Ibaloi Day

http://baguiomidlandcourier.com.ph

Good signs’ mark first Ibaloi Day
by Harley Palangchao,


“En shuhey ya biag, magesat, panakey,” (long life, unity, and good luck) were the words of 75-year-old female mambunong (spiritual priest) Jane Lucio as she announced that good signs are with them as they celebrated the first Ibaloi Day in Baguio last Feb. 23.

Long before heirs or the original Ibaloi settlers in Kafagway (Baguio) and guests arrived, Lucio led an indigenous ritual in a place which once served as pasture land of the great Ibaloi chieftain Mateo Cariño, who fought for the rights of the Ibalois over their ancestral lands.

An hour after the ritual, the beats of the gongs echoed throughout the portion of Burnham Park between the Orchidarium and the Children’s playground which is now considered as the possible permanent site for the annual Ibaloi Day in this mountain resort.

The celebration of the Ibaloi Day on Feb. 23 has significance to the Ibalois in Baguio and its environs, as it was on Feb. 23, 1909 that the United States Supreme Court released its decision on the Native Title which recognized the legitimacy of the claims of the old man Cariño.

Thanks to the city council for approving last year Resolution 395 s. of 2009 declaring Feb. 23 as Ibaloi Day.

The celebration became emotional to direct descendants of the old man Cariño as Ibaloi elders and guests buried the time capsule containing the resolutions and other pertinent papers that aim to declare that portion of Burnham Park as an Ibaloi Park and where a bust of Cariño will be built.

No less than city mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. recognized the need to declare that portion as an Ibaloi meeting place, as he claimed that Baguio will never be what it is now, for the vast lands we now collectively declare ours, was once upon a time, owned by the great man. “As we recognize this day, Feb. 23, as officially ‘Ibaloi Day’, allow me to be the first to declare this very site the soles of our feet has pleasure of being intimate with, this very site the eyes of Mateo Cariño once guarded, as Ibaloi Panaaspulan – a site where all Ibaloi twines meet,” Bautista said.

He added: “As mayor of the City of Baguio thus, I yield this part of Burnham Park to you – Ibalois.”