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Igorots in the FQS
Igorot youth and students in Baguio and Manila were active participants in the upsurge of activism of the First Quarter Storm. Aside from joining activist organizations such as Kabataang Makabayan (KM) ang Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan (SDK), they organized distinct Igorot activist organizations.
Igorot youth and students in the national capital region organized themselves into the Kilusang Kabataan ng Kabundukan (KKK) and joined in the massive demonstrations calling for system change. Their favorite meeting place was at the home of noted Cordillera historian William Henry Scott, such that these Cordillera activists came to be known as Scotty's boys.
The Baguio-schooled Igorot activists named their organization the Highland Activists (Hi-Ac), which had its base at the University of Baguio. From Kabataang Makabayan, my older sister, Jingjing, became an organizer of the Highland Activists. In addition to Hi-Ac, organizing of many different activist organizations was brisk, and protest actions in the city paralleled those in Manila. Even the town centers of the Cordillera were reached by the upheavals of the First Quarter Storm, especially as student activists continued with their education and organizing activities when they would go home during vacation time.
In December 1971, the Cordillera Congress for National Liberation was held in Bontoc, Mountain Province. Here, more than 50 youthful Igorot activists from all over the Cordillera, coming from the activist organizations in Baguio and Manila and even a few budding activists from high schools in the town centers converged to study the basic problems of Philippine society and the role of the Igorot youth in social transformation. Our main reference was Amado Guerrero's Philippine Society and Revolution, which was the basic study material of pre-martial law activists. There was a special interest in PSR's specific section on national minorities, relevant portions of which are quoted here:
"Special recognition must be given to the need for autonomous government among the national minorities... The vast majority of the national minorities live in the hinterlands and in areas most neglected and abused by the reactionary government. The national minorities have long been subjected to Christian chauvinism and oppression by the reactionaries... The Party recognizes their right to self-determination. They can be united with the rest of the Filipino people only on the basis of equality and respect for their culture or race."
The great Cordillera historian William Henry Scott, or Scotty as he was fondly called, wrote an essay specifically for the Congress, entitled The Creation of a Cultural Minority. Scotty was among the many academics who were greatly affected by the First Quarter Storm, especially as his house practically served as the headquarters of Igorot activists in Manila, and he wanted to make a contribution to this first-ever regional gathering of Igorot activists. The essay was read before the Congress by one of Scotty's boys, Victor Ananayo, on his behalf. [This paper was mimeographed many times over and had continuing relevance in the organizing of Igorot activists not only during the FQS but up to the martial law period and beyond. The essay was later published as a booklet by Malaya Books, Inc. (Quezon City) in 1972 with the title The Igorot Struggle for Independence.
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#igorot #kabataan #youth #Cordillera #Indigenous
