By Estanislao Albano, Jr.

It would have been a chance to interact with the publisher of this paper outside of the newspapering milieu but when I asked Gertrude, his wife, early morning of Friday while we were already on the way to Mtn. Province if they would be attending the reunion, she texted back that Friday and Saturday are press days. This reminds me that sometime in 2002 after writing on and off for the Zigzag Weekly since 1998, I went to the paper’s office for the first time. I introduced myself to the publisher/editor taking care to mention we were relatives. He asked how could that be when we have different surnames and I told him I am married to his cousin Florence Pekas.
I also regret the kids could not be with us this time. It would have been great for them to meet the kinsmen of their mother in the homeland of the clan itself now that they are adults. During the first Pekas Branch reunion in 1990, Pia Ursula was a tot and Aglaia Marie was on the way and in the second Pekas clan gathering in 1994, they were yet too young to know what was going on. And yes, this time, the whole Batil-ang-Peypeyan Clan is gathering and not just the Pekas Branch.
When we got to the Besao Poblacion before 8 AM last Saturday, the parade was underway. Florence and the rest in the group joined the color-coded stream of people while I assumed my documentor self.
I endeavored to find an angle to shoot the venue with the verdant hills to the south as backdrop. During a trip to Besao in 1998, I learned from now town councilor Policarpio Pekas, elder brother of the publisher, that the people of the place were galvanized to plant trees in the village and the surrounding hills after all the original trees there have been cut down due to their requirements for fuel and lumber and it took them a day to bring home several days’ fuel as the forest line has receded very far from the village. In short, the forest that rings the town center is man-made and being one of the biggest clans of the town, the Batil-ang-Peypeyan people had a part in the successful greening activity.
I noticed that all those who went in front to talk did not waste time for useless from left to right recognition of participants which is a sickening feature of gatherings of the Filipino race and perhaps one of the causes of its backwardness. And yes, it was exclusively a clan occasion. I did not hear of any outsider taking part except for the people doing the cooking who, when I took some photos of the food preparation activities, had told me they were hired.
So refreshing that there was no trace of kowtowing and flattery whatsoever in the gathering. When I first noticed her, DOJ Assistant Secretary Cheryl Daytec was among people standing at the door in the crowded hall of the St. James School. The emcee did not acknowledge the arrival of the Cabinet official. Nobody rushed to her to offer his seat. And during the time the branches went on stage to introduce themselves and also to perform a number, she was just Cheryl, one of the children of Frank Daytec. No mention of her being a lawyer and Cabinet official. That was true to all the branches. While it is acknowledged that education has been the passport of many Besao residents including a lot of the Batil-ang-Peypeyan people to better life, nobody in the gathering felt the necessity to blow the horn.
And yes, the most important photos I have taken during the occasion were those of Asec Daytec and United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Vicky Tauli-Corpuz lining up for lunch. With fawning a permanent part of Filipino culture, I was bowled over by the sight. When I remarked on this to brothers Modesto (Besao MPDC) and Ernest Gaab (retired senior police superintendent), they both said that the culture of the clan is for everyone to be treated alike. (Please read the story on the front page.)
I took photos of the peeling of the kamote for afternoon snacks by some ladies. While doing so, it hit me that there was a time that kamote was the staple of the clan and generally speaking, of the people of Mtn. Province and Benguet. As proof that no matter what others say, there has been a significant progress in the lives of people in the two provinces, kamote has been dislodged from being a staple food to just being for snacks every now and then. For most of the people of Besao including members of the Batil-ang-Peypeyan Clan, education has been and continues to be the key in leaving behind the kamote era.
I did not notice anyone sing paeans to education during the occasion. It was only during the song number of the Amay Branch that I heard the words “Eesten ay men iskuela.” (Study hard.) No sermon or hardselling was necessary because experience in the clan and in Besao clearly speak of how education and the lack of it determines a person’s station in life. Same story anywhere in the country or elsewhere in the world but more so in Besao with its rugged and mountainous terrain where the arable space is very limited. But the town makes up for the handicap in the education and government career departments. In fact, according to Modesto, Besao could lay claim to having the most number of top professionals and for owning the Mtn. Province native who had climbed the highest in the government totem pole — Rufino Bumasang who served for a time as acting secretary of the Department of Energy.
What I failed to record was the laughter of which there was a lot during the presentation of the members of the branches. I found out during the reunion that the other branches share the Pekas Branch’s spontaneously witty manner of speech. **