We're Lance and Laura Ostman. We've been sent out by our home churches through the ministry of New Tribes Mission, to work with the Higaunon tribal people of Mindanao, Philippines. In January 1982 we left the USA and, after trade language study in Butuan City, we moved into a Higaunon mountain village.
Ron and Michelle Jennings, NTM missionaries from Australia, had been living there since July 1981. They asked us to come and help them, which we were more than happy to do, as there was too much work for one couple to handle on their own. As a matter of fact, we found that two families weren't enough. So, in 1988 we asked Bill and Carol Hart from British Columbia to join the team. Together we are working to see a church established among the Higaunon.
Our job is church planting and curriculum development. It's a long process and we won't take the time here to tell you all about that. In short, our goal is to see is a group of believers who will be able to support themselves, have their own leadership and propagate the message of Christ without relying on us. In other words, we're working ourselves out of a job.
It is our prayer that you will join our team in prayer for this church.
- To see what our children are doing and how you can pray for them: see Our Children
- To learn more about the Higaunon Church and how you can pray for them, read: Fear to Faith
Higaunon People Group News
Bill and Carol Hart,
August 19, 2004, New Tribe Mission, More Than Just a Sense of Purpose (Bill Hart) by Rhoda Johnson,
It is midnight as the Hart family begins their ascent through thick jungle along slippery trails. By morning they want to reach the road where a vehicle will take the seven of them to the main coastal town.
This will be their last trip out of the Higaunon tribe for some time and Bill finds himself wondering if the challenges his family has faced there have been worth it.
He leads the way, followed by his wife, Carol. Their five children, ranging in age from 10 to 19, mingle with a group of enthusiastic tribal teens who are accompanying them to the road.
Their laughter, singing and chatter are infectious. At one point Bill turns and notices the young people’s faces bright in the moonlight.
And something crystallizes in his mind.
If we had not gone to their village and done medical work, those kids would not be alive, naturally speaking. I believe all of them have been treated at some point for something that was life-threatening in the medical clinic our missionary team helped set up.
He looks again and realizes all of them profess to be believers.
These young people’s names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. I’ve given the last 19 years of my life for these young people and others like them. Yes, my life has purpose.
When NTM missionaries first lived in the village, a witchdoctor was still offering a child sacrifice on the holy mountain for the people’s sins.
Had the Gospel not been presented clearly, some of those young people might have been that sacrifice.
What purpose are you finding God has for your life? Consider the difference you could make in the lives of tribal people.
Here is Valmores' brief, which by some coincidence uses 1981 as the turning point---just not one aimed toward any good at all:
Threats for the Higaunon!The government's policy of forced emigration probably stemmed from Manila slum clearance projects, which attempted to sweep one area's problem away into another area lacking any clout to resist. It also must represent a deliberate effort to water down the Muslim majorities on Mindanao. I'd bet no Muslims were a part of this migration of new arrivals into the region. That an inevitable social upheaval would result at the forced sharing of diminishing resources, leading some to growing reliance on violence in an already established insurgency (call it communism if you like, but no one reads Mao or Marx when no one reads anything) was a predictable part of a planned ethnic cleansing in the region. A fact in the Religion Today article, which I found shocking was that any native population in the Philippines could in 1981 still be so isolated that they could claim to have never seen a white person before. Surely not many services were making their way up the mountain sides either.
In the last few decades the peaceful way of living of the Higaunon has been threatened by several circumstances. The threats were caused by the activities of big logging companies, the arrival of immigrants from other islands and the conflicts between the national army and armed groups in the region where the Higaunon live.
The influence of the logging companies
In the last decades the national government went on with giving logging concessions to several, mostly foreign companies. The consequence was the diminishing of the tropical forest cover in the tribal homelands of the Higaunon.
The arrival of migrant settlers
Since a long time immigrants from other parts of the Philippines came to start a new life in one of the regions of Mindanao. They all were given some arable land to cultivate.This arable land was original part of the homelands of the tribes of Mindanao. Because of the arrival of the immigrants in the regions where the Higaunon live, the subsistence possibilities for the Higaunon people diminished. In that way the immigrants were a threat for the Higaunon
Pictures: Courtesy of L. Ostman
Armed Conflicts
Until 1981 peace and order was quite normal in northern Mindanao. Since 1981 more and more insurgents started operating in the area. The arrival of foreign immigrants and (foreign) companies resulted more and more in armed conflicts between members of several tribes (among other the Higaunon tribe) and the national army. The 'peace and order situation' became disturbed! Massive military operations were launched by the national government.
