BONTOC, Mtn. Province – Igorots are not Filipinos!
That was the ascription of a once venerable Filipino on the tribal people of the Cordilleras in a book that up to now remains uncorrected.
In an attempt to rectify the statement of the late Minister Carlos P. Romulo against the Igorot people, Congressman Maximo Dalog wrote a letter to the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) requesting for the correction of the erroneous historical account stating that Igorots are not Filipinos.
Dalog, in his letter dated November 21, 2016, informed that sometime in 1945, the late Minister wrote a copyrighted book entitled “MOTHER AMERICA, A Living Story of Democracy” where he stated that Igorots are not Filipinos and referred to them “as one recurrent source of annoyance”.
The reviled statement is contained on page 59 of the book. Specifically, it states. . . . “ the fact remains that the Igorot is not Filipino and we are not related . . . “.
The said writing prompted the late Atty. Alfredo Lam-en, who was then the Congressman of the 1st District of the Old Mountain Province to deliver a privilege speech at the House of Representatives garbed in g-strings. He denounced Minister Romulo for the inaccurate and false account.
Igorot people and students from the Cordillera region protested and led to the burning of copies of the said book of the late Minister.
Ever since, nothing was done to rectify the erroneous account.
But this time, Republic Act No. 10086 provides the mechanism for the NHCP to determine and correct factual matters relating to Philippine history and it states in Sec. 5 (e) “to actively engage in the settlement or resolution of controversies or issues relative to historical personages, places, dates and events” and to (p) conduct public hearings and ocular inspections or initiate factual investigations with respect to disputed historical issues for the purpose of declaring official historical dates, places, personages, and events”, thus the request for correction by Congressman Dalog.
The Act mandates the NHCP as the primary government agency responsible to determine all factual matters relating to official Philippine history.
Dalog further stressed that the late Minister was a distinguished and well-respected soldier, statesman, diplomat, journalist and author. He has secured a well-deserved exalted place in the pantheon of Philippine statesmen, his views on the Igorots earlier cited can be very misleading.
The congressman emphasized that Igorots should be given merit and distinction for it was through their efforts in resisting the colonization of Spain that made them preserve their original culture and traditions. These original culture and traditions could have been the culture and traditions of the entire Filipino nation before their disruption by the colonizing Spaniards.
“Instead of treating the Igorots in a different and an annoying way, they should be thanked and merited upon for preserving the original culture and traditions of the Filipino people for the culture and traditions which the Filipino people now know are the culture and traditions left by Spain”, the letter stressed.
Finally, Dalog further requested the Honorable Commission to make the necessary rectification in the historical accounts of the late Minister Romulo by making an official declaration that Igorots are Filipinos for they have descended from the same race from which the entire Filipino people descended.
He requested that the erroneous statements in the book must be ordered deleted and/or for the institution of necessary measures to reflect the correction of the erroneous accounts.
It was learned that the NHCP will act on the matter during the monthly meeting scheduled this month in the presence of the commissioners and in an en banc session.
However, it is not known whether the recent resignation of the chair of the NHCP and another commissioner will affect the resolution of the matter.
Chair Maria Serena Diokno and the commissioner resigned their posts as an act of protest over the recent controversial burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
While the people of Mountain Province and parts of northern Benguet call themselves Igorots and have no problem with that, non-Cordillerans however generally refer to people in the Cordillera as Igorots (loosely, ‘people of the mountains’) and the reason for this can be traced all the way to the Spanish times. ** By Wabilyn Lomong-oy/ Roger Sacyaten
