Titles! (Oh and a brief history of some of the words)
With my mad (and by ‘mad’ I mean mediocre) Photoshop skillz I made the titles of my blog series.
The Philippine IPs Series - “Lumad,” a Cebuano word which means “native” or “indigenous” and pertains to the 18 non-Muslim, non-Christian groups in Mindanao. The full name of the federation is LUMAD MINDANAW PEOPLES FEDERATION and was established in 1986, but has been in the works since 1983.
Check out the Wikipedia article for surface information about the Lumad.
Philippine Folklore of the Month - “Siday,” which I think is a Waray word for “poetry” (if I’m not mistaken), but may have been the prehispanic term for epics.
In fact, our very own Scott wrote in Barangay:
The noblest literary form was the siday or kandu. This was the most difficult of all — a long, sustained repetitious and heavy with metaphor and allusion. A single one might take six hours to sing or the whole night through, or even be continued the next night, during which rapt audiences neither yawned nor nodded, though the frequent repetition of long lines with only the variation of a few words strung Spanish listeners as tiresome.
Subject matter was the heroic exploits of ancestors, the valor of warriors, or the beauty of women, or even the exaltation of heroes still living.
[…]
The siday or kandu must have been what Philippine folklorists nowadays call a folk epic… In societies that produced Philippine epics… power and prestige were not based on the ownership of herds of cattle but on the control of slave labor. Thus Visayan heroes who were celebrated as karanduun — that is, worthy of kandu claim — would have won their reputations in the real life on… slave raids.
Unknown heritage series — “Lingid” means unknown in Filipino (not sure though if it is Tagalog or otherwise). Well, no history here — I couldn’t find an uncommon word for unknown.
Lumads buying guns with money paid by mining firm?
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/25 February) — Mining firm Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) may have abetted the proliferation of loose firearms in the hinterlands of Tampakan in South Cotabato where its mineral development site is located, a provincial official said.
South Cotabato provincial board member Joe Madangit said he has received reports that some tribal leaders have been buying firearms from proceeds of SMI payments to leave the area instead of relocation as provided by previous principal agreements between tribal councils and former owner of the Tampakan Gold and Copper Project.
Madangit however clarified that these were just reports and still have to be investigated.
On February 22, unidentified gunmen strafed the house of S’bangken tribal chieftain Tonio Binuhay killing him and his pregnant wife.
Police are still investigating the killings.
Chief Insp. Jomar Alexis Yap, Southwestern Mindanao police spokesperson, said they are looking into every possible motive, including the possibility that the murder was related to the mining project.
Binuhay was a staunch supporter of SMI and was a member of the village council in Tablu, Tampakan.
Members of the communist-led New People’s Army are also said to be active in the area and are strongly opposed to the SMI project.
The NPA, however, has not issued any statement owning up to the murders.
Madangit said based on initial reports reaching him, the gunmen reportedly used M-16 Baby Armalite rifles.
He said owning a firearm is a symbol of authority and power among B’laans, the dominant indigenous peoples living in the area.
“Some who opted to accept cash payments from SMI and chose to live outside the mining site are buying motorcycles and houses. I received reports some bought firearms from gunrunners,” Madangit said.
Binuhay, he said, may have been a victim of personal grudge as he reportedly killed a fellow B’laan some years back.
He said police authorities should look into the report of loose firearms proliferating in the area.
He feared lawlessness might affect the already volatile peace and order situation in the SMI mineral development area.
“Remember these communities used to be havens of cattle rustlers and holdup men,” he said.
SMI immediately ordered the suspension of operations in the area following the death of Binuhay and his wife.
“To ensure the safety of employees and contractors, the management ordered the work suspension until further clearance from the authorities,” SMI corporate communication chief John Arnaldo said a day after the killing.
He declined to answer requests for interview on the possible role of SMI in the proliferation of loose firearms in the hinterlands of Tampakan.
But SMI external affairs communication superintendent Manolo Labor said, “SMI is not in the position to comment on the allegation that these payments are used by the community members to buy firearms.”
“This question is best directed to the local police or the military deployed within the project area as well as the members of the community themselves,” he added.
SMI is winding up its exploration activities in the bordering towns of Kiblawan, Tampakan and Columbio in Sultan Kudarat in preparation for extraction of copper and gold ores in the mineral-rich mountainous terrain in the area.
SMI-Xstrata recently concluded its pre-feasibility studies and has started its permitting process.
With ore deposits of over 12.8 million tons of 0.6 per cent copper and 15.2 million ounces of 0.2 grams per ton of gold, the Tampakan copper and gold project is reportedly the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia and the Western pacific region.
Philippines: Indigenous Peoples And Farmers' Organizations Criticize The Biased Conclusion Of MisOr Provincial Council On Oil Palm Issue In Opol - Indigenous Peoples Issues and Resources
indigenouspeoplesissues.comAfter the dialogue held on June 4, 2012, farmers and indigenous peoples’ groups question the conclusion of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Council) saying that no land grabbing, human rights violations and pollution issues in Opol regarding the entry and operation of the Nakeen Corporation’s oil palm plantation, a subsidiary of the A. Brown Company, Inc.
“How can they dismiss all the complaints when clearly there are no documents that authorize the operation of A. Brown in the lands?” questioned Jomorito Goaynon, chairperson of Kalumbay Regional Lumad Organization. “The ‘some lapses’ in the requirements of A. Brown that the DENR admits to is not a small issue. It is the point of the entire problem – the DENR national office said they had not yet released any tenurial instrument over the disputed land. And yet the company is operating there right now. Let me reiterate that the company started operating in 2011. Even if they release the permits now, it does not cover the past months – the past months when the company aggressively uprooted the crops of the farmers and destroyed their farms.”
The groups, Kalumbay Regional Lumad Organization, Pangalasag Lumad Organization and the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, also expressed dismay over the lopsided process of presentation during the SP session. “They focused the discussion on whether or not Gilbert Paborada could claim a land in the said area,” said Richard Colao of KMP – Region X. “Whether or not Mr. Paborada could claim the land is not the entire point. The issue is the operation of A. Brown affected the community. They are trying to undermine the complaint of the families by attacking Mr. Paborada.”
Gilbert Paborada, for his part, explains that while they may not understand the various laws associated with land titling, the issue of land grabbing that Pangalasag is forwarding is not just the matter of A. Brown occupying the land now but is the historical driving out of the lumads from the land. “The NCIP is saying that no one has put in a complaint before therefore they did not know of our plights,” Mr. Paborada said. “But had they been active in explaining to us our rights? It is unfortunate that we only learned to fight for our rights now that when our land was declared a pastureland of the Paras Machinery Works, Inc years ago, our forefathers were not able to voice out. This is just a continued manifestation of the prioritization of the lands for companies over our, the Lumads’, rightful claim over our ancestral lands.”
Check out Nakeen Corporation… ooh, no website. For a corporation to not have a website is strange, even if it’s a subsidiary of another company. Anyway, check out A. Brown Company, Inc.’s website here and corporate social responsibility page here.
Palm oil is often sought after by big firms; it’s the same in Indonesia, too, I think.