More and more members of the Higaunon and other tribes became supporters or full timers of the insurgents. The conflicts resulted in a shortage of food and medicines in the area. Since 1991 a relative peace 'returned' into the region of the Higaunon. The government granted amnesty to all surrenders. Many insurgent Higaunon members decided to surrender and live now peacefully. (Source: Article, prepared by Ms. Cecilia Valmores, in charge of the Research Desk of the Indigenous Peoples Apostolate (IPA) of the Cagayan de Oro City)
The capitalist sellout to foreign timber and mining interests was simply a part of the bigger-picture, in one of the most gleefully corrupt political cultures ever established, one which always held the sanction and shadow of its Big Daddy, the U.S.A.; a country with even its own special court system to try cases of "plunder," where many cases are heard, but very few convictions won. But with an environmental sellout in Mindanao, along with its denuded landscapes came disastrous mudslides after heavy rains, so that the Philippines, who are said to have the most natural disasters each year of any country, could further add to its lead.
In January, 1981, Marcos lifted martial law, although he "retained all of the presidential decrees and legislative powers as before, as well as the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus." This limited action was due, some postulated, to the election of Ronald Reagan, with whom Marcos wanted to suck up, as well as the scheduled arrival of Pope John Paul II in the country, although the Pope had no qualms about making his advance plan to a country then under martial law.
It was in June of 1981 when Marcos won the election for president with 88 percent of the vote, since most opposition parties boycotted the elections as a sign of protest over the 1978 elections for a National Assembly, which they condemned as fraudulent.
And it was at Marcos' inauguration on June 30, 1981, that then United States Vice President George H.W. Bush offered his infamous praise for Marcos: "We love your adherence to democratic principles and to the democratic process," [3]
Anything clean would have stuck out like a sore thumb in this muck, and the New Tribes' Oli Jacobsen, who helped plan his organization's "planting" of the Higaunon, fits in like a kid glove.
So did Lance and Laura Ostman fit in, as for 30 years now have done what they consider to be God's missionary work with the Higaunon, but whose most memorable achievement in that time, perhaps, is the document which I consider to be a spiritual blood libel targeting a benign people that equals, or exceeds, any inherent danger, or threat of consequence claimed as a product of the Protocols of Zion.
Thirty years is enough time to have tried at something and failed. And any failure to realize such a loss would be demonic intransigence when spirit only calls for surrender. China has kicked the missionaries out. India wants nothing to do with them. Their acts in Africa have had appalling manifestations. They served as the lackeys and pawns and human drones in yet another great military thought-assault to sweep down through a century, projecting their mental illnesses as campaigns against a further billion more earth-manifested souls, and this mindless hierarchic brigade will be sold out by their callus political leaders when the time for truth-telling comes.
They aren't losing the culture wars in America---in many ways that was finished long ago. Jerry Falwell said before he died several years ago that "there is an epidemic of oral sex in Christian middle schools." Most of us in middle age will recall, somewhat ruefully, that we had to wait until high school or college for that sort of thing. Do they think it matters what two women, or two men do together when their own children have moved beyond their authority? Now all a bleeding deacon earns is lip service and back talk; the spasmodic jerks and repetitive twitches from articulated joints where loosening strings make a game of falling off.
They equated the Great Commission in Matthew 28 as Jesus's great power grab because that seconded their demonic delusions of grandeur, when heaven lies in the other direction entirely.
You know, it makes absolutely no sense to me, why anyone with the power to choose, as Bible literalists obviously have, over how they integrate Jesus' final instructions to mankind, as found in the synoptic gospels, why anyone wouldn't choose Mark 16. He's the one who describes the task as carrying the "good news;" the one who empowers us to heal the sick, in spite of budget cuts or Obamacare; the one that would give parents some power over the demons who are forcing their children to put their mouths on other children's genitals; and most importantly, given the whole hideous, deplorable decade just behind us, the one which empowers believers, and I shall quote, "when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all." Think of it! No suitcase nukes, no poison gases! No oil-rich rag-heads acting like snakes! No intoning from a president with a twang and a 90-IQ, "terrorist, terrorist, terrorist, shiver, shiver, shiver!" It has all been for naught. It has all been in our imaginations. Think of it: NO MORE PROPAGANDA! Peace, rest, finally, hallelujah...thank God.
But, Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.... "We do not practice what are commonly called 'sign gifts'."
Well, no one's asking you to put it into practice, sugar. You are asked only to believe in it and have faith.
This is actually the sickest, most impossible Bible position any fraud could ever come up with. I mean, a high-powered, ass-worshiping magician would be but a street piker compared to the utter hell-bent perversity of such a position.
I'm tired. I'm going to let Lance and Laura take over for a while:
Story 12 - Grandpa's Request
Grandpa Wee-kee's request...
