Benguet
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05.03.08A GMA-7 Report: Illegal Quarrying in Tuba, Benguet
Mike Enriquez, GMA-7’s talking head and news reader, reports on illegal quarrying in Tuba, Benguet. This is the first part of the report. You can watch the second part here. It’s good of course that a television program is doing these kind of stories. The more illegal activities are brought to light, the lesser the probability that people will undertake them.
Having said that, I must say that its really frustrating to watch Imbestigador. Why? Because it only goes after the small fish. Puro naman pipitsugin ang iniimbistiga ng programang ito. Its reports are mostly about barangay captains who are corrupt, or army soldiers who did something wrong, or some principal out there who was misbehaving.
I don’t think Imbestigador has ever made an investigative report on corruption and illegal activities that are of national significance. I remember watching an Imbestigador episode during the time when Gloria admitted that she manipulated the elections in Mindanao. Mike Enriquez, with his booming voice, did a very short segment on the scandal but then he based his report on the investigative work of PCIJ.
I was like, “What a shame. GMA-7, the biggest network in the country with all the resources at its disposal, is depending its report on presidential cheating on the work of a small, underfunded, struggling but gallant media organization?”
Then and there, I stopped watching Imbestigador. And I lost respect for its talking head. Pipitsugin lang pala ang kaya nilang imbistigahan.
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04.24.08Benguet Cowgirls
Wow. You got to be impressed with these girls. Can you imagine yourself grappling a bull to the ground and tying it up? Our Benguet State University coeds were able to do that during a rodeo contest in Masbate. They made the Inquirer as a result. Congratulations, cowgirls.
Coeds turn cowgirls in Masbate rodeo
By Jaymee T. Gamil / Inquirer
MASBATE CITY – At this time of the year, most “colegialas” can be found on the beach, flaunting the latest swimwear and perfecting their tans. Janice Mino and Juanita Palileng of Benguet State University (BSU), however, choose to spend the summer in Masbate’s dusty corrals, wearing denims and wrestling bulls.For three years, Janice and Juanita have been roughing it, along with teammates from the BSU Highland Cowboys and Cowgirls, at the cattle sports events during the Rodeo Masbateño festival in Masbate City. The rodeo is a yearly event to celebrate the island-province’s “cattle country” culture.
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04.23.08Kapangan’s Silk Cocoons
Let’s give kudos to whoever thought of introducing silkworm farming in Kapangan. It seems like its going to be a success. Photo credit: John Javellana/Reuters.
Silkworms give Philippine farming town a makeover
By Manny Mogato/Reuters
KAPANGAN - Hundreds of white mulberry trees have started to cover mountain slopes deep in the northern Philippines’ Cordillera region, changing not just the landscape but also making over the image of a poor farming town.Up until the early 2000s, the upland villages of Kapangan, a vegetable growing town of 18,000 people in Benguet province, was widely known as one of the country’s largest cultivation areas of an illegal plant — marijuana.
“We’ve started something to erase that tag,” Roberto Canuto, a public attorney in the province who was elected mayor in 2007, told Reuters. “We’re determined to be known as something else, perhaps, the silk capital of the country.”
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04.19.08Dear Ignacio: No Need to Be Ashamed
Our kailiyan Ignacio Canuto should not be ashamed for billing Gloria. Ket inala met ni Gloria diyay strawberry, di dapat lang nga bayadan na. That’s P6,000, pare. Malaking pera iyon. Dapat talaga nga mabayadan.
If anyone should be ashamed, it should be Gloria’s staff because this is something they should have handled smoothly. Isuda ti dapat nga maba-in. Otherwise, Gloria will be liable for stealing if this is what happens wherever she goes, i.e., that she and her people harvest the produce of others without paying.
Ano kaya ang masasabi ng ating kailiyang si Presidential Assistant on the Cordilleras sa bagay na ito? Hehe
Farmer ashamed on billing Arroyo for harvest of strawberries
From GMA-7: The farmer who billed President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the strawberries that she picked is now the one with the “strawberry” cheeks.Ignacio Canuto wrote a letter to La Trinidad Mayor Artemio Galwan saying that the whole thing was “an unfortunate and embarrassing experience.”
