THE LOST CITY AND HOW THE IGOROTS LOST THEIR LANDS

I RECENTLY released a book entitled "Juicio Final." It is a history book with paintings that would give visual life to the stories. The cover of the book shows an imposing Igorotta which was borrowed from the frontispiece of a book written by the French traveler,

René Jouglet, in the 1930s romantically entitled "The Lost City," making people conjure images of Shangrila. He was so fascinated with gold and treasure hunts that he once embarked on a quest for Limahong's gold cache and wrote about it. With sheer romanticism coated by greed, he described the Philippines as a scattering of misty islands of picturesque volcanoes and mountains that "contain mankind's main source of sustenance — gold." He fueled the misguided search for El Dorado.

It may be difficult to believe, but American interests in Baguio and in the Mountain Province began years before Admiral George Dewey's fleet sailed into Manila Bay to destroy the Spanish Navy and seal the fate of that Iberian empire. The American zoologist, Dean Conant Worcester, was in the Philippines as early as 1892. He met Domingo Sanchez, an employee in the Bureau of Forestry of the Spanish colonial government, who told him about a region in northern Philippines with pine trees and oaks, and a perpetually temperate climate, just like the United States.

After the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1898, Spanish sovereignty was transferred to the United States of America; Worcester was appointed a member of the Second Philippine Commission by William Howard Taft. He immediately informed Secretary of War Elihu Root of the existence of that certain place described by Domingo Sanchez with a temperate climate and mountains of gold.

When Worcester reached Baguio for the first time, he realized that Domingo Sanchez, the Spanish bureaucrat, was not exaggerating. Baguio was amazingly cool, pristine, with abundant water and fertile soil conducive to growing temperate fruits and vegetables. It was also ideal for pasturage. More important was the abundance of gold, copper and silver.

After the Benguet Road — now known as Kennon Road — was opened on March 27, 1905, several events took place. A presidential order signed in 1903, which had set aside 535 acres (216.85 hectares) for a military repation was confirmed through General Order 48. Moreover, it was more than doubled to 1,433 acres (580.16 hectares) by virtue of another Presidential Order of Theodore Roosevelt. It became evident that the establishment of military reservations were mere excuses to wrest land from its native inhabitants. Consequently, the military reservation was again increased by 349.64 acres by virtue of Executive Order 1855, which meant more ethnic communities were displaced. The Igorots were suffering the fate of the Cherokee Indians.

Presidential and general orders are the argot of land seizers. This is the reason why after the Battle of Marawi, and the houses there were reduced to ashes and smithereens, people had great difficulty in identifying where their houses once stood. It is because the properties had no titles since the choice parts around Lake Lanao was once part of Camp Keithley, an American military camp which transformed the area that it occupied into a military reservation.

Returning to Baguio, entirely for lucre, the highland provinces were ruled by a succession of "White Apos" or American governors with varying military ranks. The first White Apo of the Ifugaos was Capt. Levi E. Case, succeeded by an Apo Gallaman, Owen Tamlisan, known as "Captain Tam," and W. E. Dosses. The White Apo rule ushered in giant mining corporations based in Manila and owned by Americans.

An American named Samuel E. Kane was also fascinated by the Mountain Province. He came on board the transport ship Sheridan and was a member of the Thirty-Third US Volunteers, part of the invading US army. Kane spent 30 years in the Mountain Province and wrote a sensationally titled book, "Thirty Years with the Philippines Head-Hunters," after which he returned to the United States. He wrote:

"Looking down from sacred Mount Polis, or from any pass of the lofty Malaya Range, on the little groups of huts with the Igorots squatting over glowing fires, one loses the feeling of distinction between man and nature. Yet it is only a matter of a few years, if progress is to continue at the pace set the past three decades, before this beautiful natural territory will become completely Americanized — with paved highways, ugly signboards and gasoline stations. The rising generation has already broken its link with the past. Fifty years hence when the tribal chiefs and elders have gradually died out, there will be little left to remind the young Igorots of the days when the drums and ganzas of the head-hunting canyaos resounded throughout the land."

You can keep your regrets, Mr. Kane. You stole our Eden, we lost our Paradise.

2023-06-02T18:23:31Z dg43tfdfdgfd