because they are shy to be considered as member of Indigenous People. Anak ti diable nga ubbing dagitoy, they don’t know that their ancestors were once the proud rulers of the country.

***

Cultural exploitation has been rooted to our people that had been enslaving the country as a whole. Because of colonial mentally, foreign values, culture, economy, lifestyle, etc. were considered superior compare to local one. This is psychologically imposed to the local people and make them believed that theirs is an inferior culture. As a result, most Filipinos would forever be paying obeisance to the supposed better way of life from foreign shores. They will no longer live with pride but with inferiority complex.
Our people, most especially the youth, are always proud of patronizing foreign products or imported goods because they believed that Filipino made are poor in terms of quality. Because of this kind of attitude, foreigners in turn, could sell with ease to the victim-indigenes their wares from clothes, to household items, to chemicals, to day-to-day supplies and implements, and among others. This now resulted to an economic exploitation that kills our local manufacturers, artists, etc.
It is not that we should detach ourselves from the rest of the world which is becoming smaller every day due to technology. We just have to keep in mind that our ways did not just sprout overnight but were evolved for centuries to suit our special conditions and needs. So before embracing foreign products, we should first think very hard and consider Filipino interest as a whole.

***

One writer said that the subtler and sweeter expressions of human life are generally termed "culture." Human culture is one, though there are some local variations in its expression. But a particular group which is motivated by socio-sentiment to exploit others tries to destroy the local cultural expressions of other groups. It forcibly imposes its language, dress and ideas on other groups, and thus paves the way for exploitation by paralyzing those people psychologically. This is how people guided by socio-sentiment perpetuate exploitation in cultural life. This exploitation in the cultural sphere is accomplished by the propagation of pseudo-culture. Every honest, virtuous, rational person must fight against this pseudo-culture, and inspire others to do the same. If this is not done, the future of humanity will be sealed. It is proper for human beings to struggle for political freedom, for social emancipation; but if their cultural backbone is broken, then all their struggles will end in nothing.*

      BOUNTIFUL HARVEST- Deputy Speaker Eric Singson and Governor Deogracias Victor “DV” Savellano led the ritual of thanksgiving (ubaya) during the first Begnas Ylocos Festival held in Candon City. Joining them were Vice Governor Jeremias Singson, Board Member Robert Tudayan and former Board Member Alexander Bistoyong.

Candon City played a gracious host to the successful staging of the First Begnas (thanksgiving feast) Ylocos Festival recently.

The Festival with the theme of "Agbiag ti Kaugalian a Nainsigudan" ( Long live our traditional and cultural values) was participated in by 23 towns of Ilocos Sur and Candon City that showcased the cultures of different tribes of indigenous peoples living in the said areas.

CAndon City-Uppat a gasut ken duapulo a napanglaw manipud iti 42 a barangay daytoy a siudadti immawat iti cash gifts ken bagas manipud iti Oyster Program ti Department of Public Works and Highways kagiddan ti ibibisita ni DPWH Secretary Hernogenes Ebdane Jr. idi Hunio 12 a pannakaiselebrar timaika-110 nga nibersaryo ti panagwaywayas ti pagilian itoy a siudad.

 Kadua ni Ebdane da Deputy Speaker Eric Singso, Gob. DV Savellano, ken Candon City Mayor Allen Singson a nangiyawat kadagiti regalo a kasukat ti mano nga aldaw a panagdalusda kadagiti estero, drainage ken igid ti kalsada ti siudad.

"Nakasentro iti republic service ti tema ti panagwaywayas ita a tawen ket daytoy oyster program ket maysa a  wagas tapnomapagbalintayo a naprogprogreso ti pagilian ken maserbian a nasayaat ti tunggal Filipino" kinuna ni Ebdane.

Sinaludaran met ni  Gob. Savellano daytoy a programa a nakatulong kadagiti awanan a kaprobinsiaan kagiddan ti panangiyasideg ti turay kadagiti kangrunan a kasapulan dagiti umilikas panglabada iti kinapanglaw a kasingin  ti panagbisin.

"Kaasping ti sakripisio dagiti bannuartayo idi un-unana a panawen,  padasentayo met waywayaan dagiti umili manipud iti kinapanglaw a nakilumlumanda" innayon ti gobernador.

Mamati met ni Dip. Eric Singson a paragpat ti pagilian ti kalikagum nga idudur-as no la ketdi adda timpuyog dagiti amin nga umili.

Naiwaras pay itoy nga aldaw ti Philhealth cards para iti 500 a taga Candon kasta metten ti ag-agas para iti Botika ng Barangay ti Allangigan, San Pedro ken Paras.

Nainagunaran pay ti napabaro ti kongretona a paset ti national highway ti Brgy. Calaoa-an. (Mancielito S. Tacadena/NBN Vigan)