• Headlines
  • City/Region News
    • Covid-19 Advisory and Updates
    • Baguio City
    • CAR
    • Nation
  • Sectoral news
    • Elections
      • Elections – 2022
      • Elections – 2019
    • Agriculture, Fishery and Pets
    • Business and Livelihood
    • Education, Arts & Culture
    • Environment and Disaster Management
    • Science, Health, and Welfare
      • covid-19 advisory and updates
    • Tourism, travel and Events
    • Other Lifestyle
    • Police Beat
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Timek Ti Umili
  • Sports
    • Sports (Home)
    • Sports (Special Feature)
  • Other sections
    • Features
    • Photos/Videos
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Words for reflection
    • Sponsored articles
    • Jobs in Baguio
    • Elections
  • Ads & Notices
    • Obituaries
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Directory
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Contact Us
HERALD EXPRESS | News in Cordillera and Northern Luzon
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Headlines
  • City/Region News
    • Covid-19 Advisory and Updates
    • Baguio City
    • CAR
    • Nation
  • Sectoral news
    • Elections
      • Elections – 2022
      • Elections – 2019
    • Agriculture, Fishery and Pets
    • Business and Livelihood
    • Education, Arts & Culture
    • Environment and Disaster Management
    • Science, Health, and Welfare
      • covid-19 advisory and updates
    • Tourism, travel and Events
    • Other Lifestyle
    • Police Beat
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Timek Ti Umili
  • Sports
    • Sports (Home)
    • Sports (Special Feature)
  • Other sections
    • Features
    • Photos/Videos
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Words for reflection
    • Sponsored articles
    • Jobs in Baguio
    • Elections
  • Ads & Notices
    • Obituaries
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Directory
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Headlines
  • City/Region News
    • Covid-19 Advisory and Updates
    • Baguio City
    • CAR
    • Nation
  • Sectoral news
    • Elections
      • Elections – 2022
      • Elections – 2019
    • Agriculture, Fishery and Pets
    • Business and Livelihood
    • Education, Arts & Culture
    • Environment and Disaster Management
    • Science, Health, and Welfare
      • covid-19 advisory and updates
    • Tourism, travel and Events
    • Other Lifestyle
    • Police Beat
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Timek Ti Umili
  • Sports
    • Sports (Home)
    • Sports (Special Feature)
  • Other sections
    • Features
    • Photos/Videos
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Words for reflection
    • Sponsored articles
    • Jobs in Baguio
    • Elections
  • Ads & Notices
    • Obituaries
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Directory
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
HERALD EXPRESS | News in Cordillera and Northern Luzon
No Result
View All Result
Home Columns

‘Wingi-em Nan Lugar Ay Napu-am’

Bony A. Bengwayan by Bony A. Bengwayan
December 6, 2022
in Columns
Reading Time: 6 mins read
1 0
0
CAR Experts Triangulate Highlands Growth Snags
0
SHARES
3
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A team of social workers, sociologists, medical professionals, graduate students pursuing masters degrees and an anthropologist, unhesitatingly yanked Daily Laborer out from the comfort of Baguio City early morning last week, to accompany them do field work  along Halsema National Highway towns, finally decided last Monday afternoon around 3:30 PM to take respite at barangay Central, Poblacion Atok, Benguet before proceeding back to the City of Pines.

Shining was the  sun  that Monday afternoon,  fair as the sun could shine, in a beautiful November day, bright yet gentle, warm but fresh, midway between the watering pot  of October and the watering pan of November in the laughing hills and mountains of Atok.

Atok Municipality, to the Ibaloi is, “Nay patok shi shontog,” meaning, “On the mountain top,” is known for  chilly winds, frost, cold temperature  and boasts  also the most number  of the famed  Benguet coffee or Arabica coffee grown  in Cordillera highlands.

RelatedPosts

NUTRIENTS AND BLOOD HEALTH

SSS CONTRIBUTION PAYMENT SCHEDULE

Marijuana Legalization on Hiatus

Already, cold November winds that come before Christmas have made its presence felt by chafing the skins of Atok residents, splitting their lips and piercing their bones, who long felt the warmth of the past months but   now   have to contend with the icing weather.

Spotting a homespun stall where whiff of boiling “kape barako,” fruits of the Arabica coffee wafted into the air, Daily Laborer steered the Manila group into it, had them   comfortably seated and ordered barako coffee and home-made Atok bread.  

Those in the group marveled verbally about the taste of the Benguet coffee that has gained international reputation. Daily Laborer, who drank too much blackened barako    he felt his heart was as black as the coffee he loves to swallow, looked at the group quizzically then turned his attention to the sounds coming from the people nearby the other stalls in barangay Central, Poblacion Atok market.

For some moments, the chattering of the people at the market was a normal beehive of sounds. Then he heard it. From a distant stall, a woman’s voice was singing, subdued but clearly distinct, with a wisp of tenderness to it.

