This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 4, February 27-March 5, 2005
Bodong:
Cordillera Tribes’ Best Hope for Tribal Rifts Peace-pact holders say
people seek the help of the bodong because they find it hard to obtain
justice elsewhere. By LYN V. RAMO BAGUIO CITY— Tribal communities rarely go to
court for conflict resolution, a Kalinga bodong (peace pact) holder told
Nordis in a recent interview, reacting to a 1999 general pagta
(agreements) initiated by some professionals from Kalinga. According to Markus Bangit, a Malbong tribe
leader and peace pact holder for Dangtalan, people either go to courts or ask
the help of bodong holders to settle a conflict in the binodngan
areas. But more often than not, he said, poor peasants resort to the bodong
for relief. “Iti ili, nu inareglon ti bodong,
nawaswasen ti amin a basol (Back in the village, when
the bodong settles the conflict, everything is forgiven),” Bangit
clarifies. “Ken nu nagdesisyonda nga ikamang iti korte, idiayen a
madesisyonan. Nu kunada nga ikamangda iti bodong, awanen ti mapan iti korte
(Once people decide to go to court, they do not seek the bodong or vice
versa),” he adds. On the opinion that the whole tribe
shoulders the costs demanded from the offender, Bangit says that as practiced in
Kalinga, the cost of settling tribal conflict is borne by the perpetrator. In
cases where the offender could not afford such, he is given a chance to find
ways to put up the amount and his or her clan, not the whole tribe, will help
him raise funds to come up with the complete amount. Bangit says a bigger
portion of the cost of settlement should come from the offending individual.
Bangit encouraged the role of peacemakers in
modern times. “Ti bales ket ugali idi primitibo a
panawen. Ngem itatta nga adda ti korte, tiliwen koma ti pulis dagiti nagbasol.
Anya ngay koma ti akem dagiti platoon-sized police forces nu haan nga ti
agpatalinaed ti kapya ken talna? (Vengeance was
practiced in the primitive times. Now that there are courts, police forces
should apprehend the offender. What is the responsibility of platoon-sized
police forces if not to maintain harmony and peace?),” Bangit asks.
He is quite uncomfortable with the agreement
that the bodong holders must stand as witnesses against the offender.
“Kasano ka nga ag-witness ngay no awan ti nakitam?” (How could one be a
witness when he did not see anything?) It is acceptable in the tribal communities
for the bodong holders to conduct an independent investigation and decide
on the basis of that investigation, Bangit clarifies. Courts, however, can
dismiss his testimony as hearsay, even if it was based on his tribe’s
investigation. Aside from the limitations of the Philippine
justice system, Bangit sees the danger in standing as a witness against his
tribesmen because, he says, it invites clan war within the tribe. Clan war is
more dangerous and divisive, Bangit says. The bilateral bodong in the cities
are fine, Bangit says, but the rules of the pagta, particularly those in
the Lubuagan-Guinaang bodong which were adopted from the general pagta
in 1999, are not easy to achieve. He says it requires the approval of all
tribal members who are encouraged to sign the pagta. He says the role of
the peace pact holder to unify all the tribal members is quite crucial. It is
also their responsibility to have the bodong recognized by the tribes in
the ili or else, it will be futile. Bangit also says that if the problem
happened in the ili and the bodong has resolved the conflict
there, a bodong in the city becomes academic. He said, the bodong
in the ili is decisive in the settlement of tribal war. The agreement of
the immigrant tribes in the city will prevent the spillage of tribal war outside
the province in cases where conflicts have not been resolved. Bangit says people seek the help of the
bodong because they find it hard to obtain justice elsewhere. “Iti agdama, bodong pay laeng ti epektibo
a mangmintina iti relasyon iti nagbabaetan dagiti tribu. Umuna, awan ti kabaelan
dagiti mannalon para iti kaso (At present, bodong
is the most effective means to maintain the relationships among tribes.
Foremost, peasants have no means to finance the case),” Bangit points out. He
says the filing fees in court and the acceptance fees that lawyers impose on the
litigants are prohibitive that poor peasants prefer the tribal leaders.
A convenor of the Metro-Baguio Tribal
Elders’/Leaders’ Council (MBTEC), Bangit also heads the Elders’ Desk of the
Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance (CPA). MBTEC is composed of 60 elders and leaders
representing 22 tribes in Abra, Kalinga and Mt. Province. Like the Kalinga
Bodong Convenors’ Group, MBTEC advocates that Metro-Baguio be spared from tribal
wars. It is presently pursuing its anti-tribal war campaign. “Saanen a nainkalintegan ti tribal war
itatta a tiyempo. Ti bodong ket masapol a pagbalinen a progresibo tapno
agserbi iti interes ti amin a binodngan, (Tribal wars
are not justified these days. Bodong should be transformed into
progressive agreements for it to serve the people in the tribal communities),”
Bangit says. He says people should appreciate the
initiatives of both the Lubuagan and the Guinaang tribes to prevent further
bloodshed in the cities brought about by the death of a tribal youth leader in
Kalinga. But this city-based initiative cannot decide on the conflict that
started in Kalinga, Bangit said. Bangit encourages tribe members who have
migrated to the cities to forge further unity not only through bilateral
peace-pacts but also through multilateral peace agreements to face their common
issues. In the cities where there are no territories to speak of, Bangit says,
there are common issues that people could talk about. “Addanto ti panawen a maawanto ti pateg
ti bodong (Time will come when the bodong will
lose its importance).” People have to understand that when a thing is no longer
useful, it is forgotten, Bangit says. However, he adds that a higher level of
social consciousness and a tighter unity may be forged among several tribes.
He urges tribal people to forge multilateral
agreements and fight against common enemies of the poor peasants in the
provinces. Poor peasants are victims of tribal conflict in the provinces and of
fake land reform laws, the encroachment of big mining corporations and human
rights violations. Bangit says a multilateral bodong might come up with
a common unity to solve these problems and advance the interests of the people.
Nordis/Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
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Northern Dispatch
Posted by BulatlatFlawed justice system
Uniting tribal members
Justice at one’s doorstep
Multilateral agreements