Mummies exposed to humidity, rains, says Benguet curator

BAGUIO CITY--The

rains have started to

worry a museum

curator here who

oversees the

preservation of the

celebrated mummy

of Apo Anno in

Buguias, Benguet.

Ike Picpican, curator

of the Saint Louis

University museum, said the July humidity and the

onslaught of the seasonal rains could finally

damage the mummy of Apo Anno, who was

restored to its burial cave in Buguias last year.

He said there must be more anxiety now among

the cave's caretakers on the physical condition of

the mummy that was returned to the province

amid lavish native rituals.

Anno, whom tribal legends say was a 250-year-old

demigod, was supposed to have been encased in a

freshly cut and specially treated pine coffin to

assure moderate protection against bacterial

infection that may attach itself to the preserved

remains.

But Picpican said the wooden coffin has not yet

been properly treated when Anno was finally

shipped back to Buguias.

The mummy had been ''too open to the elements

before it was encased in a temporary container,''

Picpican said.

A photographer caught a fly that was latched onto

Anno's tattooed form before the mummy was

sealed from view in May 1999.

Picpican said a new testimony on the process and

technology of mummification in the Cordillera

Region could shed light on the process and help

restore Anno's remains.

''I am aware (that) the National Museum has kept

tabs on Anno, but I have been trying desperately

to validate a new theory explaining the real

process for mummification here. That might help us

understand the principle, and help us make sure

(that) the mummy of Apo Anno is protected before

it becomes irretrievably destroyed by the

elements,'' Picpican said in Filipino.

The process, which is known to modern

anthropologists, could not be perfected despite

extra efforts to approximate the mummification

technology in Benguet, he said.

Tales documented by the National Museum

describe the role in the mummification process of a

mysterious brew, which a dying person must drink

before he gasps his last breath. The corpse is then

smoked for weeks after the person's death.

Dead leaders or rich men in the Cordillera are given

the privilege of being smoked dry while sitting

upright on a sawadil (death chair).

Picpican said a new testimony reveals certain

details about the brew and the herbs used to

preserve the corpses.

He said the testimony was obtained from a

120-year-old Ibaloi man a few months ago. He said

they have notified the National Museum on the

testimony of the man.

''It is important for many researchers that the

mummies are (kept) virtually dry, even when

interred in granite caves. It is also crucial that in

recent attempts to restore centuries-old mummies

to their baey (burial cave), two of these mummies

crumbled in (a matter of) months despite best

efforts (to preserve them),'' Picpican said.

He said reporters from Discovery Magazine actually

tried to get the information on the mummification

process from him during a recent visit to Kabayan,

Benguet.

But he said he wanted to be more certain about

the brew before he could have this published in

scientific journals.

''I am actually waiting for a detailed (medical scan)

of a tissue specimen taken from a mummy. The

tissue was tested in a local hospital here. (Its

results) may explain why the mummies are too dry,

and it may lead us to clues about the kind of

chemicals used to treat them,'' Picpican said.

His other alternative would be to test the new

process.

A retired Benguet Museum employee, who

volunteered to undergo mummification upon his

death, backed out.

''I had to tell him he would need to save money for

20 carabaos and cattle, one horse and 11 pigs to

start a ritual. He did not think he was worth that

anymore,'' Picpican said.