CHAPTER 7
The
Beauty Pageant Answer
It was my turn to go
to Manila to attend to an examination and interview for my residency training. I was to cross
and climb towards Salegseg. Passing through the bridge was a piece of cake. I
gave myself a thumbs up. Then the ascent came. Reaching the mango tree near Liglig
village, I took a stop and sat down. But as I felt the urge to urinate, I stood up and
urinated. I did not know what happened next. I woke up lying down under the
tree with my fly open. I realized I had orthostatic hypotension. A sudden
loss of blood in my brain occurred when I hurriedly stood up caused the fainting spell.
I laughed at the silliness of the situation. I looked around and it was good there was no one. I looked at the ravine and thanked God that I did not fall into that
abyss. I might have met death that time.
From the FB page of Mr. Gerry Oribello |
I continued my walk
towards the town center. Upon reaching the military outpost, I was told the
military commander wanted to talk to me. As I met the man face to face near the
basketball court where they were playing I sized him up as he sized me up. He
was not the commander we met during the town meeting. He was younger, brusque
and with an air of arrogance. He looked at me and looked at my backpack. I thought he was going to inspect the bag. However, with authoritative curiosity asked me, “What are you doing there?” I responded
in a fatigued and yet polite manner, “ We were doing community medicine.” He
looked at me in a bewildered way and replied rhetorically, “Do you think that
will work?” Despite my lingering doubts, I answered, “It will work. As long, as you
have commitment and dedication. As long, as you keep your faith in humanity.
Everything will work out just fine.” He looked at me in the eyes, then
he stretched his arms to shake my hands. I stretched my arms towards his hands
and I clasped his strong military hands.
When I met members of
my foster family, they told me that during the encounter and the bombardment of
a part of the village, someone told the commander that the doctors were very
near the area. Allegedly, he answered, “Let them be bombed!” I don’t know.
Despite the brazenness, brusqueness and intimidating attitude of the military
commander, I was able to acquit myself exceedingly well because of my beauty
pageant answer.
from clipart-library.com |
At the town center,
Salegseg, while resting at the house of Manong Karyo, I got to meet a lot of
people asking me to buy that and buy things not easily procured in Balbalan.
Someone even suggested that I buy a lot of personal things and sell them to
those who wanted it. They told me to be the capitalist and they will be the
seller. Wow, shades of entrepreneurship in Kalinga. I was quite surprised they
did not ask Chita to buy those things for them.
So my Manila stint was
not only to attend to professional concerns but a travel to Divisoria where I
could buy the cheap and sturdy goods I was requested to. I was back to the
grueling travel to Tuguegarao, Tabuk and to Balbalan. Back in Balbalan, at the
Balantoy area, there seem to be a lot of activity in the area most especially
at the Balbalan Agro-Industrial School. There were hushed tones inside the
vehicle but since it was in Salegseg, I did not fully understood what they were
saying. Suffice to say, there is an important meeting in that area. As the
vehicle approached the town area, I was requested to go down at the Western Kalinga District Hospital. Chita and Rizel were there waiting for me. I saw
Manang Leonor, the hospital cashier who asked me to buy girls' things and I
gave her requests. I could the brightness of their smiles as I distributed the
goods they have asked for. I learned later on that Dr. Olidan invited us to
have lunch in their house, that’s why Chita and Rizel were there waiting.
Dr. Olidan lived in a
hill overlooking valleys and other hills. Her yard is the epitome of a farm -
teeming with chicken, goats and she has backyard piggery. Dr. Olidan’s piggery
might be the forerunner of the “No Smell Piggery” projects nowadays as very
faint odor is emitted from her pig pens. Dr. Olidan lived in Balantoy and is
very near the Balbalan Agro-Industrial School (BAIS). While going to Dr.
Olidan’s house, we had to pass by the BAIS and my eyes just popped out. I saw a
man, about 5’4” in height, unassuming, docile persona who was carrying a gun.
