 CenPEG’s
summer student volunteers join Cordillera Day
The
Volunteers Integration Program (VIP) of CenPEG brought nine summer
practicum students to Hungduan, Ifugao province for the Cordillera
Day, April 23-25, 2009. A remote interior town in the mountain province
of Ifugao, Hungduan could be reached after a 9-hour ride from Manila.
The
25th to be held, Cordillera Day is a yearly event organized by the
Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA) to commemorate the death
of Macliing Dulag, a Kalinga warrior, who was in the forefront of
the Cordillera-wide campaign against the Chico dam construction
during the Marcos martial law. He was killed by assassins believed
to be government soldiers in Tinglayan, Kalinga.
The
political science students from the University of the Philippines
(UP) in Manila spend two days during the Cordillera Day by joining
the conference, workshops, and integration with Ifugao leaders and
villagers.
The
2009 VIP summer practicum of CenPEG centered on community immersion,
visits to Congress, legislative offices, and other places where
the students did research and interviews for their summer requirements.
(More about this later.)
This
year’s VIP summer program is the fifth since it begun in 2005,
with integrees coming mostly from UP and other schools. Part of
the activities is their participation in the Cordillera Day.
This
year’s Cordillera Day was observed in five separate venues
throughout the Cordillera region – home to the Philippines
indigenous peoples collectively called Igorots or Kaigorotan. The
issue of ancestral domain was discussed, among other IP concerns.
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