Canuto said that it wasn’t him who personally asked that Mrs Arroyo pay P6,000 for the 60 kilograms of the strawberries that she and her entourage picked from Canuto’s farm in Betag village last Black Saturday.
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04.19.08Blast From the Past: American Governor of Benguet Investigated
So these “indiscretions” by the American Governor in Benguet must be one of the ways how American mining companies ended up owning much of the province’s rich mines. Funny how he was only charged with “indiscretions” when he was practically stealing the land of the iBenguets. But then again, at least he was charged with something unlike Gloria and her alipores who will likely get away with their various crimes against the Republic and its peoples.
Source: New York Times
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04.16.08Boundary Disputes
One of the biggest problems in the Cordilleras (and the whole country as well) is the boundary disputes between local government units. It is a problem that mostly simmers under the surface but it has the potential to blow up especially if contested areas are rich with resources or offers high income opportunities.
In the article below, an official from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) suggests that elders should be involved in settling boundary disputes. There is nothing wrong with that of course, it’s better that these things are decided by more people rather than by a few officials. However we are, by the day, losing our elders who really know the boundaries of the past. [In fact, are our earlier concept of boundaries really the same as what “boundary” means today?] The other thing is that I’m not quite sure if the elders could be impartial if they are members of communities in dispute. But, as mentioned earlier, it is better that they are involved in this process.
Elders seen to best solve boundary disputes
Sunstar Baguio
WHILE the resolution of political boundary disputes is delegated to elected officials, the identification and settlement by tribal elders is yet the best way to solve these kinds of tiffs.Recto Alawas, community relations officer of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) regional office, said the best way to settle boundary conflicts is through the council of elders in areas where these disputes exist.
Since elders are more knowledgeable on the borders of their respective places, having lived long in their areas, Alawas said their decision could be used as a basis by politicians in settling boundary conflicts.
He made the suggestion to municipal officials of Tublay and La Trinidad on their standing disputes involving two villages of their respective localities.
Both municipalities are claiming portions of Barangay Shilan, La Trinidad with Caponga, Tublay; and Barangays Alno, La Trinidad with Tuel, Tublay.
Alawas said boundary conflicts are best resolved through the elders, as they are not afraid of losing their careers with whatever decisions they make, unlike politicians who are apprehensive of coming out with their stand lest they lose their supporters.
“When the decision on political boundaries is made by the elders, politicians need not worry of losing their votes, as they only base their stand on the people who are more knowledgeable on their borders,” he said, adding that elected officials are afraid of defining their positions for fear that they might be accused of giving up their territories to other areas.
“But if their basis would be the decision of the council of elders, then they could not be blamed,” he said. (JC)
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04.05.08Coming Up Too: First Benguet Country Fair
Seems like a lot of interesting events will be coming up these coming weeks. First, we told you about the Strawberry Woodstock. Then, there’s Cordillera Day which will be celebrated by our friends from the left. Then, now we have a Benguet Country Fair intended to showcase Kabenguetan’s love for everything country.
First Benguet Country Fair slated
Sunstar BaguioTHE Benguet people’s passion for western themes will be highlighted as the province hosts the first Country Fair, an event spearheaded by the newly organized Benguet Visitor’s Bureau (BVB).
Organizers of the 10-day activity said the affair will showcase the things about country lifestyles, which have become hit to the province’s constituents.
“This event is inspired by the Benguet people’s love for horses, jeans, boots, line dancing, country music and anything that makes a country type of lifestyle,” lawyer Damaso Bangaoet said.Bangaoet is one of the organizers of the first Benguet Country Fair.
The event is initiated by the BVB, in coordination with the Department of Tourism (DOT).
BVB executive director Gregory Loy said while the affair would focus more on getting the constituents appreciate their potentials, the event will serve as added tourism attraction for Benguet.
The activity will run from April 25 to May 4 at the Palmaville in Puguis, La Trinidad.
Aside from the booths and exhibit areas that will display western materials, country fair-related competitions will also be held.
Organic products will also be featured as the bureau gears towards the promotion of organic production in the province.
The BVB, an organization aimed at coordinating the tourism activities of the province and its 13 towns, is initially composed of seven members — all from the private sector. (JC)
