I AM AN IGOROT

by **yang-ew** Sat Sep 05, 2009 11:48 am

I am an Igorot
Atty. Gabriel Keith

“I am an Igorot, son of parents in whose veins flow Malay and Indonesian Blood. I was born and reared amidst these mountains and hills covered with sturdy and verdant pines that sway and dance with the mountain breeze beside the mountain streams. This part of the country, the Mountain Province , I have learned to love and to call my home.

“I am an Igorot. In my veins run the immortal blood of my gallant, peaceful and freedom-loving forefathers – blood borne by them who openly defied the authority of Spain in the year sixteen hundred and one. Again, it was the blood that also freely flowed in the bloody battlefields of world-famous Bataan and in the rocky bastions of Corregidor .

“That blood is immortal. It is the self-same blood that flowed in the hearts of my grandfather, father, brothers, cousins, uncles and nephews who formed the mighty 66th Infantry; blood that watered the wild lilies in the treacherous mountain of Bessang. Some of them died fighting that I may be what I am now – a free man, living in a free country governed by the principles of democracy.

“I am an Igorot – a proud one. I am proud of my noble, brave, peaceful and hard-working ancestors; proud of the mountains, hills, rivers, trees and of the lilies that adorn the forests and which were given by Him above to be mine; proud of the cañao and the bacdew, and of the customs and traditions handed to me from generation to generation; proud to beat the gangsa and to hear the savage sound of the solibao.

“I am proud too of my Christian status and education brought about by the pioneering zeal of occidental missionaries and teachers; proud to be an integral part of the young Republic of the Philippines .

“Though in educational, economic, social, and political aspects, I may be far behind; though in high society I may be frowned upon; though all in all, I may be called a barbarian, still I shall shout aloud that all may know and hear – I Am an Igorot !”

by luz Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:15 am

Hello again, cho san! Como usted, amiga? True, we are all Igorots, but do we live up to what and how an Igorot should be? Do we practice the good cultural traits and traditions passed to us, especially we, the Igorots across the seas? Ah, I sigh when ever I see and hear some of our fellow Igorots hide behind the "cloak of modernization and westernized thinking." Sure, we need all these modern things, but we have our own identity- being IGOROT. I sigh when we don't give an inkling of care and love to our community as a whole. INDIVIDUALIZATION is so great that we sometimes end up frustrated. But, hey, let this not be a thing pushing you down. This should be one that will all the more "fire us" to become great Igorots. I will share to you all, a piece about an Igorot, who left his/her hometown, later. I'm still looking for that paper.