THE STORY OF FIVE MONTHS - A PERSPECTIVE AFTER 31 YEARS (10)

Chapter 10

We Made It...

A Citrus reticulata tree

I realized that there was no time to sulk in Balbalan. Every day is another day and there are so many things to be done. It was gayunan orange picking time and Manong Karyo plans to buy the fruits from the tree owners and bring it to Baguio. He loaded two jeepneys full of oranges. You can just imagine how many oranges one jeep can contain. I joined the “gayunan” team to Baguio for the simple reason that I can go down to La Union and visit my parents. The gayunan orange is a Mandarin type of orange. The skin is pebbly without deep grooves. It is initially green when mature but the skin turns orange when fully matured. The mandarin orange is usually sweet with a sour taste but leaves a tangy after taste. The clementine and ponkan are among the well-known mandarin oranges The clementine is smaller and had thin skin while the ponkan has thick but smooth skin had a much sweeter taste than its piquant characteristics. The Kalinga orange more commonly known as “gayunan” exhibits a more moderate sweetness and less sour taste. The tartness that is almost absent. Its shelf life is longer as long as it is kept in an airy and dry atmosphere. They even turn out to be sweeter. Among the oranges I have tasted, it is the “gayunan” that suited my taste buds best. During its season, I go to Baguio to buy them. But after 31 years, the 1 peso/piece gayunan price had skyrocketed to 12 to 15 pesos/piece depending on the size and its availability. 

Long stretch of unpaved roads in 1986

Our trip followed the Kalinga Highway that passed through Lubuagan and Tinglayan and connects with the road to Sadanga and Bontoc, Mountain Province. The highway is long stretch mountain roads, dusty, bumpy and dangerous as it runs parallel to the Chico River. A miscalculation would send you deep into a ravine towards the Chico River. On the other side are rugged mountain terrains and one wonders why these areas were not developed when you have pure unadulterated rustic and unblemished charm of the countryside. 

Rustic but beautiful countryside

We traveled early morning in Balbalan. At 5 AM we were on the road. We were caught by the rising sun at the Lubuagan area. The Lubuagan countryside is both a combination of highland communities and breathtaking villages in a valley. The blending of the view to the Chico River with the mountains and greeneries was exhilarating. But there was a tinge of fright within me because of the stories of the fierce locals and the threat of tribal wars. Along the stretch of unpaved and gravelly road, we had felt so much serenity.  From Lubuagan to Tinglayan, the road slope downward till Sadanga. Sadanga is now part of  the Mountain Province. The whole stretch of the Tinglayan road was also unpaved and gravelly sometimes a half or a kilometer of paved roads can be seen. But the beauty of the mountain ranges as it played with the lights of the rising sun was truly remarkable. I felt a deep sense of sadness why the highway was not even developed. Deep inside, I praised the Kalingas for their strength and fervor as they go through the grinds of daily life without complaints. As we passed by Sadanga I found that its grandeur was due to the beautiful rice terraces seen along the roadside. Then we had reached Bontoc where we had our stopover breakfast. We had a breakfast of Bontoc coffee and a soup from a goat’s stew at a midtown restaurant. Some of the group who joined us ordered dog’s meat and was offered to me but I refused to have a taste of it. In Bontoc, I was surprised how the children would address us. If you were a male elder, they would call you as uncle regardless of blood relations and auntie if you were a female. The term of endearment was music to the ears for me. 

The juicy and sweet gayunan oranges of Kalinga fame.

The Balbalan orange farms 

Video courtesy of and uploaded by JR Garcia in youtube.

Manong Karyo saw some friends and acquaintances in Bontoc and asked us where we were heading. He told them we were heading to Baguio and were going to sell gayunan oranges. They got interested an in a few minutes, there was a line of people in front of the vehicle and we began selling the oranges there. When the last person bought his share of oranges, we had sold worth of  five thousand pesos of oranges. That perked Manong Karyo up and off we went our way to Baguio. We passed by Sabangan, Mountain province and what a beautiful sight of the river. Nineteen years after, I was back in Sabangan and Bontoc on a legislative tour. That is another story to tell. Manong Karyo decided to detour to Mankayan and visit some relatives working in Lepanto and sell oranges in the place. Almost all of the one jeep was sold. Then we proceeded to Buguias, Benguet. Buguias is the vegetable granary of the Cordilleras. Patches of land are planted with vegetables only seen in the temperate areas. We had our luncheon in one of the roadside stores. And after our meal, we continued selling oranges. Old and young alike formed a line and just like in Bontoc and Mankayan, the children refer to me as uncle. 

In Baguio, we went directly to the city market. And surprisingly, a buyer bought the Kalinga oranges from Manong Karyo at once. I would have gone home at once to La Union but he invited me to meet the Balbalan students in Baguio first. Manong Karyo distributed the allowances of the students sent by their parents to them. There was a tinge of deja vu in what Manong Karyo did. I suddenly missed home. I told Manong Karyo, it was time for me to go home and see my parents. I told him I would meet him the next day to join them back to Balbalan. 

Coffea arabica seedling

I brought a lot of coffee seedlings from Balbalan and brought them to La Union. What made me interested with the coffee plants is that when I was still a child, there was a coffee plantation in front of the house. But they have to go when my aunt had her house constructed on the very land where the coffee plants grew. I was thinking that I would be able to replace the plants and had very robust coffee plants grow in the backyard. Years later the coffee plants grew but when they flower, they turn black. If the flowers turn into fruits, the fruits turn black. It was then I realized that the coffee plants I planted in the backyard were not suited to my terrain and the climate. The plants suited for lowlands were the liberia and robusta. I planted the arabica which were much suited to mountainous and forest like areas. 

