iBOONDOCK

Shall we have a running tally of this emerging rivalry? Even if Kalinga Representative Manuel Agyao has been appointed as “caretaker”, we hope Mt. Province officials will lobby to have a special election held so the peoples choice will come out. Eh matagal pa naman ang 2010 elections.

Kalinga solon appointed as Mountain Province congressional caretaker
By Dexter See/Northern Philippine Times

BONTOC, Mountain Province – House Speaker Prospero Nograles appointed first-term Kalinga Rep. Manuel S. Agyao as the caretaker of the congressional post of this province which was vacated by the demise of veteran lawmaker Victor S. Dominguez last Feb. 8.

Nograles appointed Agyao even as some politicians in the province endorsed Baguio City Rep. Mauricio G. Domogan as caretaker of the vacant congressional post for over two months now.
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Here’s a video report from GMA News on the recently concluded Lang-ay Festival. The video itself isn’t very good (it’s blurred in some parts) but it features an interview with Governor Maximo Dalog, the wedding of Dave and Janice Gulian in Sagada, and some shots of our favorite Anglican priest, Fr. Ben Solang.

Related: Lang-ay 2008 Video

Video source: GMANews.TV

Here’s a photo collection (in video format) of the recently concluded Lang-ay 2008 festival in Bontoc. Video courtesy of Rafael Manuel Jr.

Since, you will be watching a lot of the peoples of Mt. Province in the video, maybe this is a good time to talk a little bit about them. According to the National Statistics Office the population of Mt. Province is broken down as follows:

Applai: 2,947
Balangao/Baliwon:18,886
Bontok/Binontok: 2,510
Ibontoc: 17,234
Ilocano: 6,968
Kalinga: 2,468
Kankanai/Kankaney/Kankanaey: 72,694
Other Local Ethnicity: 16,197
Other Foreign Ethnicity: 22
Not Reported: 413

Total Mountain Province Population (Year 2000): 140,339

Apparently, because Kankanaeys compose a slight majority of the population, the NSO ridiculously dubbed Mt. Province as “Home of the Kankanais”. Hah, maybe we should encourage our Bontoc and Baliwon/Balangao activist-friends to make “sugod” the NSO to change their ill-advised title/description for Mt. Province. What you think, Layad?

Anyways, Applai is a Kankanaey sub-tribe so they should be included in the Kankanaey total. The Bontok/Binontok and Ibontoc are, of course, one group and should not have a separate count. Meanwhile, in case you are wondering, the Balangaos/Baliwons are from the eastern part of Mt. Province particularly Natonin and Paracelis.

I hope the NSO made a breakdown of the 16,197 who are listed as “other local ethnicity” but maybe they’re busy spending all their time coming up with trying-to-be-catchy-but-actually-silly titles like “Home of the Kankanais”.

Hala, let’s make sugod na the NSO so it will change that ridiculous title with an inclusive one.

Arggh. We almost missed blogging about this. Bad, bad us. We actually planned to blog about the Lang-ay Festival which ends tomorrow with a street dancing parade in Bontoc but we’ve been busy hehe. Anyways, its better late than never.

Mountain Province celebrates the Lang-Ay Festival
Manila Bulletin
Mountain Province is staging the fourth “Lang-Ay Festival” in celebration of Mountain Province Day on April 7. The weeklong festival starts on April 1 and culminates on April 7.

The “Lang-Ay Festival” was the biggest crowd-drawer event in the province when it was launched in 2004 to promote the wine production business in the province. With the success of the first “Lang-Ay Festival,” it was made part of the annual cultural activities of Mountain Province Day.
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Bayyo. Bontoc. Mt. Province. Photo: Gloria Tuazon.

What do you do during Easter? I used to attend an ecumenical Easter sunrise service but my lazy bones are cranky and are not willing to be hauled early in the morning to attend the service held in the other edge of town. But I should be going to church to fellowship with other Igorots in the city. Happy Easter to all of us. Have fun hunting those Easter eggs. Thanks for all your support.

So we’re not the only ones who believe that appointing a “caretaker” (or undertaker as one of you wittily stated in the comments) has no basis in law. Read the write-up of Greg Taguiba below which also makes the same argument. (By the way, thanks to our tipster who alerted us about Greg’s article.)

As we said earlier, instead of proposing this caretaker nonsense, our officials should be working to ensure that a special election is held. Para naman marinig ang boses ng tao kung sino ang gusto nila.

Currently, we have some politicians pushing for the appointment of Baguio Rep. Domogan as the Mt. Province caretaker. Then, according to Greg’s article, “the camp of the late congressman is pushing for the appointment of Kalinga Rep. Manuel Agyao”. One of you also wrote here that Benguet Rep. Samuel Dangwa suggested Ifugao Rep. Solomon Chungalao as the caretaker. As things go, I think the only “non-biased, no hidden agenda” suggestion is the one that comes from the Benguet Congressman.

Still, the best thing to do really is to get the will of the people. Who do they want as their Congressional representative? Only an election will determine this. The problem with this “caretaker” nonsense is that once a “caretaker” is appointed, those who lobbied for his/her appointment will be less inclined to work for the holding of a special election.

So no to caretakers. Yes to a special election. Masapol adi ay boses nan ipugao nan madnge. Cha, owen man.
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According to this GMA report, a necrological service for the late Mt. Province Congressman is scheduled at the House of Representatives this coming Tuesday, February 12.

UPDATE: Those of you who have a wikipedia account might want to contribute to the wikipedia entry on Congressman Dominguez here.

UPDATE 2: From Jeff Dominguez via the comments section: The remains of the Hon. Rep. Victor Dominguez will lie in state at his residence in Military Cut-off, Baguio City from the evening of 12 Feb until 15 Feb ‘08. Funeral and Interment Services will be conducted on 16 Feb ‘08 at the same place. His remains will not be buried at Sabangan as previous reports narrated.

UPDATE 3: Here’s a link to Rep. Dominguez’s congressional page which lists his committee memberships as well as the bills he filed in Congress.