"One last thing that we want to ask you to pray for is our language. Our children are abandoning their Higaunon language because they want to be like the city people. Satan is bringing all kinds of things into our place through the contact of our young people with the city ways and they are being tempted with this. The worst thing, though, is that they don't want to retain their Higaunon language and this makes it hard for us to teach them spiritual truth. Then they listen to false religions who teach in the city language and they don't understand Higaunon anymore. We want our young people to know our language so that the church can continue to grow and be effective to reach out to the rest of the Higaunon villages. So please pray that the Lord will help us with this problem and that our children will want to retain their language and still be able to learn the truth about the Lord before they get confused."
Perhaps due to New Tribes’ far-flung infrastructure, by the 1970s the missionaries had come under widespread public fire. The first salvo came from Pablo Anduza, the former governor of Amazonas, who remarked in 1973 that missionary education was alien to Indian traditions and “…missionary teachings encourage the creation of an artificial society which separates children from parents.”
September 21st 2005, VenezuelAnalysis, Evangelical Protestants in Venezuela: Robertson Only The Latest Controversy in a Long and Bizarre History, by Nikolas Kozloff,
15 captures
28 May 02 - 8 Sep 05
Opening Page-No Title,But a home page link to here says: "To learn more about the Higaunon Church and how you can pray for them, read: Fear to Faith,"
This document was written in order to fulfill a request by the Higaunon church that their testimony be shared with their English speaking brethren in Christ. Their desire is that God would raise up those who will not only rejoice with them about their new life in Christ, but also stand with them in prayer as they endeavor to live for Him in the 21st Century.
The Gospel has broken Satan's direct stronghold on these primitive mountain dwellers of Mindanao, but, centuries of Satanic rule has left behind cultural systems and ways that resist every attempt that the Higaunon church makes to obey the claims of Christ on their lives. This is their story, compiled from direct observation, involvement in the actual situations, testimonies and discussions with them in their native tongue about the subject matter of this document.
This story begins prior to the missionaries' arrival in 1981 and continues up to this present day.
September 21st 2005, VenezuelAnalysis, Evangelical Protestants in Venezuela: Robertson Only The Latest Controversy in a Long and Bizarre History, by Nikolas Kozloff, COHA,
February 16, 2006, Venezuelanalysis, Chavez Saves "The Fierce People" - The Yanomamö, Opinion and Analysis - Les Blough - Axis of Logic,
May 9, 2006, COHA, Washington May Soon Try to Pin the Venezuelan Uranium Tail on the Iranian Nuclear Donkey, by COHA Director Larry Birns and Research Fellow Michael Lettieri,
November 27, 2006, CounterPunch, Ecuador and the Contradictions of Chavismo, Nikolas Kozloff,
February 9, 2007, CounterPunch, "If We Have to Die For Our Lands, We Will Die", Nikolas Kozloff,
March 16, 2009, Online Journal, CIA Involvement with Religious Groups Not a New Charge, by Wayne Madsen,
16 captures
16 Aug 02 - 20 Apr 0
Home Page
June 3, 2002, About Us page
Top | Home
Our Children June 15, 2002,
October 13, 2005, IPS, Venezuela to Expel U.S. Evangelical Group, by Humberto Márquez,
October 24th 2005, VenezuelaAnalysis, Venezuela's War of Religion, by Nikolas Kozloff,
October 24th 2005, VenezuelaAnalysis, Venezuela's War of Religion, by Nikolas Kozloff,
February 14, 2006, Venezuelanalysis, Final Deadline Passes for US Missionaries to Leave Venezuela, by Alex Holland,
February 16, 2006, Venezuelanalysis, Chavez Saves "The Fierce People" - The Yanomamö, Opinion and Analysis - Les Blough - Axis of Logic,
May 9, 2006, COHA, Washington May Soon Try to Pin the Venezuelan Uranium Tail on the Iranian Nuclear Donkey, by COHA Director Larry Birns and Research Fellow Michael Lettieri,
February 9, 2007, CounterPunch, "If We Have to Die For Our Lands, We Will Die", Nikolas Kozloff,
March 16, 2009, Online Journal, CIA Involvement with Religious Groups Not a New Charge, by Wayne Madsen,
16 captures
16 Aug 02 - 20 Apr 0
Home Page
 | |
 About UsNews Letters Photos Subscribe to Updates Email Us |  |
 | |
June 3, 2002, About Us page
 |
We're Lance and Laura Ostman. We've been sent out by our home churches through the ministry of New Tribes Mission, to work with the Higaunon tribal people of Mindanao, Philippines. In January 1982 we left the USA and, after trade language study in Butuan City, we moved into a Higaunon mountain village.