Kalinga heirlooms

I was happy to see my parents even for the little time. It wasn’t really the distance that sets us apart but the absence of communications.  My father helped me plant the coffee seedlings I brought with me. I was very happy for the Kalinga jar and the Kalinga woven cloth given to me by Manang Andi. I only realized now that the jar had a certain meaning into it. The jar was actually a pottery vessel which were used in rice ceremonies offered to deities to give them good harvest. I would have wanted a sample of the Kalinga beads but these are considered heirlooms for them. They were handed from generation to generation. 

Even with a little time at home, I felt recharged and went back to Baguio the next day. If the vehicles were full of oranges when we went to Baguio, this time , it was full of the needs of the people in Balbalan. Manong Karyo bought merchandise to stock his store in Salegseg. I remembered buying for Manang Leonor some clothes, brassiere and T-shirts for her to sell. Our trip was a wonderful one as it provided me a glimpse of the different places that comprised the Cordilleras. 

We passed through small bridges made of bamboo, trekked mountains and passed through villages and entered the forest

Back in Gawaan, we had Chestcore outreach volunteers going to Buaya. Chestcore is a non-government organization that aims to render health services to far-flung areas. Since our Public Health Nurse Ampy who was assigned to us was from Buaya and she extended her invitation to us, we gladly accepted the invitation to join them. From Gawaan, we passed through Sitio Obel. I had been to Obel already and the climb to the village is very steep and it is already a challenge. But it is a farther challenge to enter the forest at thr Mabaca area. Along the way from Obel and Mabaca, we pass by houses whose inhabitants would ask us to stop by and would offer us water and a little food. In some we obliged but in some our guide will tell us to forge ahead. 

During the hike, I would ask the guide how long would the trek be and he would answer me, not long. We had been walking for around two hours already and yet we seem to have not gone far yet. We had been walking and walking. Then I asked again, how long would it be? We are going into that forest and once we get out of it, we are already there, he countered. And I answered back, how long would the walk into the forest? He quipped, not long and he smiled and continued to lead the pack. 

The Mabaca rainforest that we traversed and a leech sucking into an arm of one of the hikers

The forest was a tropical rain forest. It was wet inside the forest; hence, you don’t feel the heat. The forest was a beauty. Tall big trees abound with beautiful canopies. There were awesome orchids and flowering wild plants. We were lucky to see wild deer and a group of wild pigs. We were advised before the walk that we would be passing by areas where there are so many leeches. We were on long sleeves and pants where the long ends were covered by two layers of thick sacks. Our encounter with the leeches was that of annoyance but our guide had leech sucks every now and then. He seemed used to it. There were still leeches that accumulated in our clothes and they were moving a lot for the absence of flesh to suck on. The guide took his stick and placed it in our pants and the leeches fell off one by one from our pants. We were amazed and he answered us that he rubbed it with cigarette soaked with oil. The leeches were repulsed by the combination.

The people from Buaya who who hosted us

I asked if the walk will still be a long way out of the forest, and our guide, said, “it’s there with matching use of his lips to show the way as he moves his head towards the pathway. Despite the wet pathway, and some slippages, we were out of the forest in due time. We saw a village on a hill and I asked if that was already Buaya and the guide smiled and said that’s still part of Mabaca. We were nearing, the guide told us. We contented ourselves with enjoying the view of the pine forest we saw. We were told; some parts of Mabaca had pine forests while Talalang and Balbalasang are predominantly coniferous. As a biologist in my pre-medical years, my interest in these types of forests was again rekindled. I was mentally identifying the plants I saw in my surroundings as we were treading into narrow and muddy foot paths. After another couple of hours walking, we noted that the foot trail was becoming dry, larger and paved. After a grueling 6 hours walk, we reached Buaya, the barangay that borders Pinukpuk town. We were received by the people with their warm smiles. We took our rest and I asked our guide why did he keep on telling us that we are nearing the place and he answered me, “If I will tell you it is far, you might not even think of going this far. If I tell you that it is just near, you will continue walking and forge ahead because you think that the place is just around the bend or the corner.” I heaved a deep sigh and gave out a hearty smile. I made it through the mountains and the forests. 

Eating with the VHW trainees during a lunch break

Back in Gawaan, Rizel went home ahead of us. Our VHW training has come to an end and we held a graduation day to mark this affair. We hope that we were able to answer a felt need on the community. On one beautiful December 2 afternoon, Mary Rose a teacher and a health worker trainee came from Tabuk. She met us in front of the house. She was holding a newspaper and showed us that we were able to hurdle the physician’s licensure examination. Pandemonium erupted and the whole village was disturbed. They thought something happened to us in the house. When they came to the house, they saw us rejoicing and they realized all of us passed our licensure examination. They joined us in our merriment. The gaiety and fun continued in the evening when Kalinga dances were done to celebrate the joyous day. The affair finished till the late evening. We were so thankful to them for sharing with us the joys and merriment of our triumph. We can’t forget these people who once shared their lives with us. 

Handing out the certificates of completion to the VHW graduates

We were soon called for a national convention of all those who participated in the program. We had to leave. It was a painful parting. There were a lot of tears that had fallen from our eyes. Hugs and handshakes were not enough but we had to go. 

The Gawaan, Balbalan Team

We did not leave the memories behind. It was with us until this very day. 

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.