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Harnessing culture to save environment
Source: Inquirer
Author: Al Santos
Date: 1999-07-10
 
Al Santos



Saan nagpunta ang mga Diwata?

Sa Sinaka--bundok na dakila

Ang huling hantungan

Ng mga inulilang Diwata--Song from

the musical ''Oya! Arakan''



DATU Salud Liatan was approaching the end of his ''earth'' life.

From his humble hut perched on a slope of Sitio Aguila, he

talked of the days when the forests blanketed the surface of

their kingdom and wild eagles hovered in the skies.



He remembered the nights when he would dream that he was an

eagle watching over his kingdom.



The Manobo chieftain died four years ago. On his final days, he

still pondered how sheer human effort could have caused the

vast expanse of immovable rain forests and water tributaries to

disappear. And how the majestic Aguila, after which his

kingdom was named, could have vanished from the skies.



He thought only his native gods could make this happen.



Sitio Aguila was the bird's favorite nesting place. As a kid, the

old chieftain used to count a dozen or two perched on trees as

he made his way uphill to play warrior games.



From the top of the hill, the young Salud saw endless waves of

green flowing as far as his eyes could see. This was the Arakan

wilderness, once upon a time, when the earth almost touched

boundaries with the sky.



Mountain desert



Today, the view at Arakan is closer to a mountain desert, the

soil is barren, water is scarce and the fabled Aguila is nowhere

to be found.



The loggers have also left and moved to greener

places--mountains without trees have no more use for these

modern-day ''gods.''



The birds have migrated to Mt. Sinaka, the sacred mountain

where Manobos conduct ancient rituals. Along with the

endangered eagles, the natives say, anitus or ancestral spirits

have sought refuge in the last frontier of Arakan Valley.



Environmental sanctuaries, real and symbolic, have emerged all

over Mindanao in recent years, striving to conserve the

remaining wilderness, protect its endangered creatures and

revitalize indigenous people's communities.



One such effort is a gathering of cultural workers and

indigenous peoples on July 17-23 in Koronadal, South

Cotabato, the land of the T'bolis.



Organized by the Asian Council for People's Culture-Theatre for

the Environment Network (ACPC-Tent), the training will bring

together cultural workers from indigenous Bagobo, T'boli, Aeta,

Dibabawon and Kalinga communities, as well as their lowland

counterparts.



Nature elements



The training focuses on utilizing traditions and indigenous

knowledge which foster oneness of people and environment

and reverence for nature elements as dwelling places of

ancestral spirits.



The ACPC-Tent network is premised on the belief that native

traditions and beliefs provide the keys to protecting and

conserving the environment.



In many remote villages and mountains of Mindanao,

environmentalists, cultural workers, journalists, teachers and

government officials are racing against time to save a tree, an

endangered eagle, a dying river, a vanishing tribal community.



It is hoped that one day, these distinct and separate efforts, like

ripples, will create waves that will reverse the tide of death and

destruction of indigenous communities and environment.



Last week, a wounded Philippine eagle was released back to its

mountain home, Sinaka.



Perched on a dead tree, awaiting her return, was the eagle's

mate. Perhaps it was the spirit of Datu Salud, the chieftain who

dreamed he would be an eagle one day.



---------------------



Al Santos, an adopted Mindanaoan, wrote and directed the

''Oya! Arakan'', ''Sa Bundok ng Apo'' and other musicals.





 

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