Ron and Michelle Jennings, NTM missionaries from Australia, had been living there since July 1981. They asked us to come and help them, which we were more than happy to do, as there was too much work for one couple to handle on their own. As a matter of fact, we found that two families weren't enough. So, in 1988 we asked Bill and Carol Hart from British Columbia to join the team. Together we are working to see a church established among the Higaunon.
Our job is church planting and curriculum development. It's a long process and we won't take the time here to tell you all about that. In short, our goal is to see is a group of believers who will be able to support themselves, have their own leadership and propagate the message of Christ without relying on us. In other words, we're working ourselves out of a job.
It is our prayer that you will join our team in prayer for this church.
- To see what our children are doing and how you can pray for them: see Our Children
- To learn more about the Higaunon Church and how you can pray for them, read: Fear to Faith
Top | Home
Our Children June 15, 2002,
| Thanks to those who are praying for our children. This is such a blessing to us. It's hard being away from them but we know they are in God's hands. |
 Robert & Kelli are living in Oklahoma. Kelli graduates December 15th with a degree in Marketing. She has been accepted to work as church secretary at the church they attend. While Kelli goes to school, Robert has been driving a delivery truck. He assures us that his job is temporary as they continue to look to the Lord for direction in their life. Robert would like to eventually go to seminary and in the meantime has applied to university where he wants to major in art. |
 Nicole is enjoying her time at Trinity International University. She is in her third year and is an RA (residence assistance) for 26 girls this semester. It's quite a responsibility and she enjoys it a lot. In September she was chosen as RA of the month! Needless to say, we are proud of her. Please pray with us for her future. -She is praying about what God would have her do this next summer. She enjoyed China so much last year and would like to go again or elsewhere as the Lord leads. On her mind, of course, is the possibility that she may have to work instead to put money towards her schooling. |
____________________________________________________
 |
 We're Lance and Laura Ostman. We've been sent out by our home churches through the ministry of New Tribes Mission, to work with the Higaunon tribal people of Mindanao, Philippines. In January 1982 we left the USA and, after trade language study in Butuan City, we moved into a Higaunon mountain village.
Top | Home |
13 captures
16 Mar 02 - 20 Apr 0
About Us
 | ||
Ron and Michelle Jennings, NTM missionaries from Australia, had been living there since July 1981. They asked us to come and help them, which we were more than happy to do, as there was too much work for one couple to handle on their own. As a matter of fact, we found that two families weren't enough. So, in 1988 we asked Bill and Carol Hartfrom British Columbia to join the team. Together we are working to see a church established among the Higaunon. Our job is church planting and curriculum development. It's a long process and we won't take the time here to tell you all about that. In short, our goal is to see is a group of believers who will be able to support themselves, have their own leadership and propagate the message of Christ without relying on us. In other words, we're working ourselves out of a job. It is our prayer that you will join our team in prayer for this church.
Top | Home |
_________________________________________________________________
The Higaunon people of Northern Mindanao
The Higaunon is one of the mountain tribes in the Philippines. Most Higaunon still have a rather traditional way of living. Farming is the most important economic activity.
The belief in the power of the spirits of ancestors and in the influence of more than one god, is strongly rooted in the hearts and minds of many Higaunon.
The belief in many gods and spirits of ancestors
Most Higaunon still have a strong belief in the existence of gods and spirits. The ‘upper god’ is Magbabaya, the creator of all aspects of life. There are several ‘lower gods’. Each ‘lower god’ has dominion over a specific part of the natural environment. There is a lower god (Igbabasok) who has dominion over the farms, a lower god (Pamahandi) who has dominion over treasures and properties, a lower god (Bulalakaw) who has dominion over the waters and fishes and there is a lower god (Panalagbugta) who has dominion over lands. The (ancestor) spirits have control on all aspects of the daily life of the people. This belief, called “animism”, influences the Higaunon people deeply. They believe that all problems like illnesses, bad harvests and even the death, are due to their failure to satisfy the spirits.
Satisfy the spirits
The Higaunon belief that they have to please the spirits. Only if the Higaunon succeed during their life to fulfill all the wishes of the spirits, they will not die and a path will be shown to go from this world into the eternal world where the creator gods live.
One way to satisfy the spirits is having rituals with sacrifices. Pigs and chickens are the most common sacrifices. Without the sacrifices or when there not enough sacrifices, there will be problems with their subsistence, crops will fail and illnesses will not be cured and people will die. If somebody gets ill, an ‘all knowing’ shaman is asked advice what to do. The shaman is a person in the village who has the ability to tell which spirit caused the sickness and what should be done to pacify the spirit.
