THE FIRST INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S CENTER IN PANGASINAN DIVISION II

THE FIRST INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S CENTER IN PANGASINAN DIVISION II

By: Rodrigo P. de Vera, Jr., Ed.D.

            Just like the rest of us, people migrate to other places where opportunities are abundant. When they leave their community, they live in accordance with the prevailing culture. They start embracing the dominant culture and living the life they had before has become an option. Such condition reflects the life   of  the Igorots who are living in the different towns in Pangasinan.

            There is no problem with the older Igorots who have migrated to Pangasinan as they can still live and behave like authentic Igorots. When they converge together during special occasions like wedding, burial, and similar occasions, they proudly wear their bahags or G-strings for men, and tapis for women. They showcase their talents of dancing and playing of indigenous instruments like gong.

            On the contrary, younger generations of Igorots who migrated at an early age and who have been born in Pangasinan have a problem. In the study conducted by me  on the status of indigenous learners in our school,  it showed negative findings. Acculturation, feelings of inferiority and shame  and fear of being bullied have shown in their responses. The only remaining part of their culture is their language. They feel ashamed of wearing their traditional clothes like bahag and tapis during special occasions.  

            With this alarming result, the author a came up with the idea of putting up an Indigenous People’s Center in our school. With the approval of my school principal, this project was born during the Brigada Eskwela in May 2017. Turning the stockroom where discarded materials and equipment of the school as an IP Center became a gigantic task. After the Brigada Eskwela, the next step was filling up the empty space with Indigenous learning materials. With faith and determination, I shook the world upside down. 

            On September 26, 2017,  the first  IP Center in Pangasinan Division II was finally opened for public. Attendees and guests during the ribbon cutting were Dr. Enrique P. delos Santos, Jr., Provincial Officer of the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP); Dr. Jerome S. Paras, Education Program Supervisor of Araling Panlipunan and IPED; Mr. Nestor R. Sinlao, Association President of Association of Advocates of Historical and Cultural Preservation of Pangasinan (AAHCPP); Ms. Rianna Jane D. Ortega, Municipal Tourism Officer-Pozorrubio, and Mrs. Irene E. Culbengan, Administrative Officer IV, NCIP-Pangasinan.

What can we see in our IP Center?  Our IP center features the traditional clothes of the different Cordilleran tribes-the bahag or G-string for men and the tapis for women, indigenous musical instruments like gong and solibao, headgears, spear, magazines, books on Cordilleran history and culture, wood carvings of Banaue, and many other items on display.

 Most of my townmates are not aware  that the Igorots were the early settlers of Pozorrubio before they were displaced by other migrants who came from other places in Pangasinan and Ilocos during the Spanish period. Thus, having an IP Center is just the right move to give due recognition to the early settlers of this town which was once part of San Jacinto, Pangasinan.

Now that the IP Center is here, may this Center serve as an instrument in revitalizing the cultural identity and cultural practices of our indigenous learners and their families but more importantly, may this  serve as an eye opener  to our fellow non-indigenous learners to learn and respect the wonderful world of the Igorots.