Sabong Di Cada

With the cheap and widely available pirated cds and dvds, I was always curious why there are video rental business that keep opening up. Anyway, my father who is more familiar with how things used to be, went a video rental store to borrow something that we could watch, the last time I went home to Baguio.

He borrowed two VCDs, one was a cheesy Jennifer Lopez film (which was pirated; so I guess, the owner would have recouped his inventory cost by the second lending and anything beyond that would be pure profit) and the other a locally produced film called "Sabong Di Cada". And by locally, I don't even mean the horde of Baguio artists but rather the villagers from a remote place called Cada, up in the less populated parts of Benguet that borders Mountain Province.

Now, I never thought there would be such a thing as a locally made film. This one appears to have been written, directed, produced, acted and generally concieved by a Charismatic group based in Cada. The language was in the vernacular (Kankanaey) and the actors were all locals. There was the obligatory filming of the traditional ceremonies, gong-playing, dancing, pig-slaughtering, you know the picture. But it was much more than that. It talks of the general situation of the Filipino family. It effectively expresses the angst and aspirations of the young Filipino.

Though you could tell right away that it was very low-budget and amateurish, I thought that it was the type of production that would be appreciated by the art-film crowd. With English subtitles, it may even put up a strong showing in the international film festivals. The storytelling was great and the context of the Cada way of life is simply unique. I grew up in a town very similar to Cada (Sagada) and there were lots of attempts to film the traditional Sagada way of life but there was never a complete film that was produced. Make no mistake, I have watched quite a number of documentaries and features and theater productions about Sagada which were very good, but never structured in a film format like "The Flower of Cada" (Sabong Di Cada).

Kudos to the makers of this film. It is a very good work. Clap-Clap-Clap!

Now, these video rental stores must be on to something great. I might go visit one sometime, who knows when I might chance upon a great find like the "Sabong Di Cada".

A take on the Ayala Rallies

Anyone who takes their news about the Philippines only through CNN, BBC, GMA7, ABS-CBN, www.inq7.net, and www.philstar.com would think that the Philippines is in the midst of turbulent times, that danger and uncertainty is in the air and that there is far more dramatic events that there actually is.

My current work is located in the 22^nd floor of the PSE Tower 1 Building. This is the tall building fronting Ayala Avenue that has an array of spherical stones lining up the pond-like atrium.

Now, this is the only tall building in the middle of the so-called Makati Triangle, the area encompassed by Ayala Avenue, Makati Avenue and Paseo de Roxas. This is the main area that the demonstrators held their rallies.

During that time, we had an American guest who flew into town to train us on some work-related software. There were constant breaks during the training sessions so we could gawk at the growing crowd of people gathering in the streets. Our guest, who was quartered in a nearby hotel, was understandably afraid and, he asked some of our colleagues to accompany him on the short walk to his hotel “in case something happens” because he had to pass through the rally crowd. It was understandable as there was even a “No to US Intervention!” banner flying just below our window.

After two or three days of the non-stop demonstrations, this is what he had to say:

“It was nothing to be afraid of; it was not a board-your-door-and-windows kind of thing. I’ve seen people demonstrate for worse reasons. English hooligans smash store windows and burn cars whether their team loses OR wins. Riots that leave a lot of people dead or injured is not rare after professional sports events in the United States. Compared to the environmentalists in the United States who throw blood on anyone wearing fur, these rallies are pretty decent… I actually wished I had a picture taken of me in the crowd waving…”

Anyway, I was relating this story to our project manager when he quipped that this American guys’ project manager was supposed to fly to Manila for a meeting but instead detoured to Hong Kong (and invited the Manila team to meet him there) because “of the situation in the Philippines”.

Another colleague involved in the conversation exasperatingly remarked, “Asus. Masyadong nanonood ng CNN at BBC yang taong yan.”

How’s this for a Baseline…

Namingsan, mangisistulyaan si Mama.

(Background: tulo day sinbebsat, naulila da ay nasapa – inmey nanaoy is asin si ama da id ka-Ilokoan daet egay et nakasa-a. Si alapomi ay inada, maid besat na, ya dat ulila gedan isunga maid katulong nay mangtalaken issan tulo ay an-ak na. Malagip ko san is-istulyan alapo mi id kasin ay ad-ado kano nan mangwani ken sya en ipa-bag-en na is insik san tuloy an-ak na ay bababai ta waday kataguanda.)

Esay agew kano, isdin timpon di gubat, mang-mangan da mama issan baey da id Demang. Dat nawanada nan eroplanon di hapon ay menbomba. Wada kano san am-ama ay bumala ay menbugaw ta menbakwit am-in nan umili. Et menkakamo ya mentagtag kano nan umili ay umey issan liyang ay pagbakwitan. Da mama ay sinbebsat ya si alapomi et makitagtagda ta naligat iman di maalan di bomba. This part is then the vivid memory of my mother: ninsaldeng kano si inana danat baa-en si mama, tay sya nan kainuy-aan ken daida ay sinbebsat, et kanana en sumubli kanos mama ta ena isaltek nan baey ya tangban san kankanenda ta adi sumgep nan aso ta baka umey na aminen san kanenda. And the prospect of wastage, amidst all the chaos and rush to evacuate the surroundings, made my mother go back to cover the food and lock the door. Et waay sya nan kauudian ay kinmaan issan ili tay istulyaena ay bugbugawan kano nan ipugaw sya ta iyoyoko na ay tumagtag ya ta nan ketang nan daanena na adi kano ilan nan alpolano sya..