It was the same man I saw in the newspaper before I went to Balbalan. We were
ask to get down from our vehicle. And here I am, faced to faced with the
leading revolutionary of the Cordillera. The handshake and the enigmatic smile
were enough. I took a mental picture of the event as we did not have cameras to
document the event. Had this occurred in contemporary times, I would have that
selfie with the Man of the 80s - Father Conrado Balweg. But my prevailing sentiment during that time was that he was an ordinary man like us. He like us had the capability to dream. And his dream is to emancipate the people of the Cordilleras from extreme poverty. Kalinga-Apayao during that time is the second poorest province in the country.
Our trip to Dr.
Olidan’s house was capped with a meal of the quintessential red rice,
pinikpikan and the etag. Pinikpikan is a chicken dish in the Cordillera. It is
prepared by beating the chicken with a stick prior to cooking. The beating
bruises the chicken's flesh, bringing blood to its surface, which is said to
improve the flavour after cooking. Etag or itag is salted meat, cured and aged underground
in an earthen jar. The flavor is comparable to blue cheese but is much oilier and
flavorful after it's cooked. While enjoying our meal, we had a good discussion
of what is the local food fare of the Kalingas with regards to chicken and pork
meat. We were told that Pinikpikan and etag are Mountain Province in origin.
Dr. Olidan’s husband is an Anglican Minister originally from Sagada. According
to Dr. Olidan, the Kalingas loved chili-based food. They cook their chicken in
“sinilian” (full of chili) fashion. The chicken is shredded, minced with citrus
leaves (calamansi, pomelo or orange) and it is fried in boiling coconut or
vegetable oil.
Another way of cooking their chicken is by stewing it. It is sautéed in garlic, onions and ginger. Then they let the stew boil until the meat becomes soft. They place sayote or green papaya and put some available vegetable leaves. To put a sting to their stewed chicken, they put a spoonful of red chilies in it.
There is also a similar recipe to the “laing” in the Kalinga food fare. They call it pinatan-atang. It is made up of gabi leaves, coconut milk, ginger, garlic and salt. These are boiled into softness and it is again mixed with plentiful chilies. Meat whether in itag form or not, dried fish or broiled or fried fish are included in the mixture. I have encountered this in Fiji. However, they use the whole gabi leaves to wrap fish , chicken or meat which were mixed with minced garlic, onions and ginger as well as salt. They are cooked in freshly expressed coconut milk known to us Filipinos as “kakang gata.” They call this recipe in Fiji, palusami.
Another way of cooking their chicken is by stewing it. It is sautéed in garlic, onions and ginger. Then they let the stew boil until the meat becomes soft. They place sayote or green papaya and put some available vegetable leaves. To put a sting to their stewed chicken, they put a spoonful of red chilies in it.
There is also a similar recipe to the “laing” in the Kalinga food fare. They call it pinatan-atang. It is made up of gabi leaves, coconut milk, ginger, garlic and salt. These are boiled into softness and it is again mixed with plentiful chilies. Meat whether in itag form or not, dried fish or broiled or fried fish are included in the mixture. I have encountered this in Fiji. However, they use the whole gabi leaves to wrap fish , chicken or meat which were mixed with minced garlic, onions and ginger as well as salt. They are cooked in freshly expressed coconut milk known to us Filipinos as “kakang gata.” They call this recipe in Fiji, palusami.
We can’t forget our
foster sister’s cooking of the inandila ( pronounced as inanchila). Manang Adni
perfectly cooks this delicacy in which she said, the preparation was a
community endeavor. Inandila is a rice cake delicacy made of the famous Kalinga
glutinous rice. It is initially pounded to perfection, then cooked in boiling
coconut milk. They wait until the coconut milk curdles but not to the point
where the “latik” turns brown. It is rolled into sugar which made it the
perfect dessert to any meal.
The inandila - a glutinous rice food fare of the Kalingas. It is very reminiscent of the tikoy of the lowlanders with latik on top. |
After the food trip,
it was time to expend the extra calories we just had. What better way was to
walk down to the valley which we call home - Gawaan.
Note:
Note:
If the pictures are not attributed to a website or a person, it is mine. Those who own the pictures I have used and does not want to appear in this blog, please e-mail me at rqmallari60@gmail.com and I would be more than willing to remove them. Thank you.
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