By Joel B. Belinan
If there is a routine workout that almost everyone does, no matter what kind of sports or fitness they do, almost everyone does some running/jogging. Whether one is into ballgames like basketball, volleyball, or batted balls like baseball or softball (do these still exist in this country?), or combative sports and of course track and field, all run as part of their training. For some time, I had to lie low from running due to some minor injury on my feet caused by worn-out shoes, among other things. While from time to time I do a few rounds of jogging around our Burnham Park Lake as a warm-up for our combat training, it is not comparable to a real running routine.
Having solved my feet injury and noticing my cardio-vascular capability slowly going down I decided to restart my running routine last week. To date, I run maybe 4 to 5 kilometers on a 3X to 4X weekly schedule. And yes, the big difference immediately showed with the big improvement in my physical endurance as a trainer and player. After rediscovering that innate passion for running, I can now just smile at those I had been seeing who regularly ran. I was sure I could also get back to my usual energetic self before the pandemic years in 2020. Apart from that, running gives me the luxury of revisiting those less congested areas with better green vegetation, a scenery everyone loves.**
These recent weeks, a few local combat sports tournaments in Baguio City were successfully held. Most were aligned with the Baguio Day events but a couple were organized by local promoters. This for me is a positive sign of local sports trying to return to the pre-pandemic period when Baguio City and La Trinidad were considered the combat sports capital of this country. Apart from this encouraging development, the famous Team Lakay successfully conducted the One Warrior Series Philippines right on their turf in La Trinidad and to some extent on nearby areas of Baguio, the BLISTT.
Observing posts on social media, indeed combat sports in our locality are making a huge comeback. Almost all those martial arts gyms or those traditional Dojos that were able to survive the impact of the pandemic are now in full operation. While many gyms closed due to rental fees during the pandemic, a few opened recently which, to repeat, show that combat sports’ vibrancy is making a comeback. While I am not very updated on other sports, I think they are in the same mode. More and more running and cycling events are being held, and try-outs for basketball teams in schools along with other team events are being done by various institutions. The city sports office announced that they already accredited more than 200 athletes who shall represent the city during the Batang Pinoy in Vigan, Ilocos Sur in December this year. Good luck to those selected. **
The Ibaloi festival is currently being held at the Ibaloi Park in Burnham Park. It will run until the end of October which is synchronized with the Indigenous Peoples’ month observation. The Ibaloi festivities are just fitting as these would be opportunities for our brother Ibalois to rekindle and showcase the customs and traditions of their tribe. As everyone knows, Ibalois are the original inhabitants of Baguio. Apart from this they also occupy the southern municipalities of Benguet namely, La Trinidad, Tublay, Sablan, Tuba, Itogon, Bokod, Kabayan, and parts of Atok and Kapangan. If we base things on population, Ibaloi is perhaps the second biggest tribe in the Cordillera. The Kankanaey is the biggest tribe in the region as it is comprised of the Northern Benguet Kankanaeys and those of Western and Southern Mountain Province.
The Carino Doctrine forms half of the biggest legal anchors when the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) was being argued in the Supreme Court and was initiated by Ibaloi leader Mateo Carino at the start of the 21st century. The case that even went all the way to the US Supreme Court emanated from the land ownership of a big track of land, the John Hay Reservation, which was occupied by the Americans and was contested by the Ibaloi patriarch. The other half of course is the Cayat case, a discriminatory case against the American Colonial government for detaining and convicting Cayat, an Ibaloi for drinking gin (liquor) which was not Ibaloi made. It should be noted that the American government at that time prohibited Igorots from drinking alcoholic beverages that were not made by their respective tribes.
The colonial government prohibited Igorots from getting drunk as they became unruly, among other unwanted behaviors deemed to disturb the peace of the community. However, a young lawyer took the case to the Supreme Court arguing that such prohibition is discriminatory and violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution. Although the high court at that time sustained the government’s action, the case is a testament to an Ibaloi’s courage to assert his rights against an obvious discriminatory policy on Igorots. **
