Amidst the terrible pain and insecurities that the Lumad people of Surigao del Sur and other places in Mindanao Lumadlands are suffering in this trying moments of their tribal life. . . even as the AFP are doing their utmost to deny and lie and distort the facts of the their involvement in the merciless killings of Lumads. . .and while the top leadership of the country—President Noynoy himself—has chosen to be dead silent on the incident that has aroused people of goodwill here and abroad to denounce and condemn its sordid character . . .the moral sensibilities of such individuals and institutions as the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) have been touched— deeply touched!—as much as to call for an immediate and independent investigation of the pogrom.
And the President, including the presidential aspirants in the coming elections, have remained “deadma” to the issue.. Isn’t this to be understood as an unforgiveable act of irresponsibility? And much more, a sheer proof of an inutile political leadership which has spawned an equally inutile justice system in our society?
To the concerned artist, however, the realities prevailing in our country is an irresistible cause for outbursts of lyrical expressions of solidarity. And so, the following poetical vignettes are as much a statement of condemnation as they are a sublime insight into the essences of the Lumad struggles for the uplift of their tribal, nay human conditions.
These struggles wouldn’t have entailed or necessitated acts of murders, tortures, and other inhumanities if the structures established for human advancement were they not the very instruments for dehumanizing processes—that is, if the government is truly of the people, by the people and for the people. But sadly, it is a government of the exclusive interests of foreign imperialists, landlords and comprador-capitalists, by and for these exclusive ruling.There wouldn’t have been these sordid massacres of Lumads, had the AFP charged with the protection of the Filipino citizenry been truly the agency for which it is deemed established. But no, the AFP and all the other security forces of the state are installed as guardians of the exclusive interests of the abovementioned ruling classes, most of all, the foreign imperialists whose prime interests happen to be the extraction of our mineral resources within the ancestral lands of the Lumads.
Such is the logic and principle why it’s the Lumads who are killed and sacrificed in the altar of mining interests and holy profits. It is so easy to discern why 35 or so battalions of the AFP are deployed in Mindanao. Yes, it’s here in Mindanao that the foreign mining corporations are scrambling for our precious gold ores, nickel and other valuable minerals. President Noynoy and his government is a happy willing agent for the unconscionable plunder of our patrimony. And the AFP generals are only too happy to be participants in this wholesale plunder in the thought that they can partake however miniscule of the loot.
Be silent now, and listen to the Lumad sound of music via their wondrous musical channels – the native tulonggons. . .
Mensahuni sa mga tulunggon
kubing
mga ngabil nakigduyog
sa mga tudlo nga nagkurog
mga aligatong giyamyam
sa pagpangahagbong sa mga anino
human pul-ongi ang kilumkilom
sa mga gihay sa kahayag
kuglung
mibalod-balod ang huyuhoy
nga miagakay sa mga langgam
nanagingting ang ilang mga piyak
gisugat sa bidlisiw sa kabuntagon
ayayay! takulahaw mibadlis
sa kahanginan daiyang bulok sa tingog,
apan kanunayng mopatigbabaw
ang hagtong sa matag hagtos sa sangang
nangasapli pagpanghabas sa habagat
gimba
hugot sa baruganan nga mikapot
ang mga tagongtong sa kasingkasing
ubay sa kundas sa mga lapalapang
nagpusdak-kudlis og lumadnong sayaw
sa panimpalad ug pakigbisog—langkob
sa nag-alimpulos nga pangayaw
batok sa langyawanong mga laraw
dabakan
nangagun-ob nga mga tukon sa langit,
dalugdog nga mibuhagay ug nanugwak
sa mga kabhang sa bungtod ug mga bangilid
nakig-ambahan sa daghong sa mga busay,
dagpas sa huyohoy gigaray sa mga pako sa aguila
duyog sa pululong-gong sa mga agong,
mikitiw ang pulahong dila sa balyan—ay!
dihadiha natagik ang dagmay sa kaliwat,
gitaklap sa mga ugdo sa dughan sa yuta.
tularoy
tadlas sa gilapdon sa sidlakang langit
namisikpisik ang piliik sa libulibong langgam
giagakay ang nanidlit nga bidlisiw sa adlaw
ngadto sa mga suok-suok sa balatian saTalaingod,
Lianga ug Pangantucan . . . nalambod-lambod
ang ilang tiliis sa mga gihay sa hangin nga
nangalisbo sa gisabwag— ay! kasakit ug kamatayon.
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Messages of the Lumad tulunggons
kubing
lips of legions chorus
with quivering fingers
as sparks mumbled
and shadows started falling
after twilight was pruned
of its cascading sunrays
kuglung
the breeze flows in gentle waves
escorting flocks of birds
their trills tintinabulating against
the stream of morning sunbeams
ayayay! all of a sudden traces
of varicolored tones manifest in air,
but one prominent sound cuts sharp
with every pluck of a branch that breaks
with the violent blows of the habagat
gimba
the heart’s drumtones clasp
and cling tight to the mandate
in unison with the tempo of feet
pounding shuffling native choreographies
of strifes and struggles—summarized
in the pangayaw whirlwind ramming
against foreign-inspired schemes
forthrightly weaves the dagmay of the race,
dabakan
props of sky are collapsing,
thunderclaps bursting out of cracks
on mountain peaks and mountain slopes
chorus with the drones of waterfalls, while
eagle’s flight versify the flapping breeze
tiptoeing on gongs’ resounding gongwords.
and the balyan’s tongue quivering red—ay!
to cover the mounds on the land’s breast
tularoy
athwart the stretch of the eastern sky
splutters the shrill trill of a thousand birds
gently abide by the splintering rays of the sun
in their pilgrimage to the heart of Talaingod,
Lianga and Pangantucan . . . soon got entangled
with the sharp voices in the wind’s texture
littered with noxious stench—ay! pain and deaths.
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tulunggon – musical instrument
kubing – jew’s harp, made of bamboo
kuglung – one-string guitar
gimba – native percussion instrumebnt
dabakan – an ensemble of vari-toned gongs
tularoy – nose flute
balyan – tribal shaman, chanter
dagmay – woven cloth of Manobo