Attempts to bring an alternative to the bondage to the spirit world
Since July 1981 missionaries are trying to help the Higaunon in their struggle for a better life. Missionaries from Australia, USA and Columbia, took care for the people in one of the villages. The missionaries help combat sicknesses by offering medicines and help with all kind of problems. After some years the power of the spirits diminished in some villages. The Higaunon people discovered that sacrifices to combat sicknesses were not necessary anymore. In the period 1985 until now the animism was replaced more and more by Christianity. Still in most villages animism is widespread.
(Source: Article, prepared by Ms. Cecilia Valmores, in charge of the Research Desk of the Indigenous Peoples Apostolate (IPA) of the Cagayan de Oro City)
For more written information..............
For the experiences of members of the Higaunon...................
| |||||||||||||
Higaunon, what about the future?
The Higaunon people live in the northern regions of Mindanao. The Higaunon overall population isestimated between 10,000 and 30,000. For most of the Higaunon people, farming is the most important economic activity for their subsistence.
The future of the farming activities
The Higaunon people produce a variety of agricultural products. On the backyards of their housesand alongside the hills, the Higaunon grow a variety of vegetables (white beans, onions and others), spices, rice and other corn. Occasionally, the Higaunon hunt on among others wild pigs, amphibians, wild birds and gather other food products from the forestsuch as tiger grass and timber. In the first place the Higaunon produce for their own consumption. Since the influence of cash economy, the surplus of many agricultural products is sold on markets.
Threats for the Higaunon!
In the last few decades the peaceful way of living of the Higaunon has been threatened by several circumstances. The threats were caused by the activities of big logging companies, the arrival of immigrants from other islands and the conflicts between the national army and armed groups in the region where the Higaunon live.
The influence of the logging companies
In the last decades the national government went on with giving logging concessions to several, mostly foreign companies. The consequence was the diminishing of the tropical forest cover in the tribal homelands of the Higaunon.
The arrival of migrant settlers
Since a long time immigrants from other parts of the Philippines came to start a new life in one of the regions of Mindanao. They all were given some arable land to cultivate. Thisarable land was original part of the homelands of the tribes of Mindanao.Because of the arrival of the immigrants in the regions where the Higaunon live, the subsistence possibilities for the Higaunon people diminished. In that way the immigrants were a threat for the Higaunon.
Armed Conflicts
Until 1981 peace and order was quite normal in northern Mindanao. Since 1981 more and more insurgents started operating in the area. The arrival of foreign immigrants and (foreign) companies resulted more and more in armed conflicts between members of several tribes (among other the Higaunon tribe) and the national army. The ‘peace and order situation’ became disturbed! Massive military operations were launched by the national government.
More and more members of the Higaunon and other tribes became supporters or full timers of the insurgents. The conflicts resulted in a shortage of food and medicines in the area. Since 1991 a relative peace ‘returned’ into the region of the Higaunon. The government granted amnesty to allsurrenders. Many insurgent Higaunon members decided to surrender and live now peacefully.(Source: Article, prepared by Ms. Cecilia Valmores, in charge of the Research Desk of the Indigenous Peoples Apostolate (IPA) of the Cagayan de Oro City)
| ||||||||||
____________________________________________________________________________
http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Dumagat
Dumagat
Jump to: navigation, search
The term Dumagat may have been derived from the word gubat(forest) and hubad. The more logical origin of its name is taga-dagat which referred to "sea gypsies".They typify the outstanding negrito physical traits of dark brown to black color and curly hair. The few cases of straight hair and light complexion may be chiefly the result of mixture with lowland Christians.
Culture
The Dumagat people are of the Agta Negrito groups found in Luzon. In the past, these people lived in coastal areas of Aurora and Quezon provinces and were lords in their own domain. However, because of the coming of Filipino homesteaders into the Agta area they were pushed into the mountains, and dispersed in small groups.
Dumagats are semi-nomadic. They move from place to place in search of better habitation. Recently, they have learned to live permanent settlements. They are reported found scattered in different locations. They are also divided into six languages.
The Kabulowan are one of the subgroups of the Dumagat (also known as '"Baluga").
Dumagat families are generally simple nuclear family. They live in extended family groupings. If conflicts arise among themselves, they just move away.
In the past, men wore a cloth of g-string and the women wore wrap around skirts. Now, they wear used, machine sewed lowland clothes.
