more of this in www.banaue.net and www.igorotglobal,net

Sangal di Kultura  - August 12, 2007

Igorot International Consultation - Seven in Banaue

Exactly nine months from now, we participate in the IIC7 in Banaue with the theme “Nurturing our culture and resources to chart and secure our destiny.” This week in the Igorot and Bibaknets e-forum we discussed some details of the upcoming Igorot International Consultation (IIC7) in Banaue on April 12-15,2008. Wow, did I get some reactions from our overseas counterpart.

The Igorot International Consultation (IIC) find it’s roots  in  1994 when  Rex Botengan and other leaders in Los Angeles  decided to gather Igorots especially those working overseas. In this gathering, it gave them an opportunity to share our experiences living in our communities. We tried  to discuss issues affecting the Igorots and Cordilleran s. Some of the issues  discussed were the mining act, energy, Igorotism, the rice terraces in Banaue, rice wine making, Igorot youth, entrepreneurship, and a lot of information sharing.

There were already six IICs, the first being in West Covina, California in September 1- 4,  1995 hosted by Bibak Inc-Los Angeles. The second IIC was in Virginia, US in July 1997 hosted by Bibak DC and the third IIC was in Baguio City, Philippines last April 25-28, 2000  hosted by the Philippine Task Force.  The IIC4 was in London, UK last June 28-July1,2002 hosted by Igorot UK. The IIC5 was in St. Louis Missouri, USA last July 1-4, 2004 by the IGO Organizing Committee and the IIC6 was in Melbourne, Australia last April 20-23, 2006 hosted by IGO-Australia, Inc.

The Philippine hosting the IIC7 came up through  a resolution in the St. Louis Missouri consultation . Preparations started in 2005, IGO executive meetings and general assembly voted on various locations and in all the venues, Banaue came up to be the number one choice. We expect to hold the upcoming IICs in other towns and cities in the Cordillera like Bontoc, Tabuk and maybe even Bangued. The choice was  presented to the Council of Elders of Igorot Global Organization and was accepted. Therefore, IGO Philippines came up with a skeletal plan and I presented it during the Conference in Melbourne. This was received with enthusiasm by those who attended the consultation, especially those who never went to Ifugao.

 However, apprehension came because of various incidents like the Claver killing in Tabuk, the Peace Corp murdered in Batad, the hold-up in Tinoc-Buguias road. All these incidents created apprehension that the overseas participants maybe placed in great danger.  This is now a concern that needs to be addressed by the organizers and the partners in government.

This week the apprehension is that we do not have enough lodging areas in Banaue to host at least 500 participants. We have already booked Banaue Hotel for the occasion and are working with the local association of Hotels and Inns. We already have made communications to Philippine Tourism which handles bookings for Banaue Hotel and just this week they called me up to share their preferences in the procedure of booking and payments for the accommodations.  At least three overseas families are already booked in Banaue Hotel. We hope more homes will be opened for those who wish to do home stay while attending the IIC7.

We expect activities for the youth where they can have community exposure and bonfires while they are in Ifugao. We expect more of our youth to participate in this upcoming event. Moreover, we hope more local youth will be part of the planning group, as overseas counterpart hope that the Youth will plan and organize their activities. The first day of the conference, they are expected to do dance presentations during dinner. The second day will be a day outside in the community, the third day will be their meeting, and the fourth day will be the workshops.

The IIC7 planning committee will kick off a fund raising program for the IGO projects including the subsidy of local registrants, scholarship programs, assistance to terminally ill patients and culture advocacy. A souvenir program is being published for the occasion and some local and overseas Igorots have already pledged to advertise. We are asking help from government and the general public in these fund raising to increase participation in IIC7 and have a greater awareness of the Global Igorot village.