Daily Laborer glued his ears to the woman’s song and caught glimpses of the words of the song which went this way: “Kanayon ay ibagan ina.  Anak ko, siya di nemnemnemem na; ulay sino di panbalinam, wingi em lugar ay napu-am.” 

Sitting there, Daily Laborer tried to translate into his mind   the words of the song into Ilocano and came up with,” Kanayon nga ibaga ni Nanang ko, anak ko, dim kuma liplipatan. Uray nu sadinnut pakadanunam, lagipem toy lugar a nagapuwam.”

Daily Laborer stood up then said to the group, “Wait here, I’ll be back.”  He left the coffee stall then headed towards that distant stall and spotted a woman, still humming softly.

He estimated the woman probably in her late thirties. Lines began to grace her soft, beautiful face. A tuft of unruly hair kept falling between her eyebrows as she tried to tuck it away and happily said to Daily Laborer when she saw him, “Anya gatangen yu, Sir?” She was selling assorted goods.

To keep the conversation rolling, Daily Laborer surveyed her goods then settled to buying a black bonnet. They haggled for the price. In the midst of their conversation, Daily Laborer asked, “Ma’am, sika ba diay agkankanta itattay?” 

ADVERTISEMENT

The lady blushed slightly and said, “Wen,” paused, then continued, “Pangpalipas lang ti iliw!”

Daily Laborer pressed: “Ma’am, anya ba title diay kanta nga kakanta-em tattay?” And the lady answered, “Ay, aguray ka ta lagipek nu anya title na ajay.” For a moment she kept silent, then said, “Ay, Sir, ammokon, Sukisok ti title na didyiay a kanta.” 

Daily Laborer nodded, then said, “Mayat didyiay kantam, Ma’am. Taga ditoy kayo ba ditoy Atok?”

“Saan, Sir, taga Nueva Viscaya ak. Naki-asawa ak  ti taga Atok. Isu adda ak ditoy kadwak pamilyak. Naragsak ak ditoy, ngem nu maminsan ad-adda nga mailiw ak iti nagapuwak ijay Nueva Viscaya.” 

Daily Laborer nodded again and said, “Addi bali Ma’am, dandani Christmas. Mabalin met siguro makapasyar kayo ti pamilyam ijay Nueva Viscaya.”

For a moment, the lady smiled wistfully and said, “Uray kayat ko agawid Nueva Viscaya, awan met da inang ken ama ijay.  Nagawid dan ken Ama (she, pointed heavenwards) ken dagiti kakabsat ko   adda  da agbalbalay ijay La Trinidad,  ti maysa adda ijay  Baguio  ken jay udi mi adda ijay  Burgos, La Union. Awan metten da Lola ken Lolo mi.”  

Daily Laborer understandingly, raised a hand in salute to her, bade her Merry Christmas and strode back where he left the group. 

One of the ladies in the group, Martha Nadiles, graduate student from Baguio teasingly said, “Apay nagbayag ka manong Bony, napan mu samet inarem diay napintas nga aglaklako?” 

Daily Laborer teasingly responded, “Wen.”  And Nadiles teasingly countered, “Ket anya ngay sungbat na?”

Daily Laborer smiled broadly at Nadiles and said, “Ti sungbat na kanyak diay aglaklako ket kunana, Mr., mapan ka agbirok ti sukisok mo saan nga siak ti mapan mo sukisuken.”

But jestingly aside, Daily Laborer, got to thinking what the song meant to that Atok lady. How mutable is our existence.

That the resplendence of one day can be clouded by the next and the perspective becomes eclipsed ere the succeeding night. Happy creatures, we are, but we cannot, as a consequence, amply guess that which we admire in a passing moment, knowing as we do, our moments pass also.

Such could be the reason we are equally affected, or ought to be so affected, by what is intimate as looking back to our origins, evincing a kindred spirit and obtaining a renewed interest of not forgetting “diay lugar a nagapuwan tayo.” 

Life happens to be, you may say, a resume and the chapters to it are choices we make. Can we live life in a way where we can look forward to looking back? Daily Laborer could not even answer the question he posed to himself.

Yet, there is no trait, perhaps, more common, or more amiable in human character, than the attachment which an individual feels for his/her native place.

Your native place, be you highlander, lowlander or from other regions in the Philippines, possesses that resistless, tender and soul-subduing influence as does the remembrance of past scenes and pleasures rushing upon the mind. 

Your native hills, mountains, vales, the grooves, the murmuring rills, fields and meadows which witnessed innocence and your youthful and sporting years, arise before the imagination arrayed in all their charm.  

To us, more pleasant would be the sight of the homes we grew or the verdant mantle of nature spangled with colors, than the beauty and verdure of a distant land.

He related to the group why he got interested to talking about the lady they heard singing while they drank coffee. Cecilia Daspilan, among the group, a highlander coed and graduate of Sociology said, “Ayna, manong Bony, apay saan mo nadengdengeg didjiay a kanta?”

Daspilan then fished out her cell phone, started “pindoting here and pindoting there,” and, with a smile of triumph said, “Ni, manong, kitaem daytoy.”