Economy
Economically, they are very poor. Their livelihood ranges from hunting and gathering to having gardens and raising coconuts. These days, hunting and gathering are greatly reduced due to depletion of forest resources caused by logging operations. Many of them now work as unskilled laborers for lowland farmers near their location. Most Dumagats are tied into a patron-client relationship with one or more lowlander families. In this relationship, the Dumagats gather rattan and trade it with the lowlander or they work for the lowlander. In turn, the lowlander gives them rice, tobacco, money, or other items. In many cases, Dumagats are abused, oppressed and are always on the losing end. Most of them are unable to determine the fair equivalent of goods being exchanged or services rendered. They depend on their relationship for their daily ration of food.
Politics
Within their culture, much of the behavior is governed by rules between types of kinsmen. The family itself is the organization that undertakes all roles. Their social control system is unstructured. If conflicts arise, they just move away some old people.
Religion
The Dumagats are animist. Practices and beliefs differ from person to person. Dumagat animism has less control over the people's daily lives. In addition, they have adopted some of the beliefs of their Christian neighbors. Now, they hold to a universal belief in a single God, maybe a result of Christian influence. Cultish groups are also working in the area.
Christianity
There has been a lot of mission work done in each of these Dumagat language groups.
Prayer points
Translated Scriptures. Pray for a wide distribution of the Dumagat bible portions to open the hearts of the Dumagats.
Pray that the Aeta believers as well as the Dumagat believers will take the responsibility to go ahead in the Christian groups with preaching and teaching the gospel - to reach other Negritos.
Praise God for the fruit of the faithful missionary efforts. Praise God for the Dumagat believers. Pray that the Holy Spirit will make them grow and remain in the Lord even after the missionaries have left.
Praise God for community aid projects done for the Dumagats. Praise God also that some of them have learned to live in permanent settlements facilitated by concerned groups. However, many agencies were unsuccessful in their attempts to help settle the Dumagats because their ways and means conflict with the Dumagat values and social organization. Pray that if anyone who wishes to help the Dumagats, assistance be given in a way that agrees with the values and present limitations of the Dumagat culture.
The future of the Dumagats looks bleak. Serious problems include drunkenness, chronic malnutrition, decimation of wild game, loss of land to lowland homesteaders and probably ethnic disintegration. Pray that God will show mercy to these people, providing help to meet their needs.
_______________________________________________________________
December 11, 2012, GMA News, PNoy orders review of APECO, asks Dumagats to have an open mind, by Amita Legaspi,
(Updated 6:36 p.m.) President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday ordered a review of the contested Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO) — an order that failed to placate those who are opposed to the project.
"Pag-aaralan ang feasibility nito pero buksan ninyo ang inyong isip sa proyekto,” Aquino told a gathering of farmers, fisherfolks and Dumagats — all residents of Casiguran, Aurora who fear losing their homes due to the project.
The farmers, fisherfolks and Dumagats, who marched from the province since November 24 to ask the government to stop the project, met with Aquino Tuesday at the San Jose covered court at the Ateneo de Manila University.
Dumagats, fisherfolks and fishermen opposing APECO, and their supporters tied the slippers they used in the 350-kilometer walk from the province to Manila to ask the government to stop the project. Amita Legaspi
Aquino, flanked with his Cabinet secretaries, said the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) will review the project and give him an initial assessment within the week.
But as he was leaving the venue, one of the Dumagats yelled “bingi (deaf)” at him, a clear indication that the meeting failed to reach its intended outcome.
Other verbal manifestations of disgust followed:
"Hindi namin matatanggap ang APECO!"
"Hindi kami papayag na makuha ng APECO ang aming lupain!"
"Parang pinatay nyo na ang mamamayan ng Casiguran dahil sa batas na APECO na yan!"
"Nang dumating ang APECO na yan, kamatayan ng mamamayan ng Casiguran!"
"Lupaing Ninuno, Ibalik, Ibalik! Lupang Sakahan, Ibalik, Ibalik! Pangisdaan, Ibalik, Ibalik!"
The Casiguran residents, who walked 350 kilometers from the province to Manila, wanted Aquino to junk the project or, at the very least, stop its funding.
APECO is a 12,900-hectare special economic zone being built in Casiguran. Republic Act 10083, the law creating APECO, was co-sponsored by Senator Edgardo Angara and his son, Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara. The younger Angara and the senator's sister Aurora Gov. Bellaflore Angara-Castillo sit on the economic zone's board.
The residents claimed they were not consulted when APECO was created. They also said the project had no environmental impact study, land conversion study, feasibility study, seaport study and airport study.
More importantly, the project will dislocate the town's fisherfolks, fishermen and Dumagats because the land they were occupying will be used by APECO, the marchers said.
Through Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, they earlier asked for a zero-budget for APECO, but it was rejected by the Senate.
Lawyer Christian Monsod, counsel of the people opposing APECO, said he understands Aquino's decision to follow due process. He, however, said the affected residents cannot be faulted if they want an immediate solution because they are the ones suffering from the project.
