By Joel B. Belinan
Last Monday, December 13, my nephew Alexander Belinan married his girlfriend, Juvy Domingo, in a mixed kind of Igorot and Christian style wedding ceremony in Nangalisan, Tuba Benguet. Alex as we call him is the second child of my late older brother James who went ahead to the afterlife. And so I was specifically requested to March him during his wedding together with his mother, to which of course I immediately agreed when I was called by my nephew 3 weeks before. It was April of 1996 when a non-government organization focused on youth development invited me and my team of mountaineers to conduct a 5-day outdoor training camp in Amburayan, Kapangan. After the training I did not immediately go home to Baguio. Instead, I decided to go and visit my older Bro. James who settled in the town having married a lady from there. That was the first time I saw Alex who was barely 3 years old then. Time passed so fast, he is now going to start his own family.
The wedding was held in the place where our innapo’s (daughter-in-law’s) place in Nangalisan, Tuba. This is where the cold air from the high parts of Benguet and the warm air from the lowlands meet, and the ceremony and reception were set up in the middle of a rice field. Thus it was a welcome respite from the cold spell here for most of us who went down for the occasion. This was maybe the only out-of-town trip I have had since this pandemic started. And to think that I am lagalag (travel-loving) kind of person.
What surprised me was the number of our relatives who came to the occasion from almost all parts of the north. A real Igorot clan, ours is really big in number, both on my mother’s side and my father’s side. In 2016 during our Ap-on Kawayan clan (mother’s side) reunion held in Tabangaoen, Balili in nearby La Trinidad, my cousin Anglican Priest Rev. Fr Richard Igmalis who conducted a mass before the main program took a long time during the communion part due to the long line of people who seemed to have outnumbered the population of that barangay.
Last Monday’s wedding was indeed a reunion of sorts. I saw an uncle and cousins from Tabuk City, Kalinga, cousins from Besao, cousins residing in the Halsema area and Lepanto, and of course from the outlying areas of the BLIST and La-Union and Pangasinan. To many, this was the first time we met since March last year. Apparently with the relaxing of travel restrictions, the occasion which was also aired in social media chat groups was an opportunity to travel and breathe fresh air even just for a day. Of course, we attended the wedding ceremony first and foremost due to our affection for Alex and the travel was just a collateral benefit.
The occasion was also an opportunity for us to expand our social circles as we met with the family and relatives of our daughter-in-law whose father is from Nangalisan while her mother is from Bagong, Sablan, both of Ibaloi ancestry. Even on the side of Alex whose mom is from Kapangan, as expected, had a big number of their relatives who came for the occasion. What impressed me was the seemingly very united neighborhood where the event was held. Looking at the physical preparation and the number of people doing their respective tasks prior to and after the event gave me the impression that this particular community retained the unity known among Indigenous Igorot communities in the past. “Alex you came to a good community,” I thought as I patted his shoulder before leaving for Baguio.
During that occasion, I also bumped into Benguet District 1 Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Coy Nazarro who happened to attend an indigenous people’s event in the barangay. As a politician and with the political fever already heating up, it was incumbent upon him to visit the event when informed by the barangay officials. SP member Nazarro who is also a lawyer was an acquaintance especially when I was covering the Benguet Provincial Capitol. During our conversation along with my cousins who also knew him, he said that quite a few iBesaos were married in his hometown of Bokod, mentioning some of them. Indeed, iBesaos and maybe those from other Igorot sub-tribes have been expanding their horizons.
I also met the first child and daughter of the late Gov. Raul Molintas and former CAR Tourism Director Purificacion Suanding Molintas. According to her, they are related to our daughter-in-law from the Suanding side of their family.
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All over the country, Local Government Units (LGUs) are declaring that their daily Covid-19 infections are declining including Baguio City and the Cordillera. To date, the number of visitors allowed to our city according to the City Government is 4000 daily. I am however unconvinced if indeed that was the only number allowed during the past two weekends looking at the crowd at Burnham Park and the central business district.
As we usually say, it’s easy to recognize the visitors from residents just by their attires. Generally, residents even if they are accustomed to the cold weather usually clothe themselves to keep them warm. During the olden days when wagwagan (used clothes stores) were not yet that popular, Levi’s jeans and jackets were the most popular brands. On the other hand, lowland visitors especially ladies wear those skimpy clothes like mini shorts, then they keep on saying, “ang lammmmmmiiig” or something to that effect, which of course invites sneers from the locals. Nganngani nga aglalabos ka saka reklamo nga reklamo ti lammin (you’re almost naked then keep on complaining), was the usual reaction from us.
It’s nice to see though that more and more visitors are coming in. As we all know, tourism has been the number one economic driver of the city followed by the education sector. We are now entering the 3rd. week of December and before this global pandemic, it was the month when most visitors come to our city due to the cold climate. On the other hand, Baguio City was host to an estimated more than 100,000 students from outside. These students generally spend two semesters with us and were big consumer spenders thereby driving our local economy. Remember Baguio City has been declared the educational center of the north. **
