It was around 10:00 pm, on a quiet night of 24 April 1980. In a remote barrio called Bugnay, in Tinglayan, Kalinga, nestled in the mountains of the Cordilleras in northern Luzon, the festivities and revelry of the Butbut tribe have just been concluded. Residents have already gone to their homes, and the barrio sat quietly and soundly, with their lights turned off.
Suddenly, two Ford Fiera vehicles rushed through the narrow streets hugging the mountains into the quiet barrio. From the two vehicles alighted two military men armed with a Browning automatic rifle and an M-16 armalite. They knocked loudly on the door of a humble house.
“Macli-ing, come out!” they shouted, awakening the dogs.
From the house came a voice of an old man. “Whatever it is you want of me, let us talk about it in the morning.” The two military men struck the door in response. Macli-ing Dulag, the pangat or leader of the Butbut tribe, and elected barrio captain of Bugnay, stood up and quickly closed the door, and with the lamp now lit and with his wife holding onto the door, Macli-ing attempted to fix the lock. The men outside quickly fired bullets on the door hitting Dulag on his left breast and right pelvis, instantly killing him.
But unknown to these two murderers that night, they were about to reap the whirlwind.
For Macli-ing Dulag was not just a simple man murdered at the dead of night. He was a visionary, born and raised in the indigenous culture of the Kalinga, as sturdy and as lofty as mountains they inhabit. Dulag’s dream was animated by an all-consuming vision for his own people. He stood approximately 5 feet and 6 inches, wearing a G-string like a true proud Kalinga, and wherever he went, different disparate tribes in the Cordilleras were drawn to him and his words.
No one knows when Macli-ing Dulag was born. Like many of the Philippines’ indigenous groups, many of the Kalinga were not formally schooled, but as anthropologists, sociologists, and cultural workers could attest, this didn’t mean they were any less educated. For education comes with the ability to sustain themselves, to adapt to their environment, to form their own unique cultural expression rooted in centuries old history that had been virtually free from colonial intrusion. In so doing, they have preserved their peculiar indigenous identity and their way of life and have added another dimension into this imagined community of peoples we call the “nation.”
*Kalinga woven fabrics were sourced from bark fibers which were turned into intricately designed skirts for women and loincloths for men. Kalinga later on adapted to cotton and polyester material to depict their love of their environment as believed to have been bestowed to them by their god, Kabunian—the stars, the vegetation, mountains, and anthropomorphic patterns. The Kalinga use red, black, yellow, and green threads to reflect their worldview.
*”Rice Terraces in Baguio” (1944) by Fernando Amorsolo.
*Rice terraces in Bontoc, Philippines, from Vogn Laron.
And indeed, the peoples of the Cordilleras, not just the Kalinga, have become economically sufficient. They have carved mountains into wonders that make the world gasp, done farming on seemingly impossible terrains, pushing the boundaries of engineering hundreds of years ago. Their cultures, while strange to modern eyes, have been shaped by this harsh terrain, forming a mutual and beneficial relationship between man and his environment. This is because of their spirituality, their belief in the god Kabunian, who provided them with the land. For them, the land is sacred.
From this worldview that have shaped generations of his people, came Macli-ing Dulag. This worldview was about to be tested.
It all started when the Chico River Basin Development Project began to be implemented by the Marcos regime. The plan was initially drafted in 1965, but only began rolling out in 1973, at the height of the dictatorship, when accountability and public scrutiny were gagged (free press was shackled), to give way to cronyism and plunder. German engineering and consulting company, Lahmeyer International (now Tractebel), and the Engineering and Development Corporation of the Philippines (EDCOP), submitted the plan to the government, to be funded by the World Bank. The plan was to build four dams along the Chico River, a major river in the Cordilleras forming river tributaries across the mountainous region, to generate approximately 1,010 megawatts of electricity. But the dams would submerge numerous villages, rice fields, and displace populations, many of them indigenous communities who have called the lands about to be submerged their own. Even when the government offered financial aid and relocation, it seemed to Dulag that they were not making an effort to understand the culture and history of his people—human beings whose livelihood and spirituality were tied to the land. The land, as Dulag and his people have insisted, is sacred. Dulag was most famous for uttering these heart-wrenching words:
“You ask if we own the land and mock us saying, “Where is your title?’ When we ask the meaning of your words you answer with taunting arrogance, ‘Where are the documents to prove that you own the land?’ Titles? Documents? Proof of ownership? Such arrogance to speak of owning the land when we instead are owned by it. How can you own that which will outlive you?”