"That's as far as we could go, kasi there is a need for further studies both on the economic aspect of APECO and the legal aspect and the President promised that but the farmers I think, the expectations are rather high. It was not sufficient for them," he said.
Casiguran folk not close-minded
"The farmers have certain calls and advocacies. Ang ipinahatid nila sa presidente are their sufferings, that they are suffering from APECO. Personal testimony 'yun so you cannot accuse them of being close-minded. They are just expressing their feelings,” he added.
He further said the farmers wanted an answer to the bigger question: Is APECO a valid, legal project?
"Is it a good project for the progress of the people of Aurora and, secondly, there is even an issue of legality. There are legal flaws in that law. Does that law give unduly extraordinary powers to APECO that other economic zones do not have?" Monsod said.
The marchers met Tuesday afternoon to discuss their next move, but Monsod said they will wait for the NEDA assessment on the project.
The 125 marchers left Casiguran on November 24 for a 21-day trek to Manila in protest of the economic zone. The marchers supposedly represent the 3,000 farmers, fishermen, and indigenous families from Casiguran affected by APECO.
The marchers were supposed to go to Malacañang to meet with Aquino, but the president decided to meet them at the Ateneo instead.
Compromise
Aquino, during the meeting, offered a compromise to the residents. He said the government will allow the farmers to continue tilling the 80-hectares of land owned by Aurora State College of Technology (ASCOT).
"Habang wala pang plano ang ASCOT, ipahihiram muna sa inyo ang lupa. Magkakaroon ng kasulatan ang Department of Justice at Commission on Higher Education na hindi muna guguluhin o iistorbohin ang kabuhayan ninyo. Aabisuhan kayo kapag gagamitin na ang lupa," he said.
Aquino also ordered the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to renew the Integrated Social Forestry (ISF) permit of the residents of San Ildefonso Peninsula, which is set to expire on 2014, for another 25 years.
He also said the processing of the CADT (Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title) for the Dumagats is now ongoing.
Aquino said he cannot heed the residents' request to stop funding APECO because he is not a dictator and it is Congress that has the power over budget allocation.
He also pointed out that the APECO project was not approved during his administration. “Hindi ko proyekto ito pero gusto kong magkaroon kayo ng pagkakakitaan.”
At the end of the dialogue, Aquino admitted that the discussion deepened his understanding on the issue.
"Mas lumalim 'yung pang-unawa ko doon sa suliranin ninyo at 'pag tinutukan po natin hindi pwedeng mabagal ho 'yung resulta," he said.
"Yung lahat po ng pinangako ko sa inyo ay mangyayari at nangyayari na sa kasalukuyan at babalikan ko po kayo 'pag natapos na 'yung mga pag-aaral na ipinangako ko sa inyo para malaman lahat. Kung meron man tayong pending na kailangan ng desisyon, hindi pa napagde-desisyunan," he added.
With the President during the dialogue were Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Commission on Higher Education chairman Patricia Licuanan, Presidential Management Staff head Julia Abad, National Commission on Indigenuous People head Brigida Zenaida Pawid, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines director general William Hotchkiss III and APECO president and chief executive officer Malcolm Sarmiento. — KG/KBK, GMA News
_______________________________________________________________________
dumagat
by: Arlene Sapanza
The term Dumagat may have been derived from the words gubat (forest) and hubad. The more logical origin of its name is taga-dagat which referred to "sea gypsies".
They typify the outstanding negrito physical traits of dark brown to black color and curly hair. The few cases of straight hair and light complexion may be chiefly the result of mixture with the lowland christians. They have beautifully proportioned bodies, arms, legs and breasts especially among women. Their stature compares to an average Filipino. The women stand at 4 feet 10 inches to 5 feet 4 inches and the men tower from 5 feet to 5 feet 9 inches.
The Dumagats are found in the province of Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Rizal and Bulacan. They live in single-pole make-shift nipa huts along the river banks during summertime and move to sturdier dwellings on higher grounds during the monsoon rains.
They live the life of hunters and rattan traders. Hunting is their basic occupation. Their weapons consists of bow and arrow. Hunting with dogs is a favorite technique. They gather rattan palms from the forest cleansing and scraping them until they are ready to be split into smaller pieces. After these are ready, they deliver them to the tabong (market) in the lowlands and exchange them for rice, sugar, salt and other basic commodities. They also use the kaingin system of farming live by fishing with hooks, traps and spears.