Daily Laborer peered into the cell phone and saw the word “Sukisok” on the screen, the explanation below the word stated the song was written by Mr. Wilson Bastian Langpawen and sang by Jirabel Langpawen Ablaza. 

Daspilan said, “Denggen tayo diay kanta, a.” Doing CP pindot-pindot again, Cecilia waited for a moment, and then the song floated out from her CP. 

At the end of the song, another in the group, Mayjane Arianes, from La Union, and a nurse graduate, said, “Kanayon ko nang-ngeg dayta nga kanta. Makapa-iliw met a talaga.”  

Arianes switched to English and said to the group, “Memories have their purpose. It is always fine to remember what has made us what we have become today and reflect on what have made us stronger.”

They each started to soberly talk of their native places and got  dead serious that  that  it  affected   Daily Laborer  but alarmed him  also  of the group’s  getting so grave-talking   he  cleared his throat to get their attention.

He said, “Cut it off,  guys,  finish your  barako else I will be  infected by your sober  reflections on “wingi em nan lugar a napu-am,”  I might  be tempted to order a bottle of wine for us to slobber on  and later for  each of you  to  end up crying, or laughing on other’s  shoulders.” 

As they piled on the van to take them back to Baguio, Daspilan looked back and exclaimed, “Hala, agpaypayapay dagiti ban-bantay ti Atok. Pirme isem da!”

ShareTweetSend
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

RMC members urged to strengthen partnership

Next Post

Baguio barangays told to establish reading centers

Bony A. Bengwayan

Bony A. Bengwayan

Related Posts

Fiber and Your Health

NUTRIENTS AND BLOOD HEALTH

by Imelda Degay
January 27, 2023
0

For one, who experiences fatigue, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, pale skin, cold extremities and difficulty concentrating, anemia is...

Pensioner’s day at ang SSS Pension Loan Program

SSS CONTRIBUTION PAYMENT SCHEDULE

by Christian Andrew Rillorta
January 26, 2023
0

Napakabilis ng panahon at nasa kalagitnaan na tayo ng January. Dahil nalalapit na ang pagtatapos ng buwan, kadalasang tinatanong ng...

CAR Experts Triangulate Highlands Growth Snags

Marijuana Legalization on Hiatus

by Bony A. Bengwayan
January 20, 2023
0

BAGUIO CITY – Whenever Cordillera tribal folks   get invited to social gatherings to partake of food, merriment and camaraderie,...

Next Post
Bontoc municipal library receives assorted book donations

Baguio barangays told to establish reading centers

Pangasinan assures efforts to curb robberies in schools

DPWH completes flood control projects in San Carlos City

24 MP farmers interviewed by Japanese employers

Young agri-prenuers pitch business models in national contest

ADVERTISEMENT

Recent News

Cayetano’s ‘Presyo Trabaho Kita/Kaayusan’ (PTK) program continues to empower Davaoeños post-pandemic

Cayetano’s ‘Presyo Trabaho Kita/Kaayusan’ (PTK) program continues to empower Davaoeños post-pandemic

January 27, 2023
Tabuk mayor commits more patrol vehicles for PNP

Tabuk benchmarks “Smart City Concept” from Cauayan City

January 27, 2023
Impact study on Cervantes-Mankayan-Abatan road underway

NEDA-CAR briefs PS Representatives on region’s dev’t direction

January 27, 2023
DAR launches P11 million projects in Kalinga

DAR-CAR gets 25 motorcycles to hasten parcelization of land holdings

January 27, 2023
ADVERTISEMENT
HERALD EXPRESS | News in Cordillera and Northern Luzon

Herald Express is a news organization based in Baguio City that has a weekly publication and an online news portal. The newspaper is circulated in the different provinces of Northern Luzon. The name of the fastest-growing publication in town is coined from the word ‘quick messenger’ which is self-explanatory.

Follow Us

Search

No Result
View All Result
  • Headlines
  • City/Region News
  • Sectoral news
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Other sections
  • Ads & Notices
  • About Us

© 2022 Baguio Herald Express - Website Design by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • Headlines
  • City/Region News
    • Covid-19 Advisory and Updates
    • Baguio City
    • CAR
    • Nation
  • Sectoral news
    • Elections
      • Elections – 2022
      • Elections – 2019
    • Agriculture, Fishery and Pets
    • Business and Livelihood
    • Education, Arts & Culture
    • Environment and Disaster Management
    • Science, Health, and Welfare
      • covid-19 advisory and updates
    • Tourism, travel and Events
    • Other Lifestyle
    • Police Beat
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Timek Ti Umili
  • Sports
    • Sports (Home)
    • Sports (Special Feature)
  • Other sections
    • Features
    • Photos/Videos
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Words for reflection
    • Sponsored articles
    • Jobs in Baguio
    • Elections
  • Ads & Notices
    • Obituaries
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Directory
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Contact Us

© 2022 Baguio Herald Express - Website Design by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT

Add New Playlist