The Kalinga, like the rest of the diverse cultures in the Cordilleras, have conflicts that, on occasion, manifest in bloodshed. But the Kalinga culture also provides a way out of these conflicts, in what would be termed as the bódong, a peace conference between two warring tribes that seals a peace agreement, and ends in festive dance and song. Dulag, in numerous occasions, imbued with his vision and how he saw the Marcos government displace lowlanders & the indigenous in the highlands, have manifested his skill in Cordilleran diplomacy by initiating numerous bódongs in the course of his leadership. Dulag initiated the largest bódong recorded in 1979, attended by 2,000 Kalinga and Bontoc, upon which, all the tribal elders designated him as their spokesman. Dulag issued these words to National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) President, Gabriel Itchon:
“If you, in your search for the good life destroy life, we question it. We say that those who need electric lights are not thinking of us who are bound to be destroyed. Or will the need for electric power be a reason for our death? Your proposal of building dams along our river will mean the destruction of all our properties on which our very life depends. We Kalinga were once known for our well-kept peace, but your dam project has brought only trouble among us. We, therefore, ask you, forget your dams. We don’t want them.”
Soon, communities in the Cordilleras, even those of Bontoc and others who would not be directly affected by the dam project stood behind Dulag. In an effort to neutralize the growing opposition of the now combined voices of the Kalinga and the Bontoc, President Ferdinand Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 848, forming the Kalinga Special Development Region. Despite intimidations, false charges, and imprisonment, Dulag and the people stood firm. Perhaps some of those who would read this blog may dismiss Dulag and his movement as Leftist. But the indigenous never cared about ideologies. Lin Neumann, a human rights volunteer affiliated with the United Methodist Church, said, “I had been told, before entering the village [Bugnay] that the Left was a great influence… but I never found that these people of the Cordillera took any real interest in ideology. They were people of the land and their land was threatened. Macli-ing was their guardian and emissary.”
The murder of the Cordilleran leader planned by the culprits upon whom Lt. Leodegario Adalem and his group from the 44th Battalion took their signal to kill, seemed the logical step. But Dulag was ready to die. In 1978, in one bódong, he said on those present
“We, in Bugnay, have become used to hardships. We have suffered deaths in our community, but this will not discourage us in our fight to survive.”
Dulag’s death awakened a shackled press from slumber. Thanks to the great effort of journalist Ma. Ceres Doyo, and the formed coalition of ecumenical groups, the Catholic Church, journalists, cultural workers, lawyers of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) led by former senator and opposition leader, Jose W. Diokno, Dulag’s martyrdom was a milestone in those years of dictatorship. It shook people amidst the growing discontent under the corruption of a regime that knew no accountability but ruled with shameless impunity. And most importantly, the government was forced to stop all plans for the Chico Dam construction.
*Photo of the banners around Bugnay, after Macli-ing Dulag’s murder, documented by journalist Ma. Ceres Doyo.
After the toppling of the dictatorship, a move was done to officially acknowledge the Cordilleran peoples’ will to self-determination. Talks were initiated between the new Philippine President Corazon Aquino, the representatives of the Cordillera Bodong Administration, and the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army in September 1986. On 15 July 1987, the president issued Executive Order No. 220, forming the Cordillera Administrative Region to grant the Cordillera peoples’ aspiration for autonomy.
In honor of Macli-ing Dulag and his role as the unifier and voice of the indigenous communities in the Cordilleras, April 24 was designated by virtue of Proclamation No. 893, s. 1992, as Cordillera Administrative Region Day, or Cordillera People’s Day/Cordillera Day, commemorated in the entire region. Dulag’s name is also inscribed in the Wall of Remembrance at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City, honoring him as one of the fallen heroes and martyrs of the country during the Marcos dictatorship.
*The Bantayog ng mga Bayani Wall of Remembrance, where Macli-ing Dulag’s name is inscribed together with other heroes and martyrs of the Philippines under the Marcos dictatorship (1972-1986). Photo by Alternativity (Wikimedia).
Doyo, who wrote about the 1980 expose article of the Kalinga leader’s murder, even when intimidated by military authorities, was acknowledged by the international press. Her article was later awarded in the Catholic Mass Media Awards in February 1981 with Best Feature Article Award trophy bestowed on her by none other than Pope John Paul II. She wrote the book, Macli-ing Dulag: Kalinga Chief, Defender of the Cordillera that came off the press in 2015, which won in the National Book Awards that same year, and is the main source of this blog post.
Today, the Duterte administration continues to push for the Chico Dam project, but this time, under Chinese funding. Indigenous communities in the Cordilleras, despite being red-tagged by the administration, continue to resist.
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In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the martyrdom of Macli-ing Dulag, and in solidarity with the People of the Cordilleras on Cordillera Day 2020.