LAGAWE, Ifugao – -All along they knew who made it possible for the poor to experience exceptional transformation.
September 22 has been a great opportunity for residents of barangay Antipolo in Asipulo town to celebrate their third Beklay di Antipolo program at the municipal gymnasium with a good reason.
As one of the poorest but now potentially-promising towns of impoverished Ifugao province, Asipulo has taken a huge step in elevating the craft of beklay-making into a more productive field of endeavor.
Beklay (pronounced baklay) is a Kalanguya word and mostly used by those who are living in Asipulo, a scenic upland town adjacent to Kiangan town. It is a native rice delicacy. It is generally made of glutinous rice. Said rice variety is pounded with rhythmic sequence. Pounders wear their native attires.
Villagers competed in the beklay-making contest. Prizes were awarded to the winners.
A beklay ritual was performed. Wrapping and cooking of beklay highlighted the morning portion of the nearly nine-hour program.
About 400 villagers, barangay council officials, municipal government officials and employees and guests were in attendance. Among them was Masahiro Hamada of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Some Ifugao State University (IFSU) students as well as Alfonso Tayaban, Precious Tayaban, Sharee Kris Dillag, Eddie Dinongon, Kathleen Maulino, Myla Dulnuan, teachers and school principals also actively took part in the program.
A salient feature of the program was the awarding of certificates of participation of 36 young trainees of the beklay-making skills training project sponsored by the Ifugao Cultural, Educational, Scientific and Community Development Center, Inc. (ICESCDCI). The ICESCDCI is a Lagawe-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) long known for pursuing a number of initiatives and projects aimed at improving the conditions of the people, most especially in marginalized communities. Verily, the trainees- 24 from the village’s public elementary school and 12 from the public high school are sons and daughters of low-income villagers. Poverty incidence in Antipolo, just like in the other eight other barangays, is undeniably high.
The baya (rice wine)-making contest also highlighted the activity.
During the jovial moments of the program, residents and visitors indulged in myriad activities- took part in native dances, witnessed the awarding of prizes for best performing man-ili (group in a community) and above all, drank free-flowing baya to one’s heart’s delight. Lunch was also served.
“We are doing our best to make things better for villagers here,” ICESCDCI president Mariflor Capuyan said.
In an exclusive interview with the ZigZag Weekly, Ms. Capuyan stressed that skills training as a capacity-building tool is essential in upgrading their socioeconomic plight, adding that “working hard to promote their well-being is my goal to making the barangay reach its potentials and aspirations.”
One of Lagawe’s well-known civic and business leaders, Capuyan told an attentive audience of young and old folks at this gathering that “many things have become so clear” and she was inspired to continue helping disadvantaged people.
“One has to share his or her blessings in life in a place like this where we know there will be untold suffering and difficulties if we ignore their pleas for help or assistance,” Capuyan said.
The ICESCDCI also seeks to provide the youth leadership training projects and seminars on development.
“I’m leaving this barangay knowing our friends here are in good hands as long as we listen to the people, listen to the cause of loving and helping humanity,” she quipped.
“If we do that, then our people will be in a better condition,” she added.
The ICESCDCI delegation also had the opportunity to interact with Mayor Armando Domilod Sr., barangay government officials and teachers.
“With the skills training program now in place, we are hoping to tap the youth, involve them and their schools in participation in the ICESCDCI’s advocacies in promoting the Ifugao culture,” Ms. Capuyan pointed out.
The ICESCDCI is the proponent group of this noteworthy endeavor. The just-concluded, highly-successful project is aimed at encouraging villagers not to waste rice, eat healthier varieties of rice and understand, appreciate and give value to the hard work of farmers. Farming is the main industry of this fourth-class municipality.
Mayor Domilod, who backed this project, lauded the ICESCDCI and the program’s organizers. Apart from providing farming implements, Domilod said the municipal government is also providing capability training through livelihood trainings and seminars to residents of the barangays, as part of his administration’s community and rural development programs.
To start an exceptional and memorable celebration, the ICESCDCI head gave an insightful overview of skills transfer training on beklay making. While it is true that Ms. Capuyan is not in the public sector to lead the citizenry here, who are visibly mired by the pangs of underdevelopment, she has the traits of a leader who knows what to do and how to do it in so far as propelling growth through livelihood ventures are concerned.
She has proven that one does not have to be a public servant to make a difference in the lives of the have-nots. In short, there is still hope for lifeless and unproductive barangays in Ifugao to be transformed into vibrant and bustling villages.
This out-of-the-box generosity of a caring individual from the private sector should be seen as a welcome development. How does this action affect the welfare of those who are experiencing lack of food and gainful employment? It is a solution long sought for a problem faced by most villages of Ifugao. Often times, abject poverty in far-flung villages is caused by neglect of those who call the shots in the echelons of government and absence of fundamental services in these places. It clearly needs short-term and long-term interventions. If unattended, the problem would be like a nightmare to present and incoming generations. **By Anthony A. Araos
