Not even 19 pigs that are offered to the gods can ease the tension created by previous intentional wrongs. Last October 18, 2024, the pigs were simultaneously butchered at the Benguet State University sports oval to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Month, but the festive atmosphere did not overcome the anxiety that came a few days before the event.
The celebration was held following President Arroyo’s issuance of Proclamation No. 1906 on October 5, 2009 that declared the month of October National Indigenous Peoples Month. The theme for this year’s celebration is “Valuing Nurturing and Honoring Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous Knowledge.”
IP representative in the municipal council Richard Wacnisen confirmed that out of the 19 pigs, 17 were purchased by the La Trinidad LGU, with one pig allotted for each of the 16 barangays and the municipal government, while two pigs were bought by the HEDCOR for the hydroelectric plant and the La Trinidad IPO.
By comparison, this year’s IP month celebration eclipsed other festivals, such as the February celebration of “Onjon ni Ivadoy” in Baguio and the Benguet Adivay every November as these events lead to the slaughter of fewer pigs.
However, it was observed that the IP day celebration was lacking in program preparation as it ended as quickly as the watwat (boiled pork) and sabaw (pork broth) were scooped from the “silyasi” (cold iron vats).
Participants and I saw chairs and tents being disassembled right after everybody had eaten lunch and the guests had left the BSU ground. The sound of khalsa and solibaos (gongs and elongated beat-drums) died away early which was why the tayao stopped, according to the participants.
Some people in attendance were also surprised why the IP celebration turned into the venue for a political event as senator Cynthia Villar’s daughter Camille, who filed her CoC for senator, was invited as guest speaker.
Because of the seeming lack of preparation, the tents provided for the barangay participants were all marked with the name of a politician, a clear violation of the anti-epal law. Participants who requested anonymity for obvious reasons said, public events such as the IP day should not be politically tainted.
Volunteers admitted that while this year’s IP day celebration may appear more successful than those in the past in terms of logistics and participation, they said that for next year, IP day should involve a series of daylong events and should not be mixed with politics.
Meanwhile, a few days prior to the IP day celebration, La Trinidad IPO officers faced their adversaries in a meeting called by NCIP Commissioner Gaspar Cayat to resolve controversial concerns that had been hounding them since their election on February 29, 2024.
This was the second time a “tongtongan” (agreement) similar to the April 19, 2024 meeting was called because one side apparently did not fulfill its part of the deal. Instead, it continued to harass the new LTIPO officers by making statements hastily written on paper in the form of a resolution.
The commissioner dubbed the second “tongtong” meeting as “healing and reconciliation” although La Trinidad ancestral domain IP and LTIPO business manager Thomas Abodiles personally evaluated it supposedly as a continuation and enforcement of the agreements of the April 19 “tongtong,” as there was nothing to heal and reconcile.
Although, something positive resulted from the face to face meeting. Here, the “missing” Land Bank passbook was finally turned over by the old set of officers led by resigned president Pendon Thompson to the new set of officers under Marcos Anod.
But, by scrutinizing the entries in the LBP book, the LTIPO officers found out that the past officers of the IP organization withdrew hundreds of thousands of cash from the LTIPO bank account even while Thompson already resigned last November 14, 2023.
Three transactions in the amounts of P260K, P35K and P72K respectively, or a total of P367K were withdrawn from the LTIPO Land Bank money without the benefit of an LTIPO resolution, and after Thompson had already resigned months earlier.
This should be properly reported to the IPs and constituents of the La Trinidad ancestral domain so they are informed about where the monies from the Bineng HPP are going to, how these were being spent, and who the personalities involved were.
By the way, these recent bank transactions were not the only ones that were unaccounted for. I learned that the scholarship funds for deserving students in La Trinidad were not spent on tuition fees. They were spent for things not in accordance with the MOA between LTIPO and the donor entity.
All these should properly be audited on behalf of the La Trinidad ancestral domain IPs and those involved should be accountable. A criminal case is in order.
