"I Am An Igorot"

(A Reprint from "The Cordilleras and Behind" by Dtj)

I am an Igorot, son of parents in whose veins
flow Malayan and Indonesian blood. I was born
and reared amidst the mountains and hills,
covered with sturdy and verdant pines, that
sway and dance with the mountain breeze, beside the
mountain streams. This part of the country, the
mountain provinces I have learned to love and
called my home.

I am an Igorot. In my veins run the immortal
blood of my gallant, peaceful and freedom
loving forefathers. Blood borne by them, who openly
defied the authority of Spain, in the year
sixteen hundred and one. Again, it was the
blood that also freely flowed in the bloody
battlefields of the world famous Bataan and in
the rocky bastions of Corregidor.

That blood is immortal. It is the self-same
blood that flowed in the hearts of my
grandfather, father, uncles, cousins, and
nephews, who formed the might, 66th infantry.
Blood that watered the wild lilies of the
treacherous mountains. Some of them died,
fighting that I may be what I am now, a free
man, living in a free country governed by the
principles of democracy.

I am an Igorot, a proud one. I am proud of my
noble, brave, peaceful and hardworking
ancestors. Proud of the mountains and hills,
rivers, trees, and of the lilies that adorn the
forests which were given by Him above to mine.
Proud of the canao, and of the custom and
traditions handed to me from generation to
generation. Proud to beat the gangsa and to
hear the ravage sounds of the solibao.

I am proud too of my Christian status and
education, brought about by the pioneering goal
of the occidental missionaries and teachers.
Proud to be in an integral part of the Republic
of the Philippines.

Though in educational, economic, social and
political aspects, I may be far behind. Though
in high society, I may be frowned upon. Though
all and all, I may be called a barbarian. Still
I shall shout aloud that all may know and hear,
that I Am An Igorot.