Dumagats speak a language of their own among themselves. But as scholars have discovered, they can also speak with facility the language of the region to which they have migrated. A careful examination of the Dumagat language today places its historical origin at the adoption of a mixed Palanan dialect around 1783 when different ethnic groups took refuge in the town in their attempt to escape the Tobacco Monopoly. The vocabulary consists largely of Tagalog, Ibanag, Ilocano, and Bisayan terms.
For the Dumagats, there is no wedding ceremony save for a simple celebration to which the couple's relatives and guests are invited and at which the union is announced. As simply as the union is made, so too is its dissolution. A Dumagat couple separate simply by mutual consent.
The Dumagats have no structured religion of their own although they claim to believe in nameless, faceless gods whom they invoke to protect them from danger. They are peace-loving people. When they die, usually of sickness or old age, their remains are placed in simple coffins of buho or bamboo and buried in silence. No prayers are offered over the graves, no sad songs chanted. Relatives and friends of the dead put aromatic herbs around their arms to serve as their perfume.
SOURCE: Katutubo Directory "A Global YES Event for the UN Decade of Indigenous People"
______________________________________________________________________
4,105 words
From Fear to Faith, aka "The Unripe Ones,"
This document was written in order to fulfill a request by the Higaunon church that their testimony be shared with their English speaking brethren in Christ. Their desire is that God would raise up those who will not only rejoice with them about their new life in Christ, but also stand with them in prayer as they endeavor to live for Him in the 21st Century.
The Gospel has broken Satan's direct stronghold on these primitive mountain dwellers of Mindanao, but, centuries of Satanic rule has left behind cultural systems and ways that resist every attempt that the Higaunon church makes to obey the claims of Christ on their lives. This is their story, compiled from direct observation, involvement in the actual situations, testimonies and discussions with them in their native tongue about the subject matter of this document.
This story begins prior to the missionaries' arrival in 1981 and continues up to this present day.
Story 1 - Their Old Ways
"We are the Higaunon (he-gah-oo-non) people. Our name means, "out of the water ones," which is referring to the mountains that we live in being up "out of the sea." Our spiritual name is cah-he-lau-one which means, "The unripe ones." This is referring to when the first Higaunon man and woman were being created by the gods and an evil god came along and stole them away before they could be given the eternal life force.
As a result, we all remained mortal and when we die we go to the place of the evil god who owns us when we die. We are not sure what it is like there, but it is said to be a really terrible place of fear and pain. Death is the most terrifying thing for us.
Our only hope is the tee-noo-mah-nun which means, "THE FULFILLMENT." This is when one of us receives a dee-wah-tah spirit guide who tells us what laws and rituals must be fulfilled to gain favor with the creator gods. If we can fulfill everything they give us to do, they promise that we will not die but be shown a pathway from this world into the eternal world where the creator gods live. This could be by a basket let down from the doorway in heaven, or a stairway up the side of a rainbow, or even an opening that appears in the side of a mountain.
"Only one person has ever been said to make it to heaven without dying, but he was sent back because he complained that there was no work for him to do there. In many ways, we fear the tee-noo-mah-nun because of what the spirits tell us we have to do, like having to sacrifice our seven year old children to them and going without food for long periods of time. They would have us go on long pilgrimages through the forest in search for a promised pathway to heaven. Many of our ancestors have died during the tee-noo-mah-nun, but we have no other hope. Mostly though, we end up not doing right what the spirits told us to do and so we are told by the spirits that we have failed and won't receive the promise. But what else can we do? There is no other way!"
Story 2 - Further Insights
"We also fear the bahl-bahl spirits. These are wicked demonic spirits that live in the rocks and trees. The bahl-bahl are the cause of all sickness and we have to be very careful about what we do so as not to offend them.
Our ancestors told us all about the different things that can make the bahl-bahl spirits angry enough to make us sick. We have to be careful about everything, even what foods are taboo and what foods must not be eaten together. There are signs from the birds too, which warn us not to do certain things. Some of the old people have dreams which are warning signs of impending danger.
When we get sick, the shamans in the family can tell what spirit made us sick and they know what kind of divination to do to determine what will pacify the spirit and restore the person's health. "It is really difficult to cure sickness because we don't have many pigs and chickens which are needed for the sacrifices."
Story 3 - More On Sickness
"If you ask me, we find sickness especially hard to deal with, especially if we have a lot of children because they are always getting sick and needing to be sacrificed for. This is because children easily annoy the spirits by breaking the taboos. It is not always the person who breaks the taboo who gets sick either.
"We are really scared of sickness because we have so much of it. We do not name our children until they are about 2 years old because we know that they will have constant sickness and be likely to die before that age.Sometimes, in order to obey the taboos, we have to bury our children at birth. For instance if a baby has its umbilical cord wrapped around its neck at birth, that is a bad omen and the baby must be buried. We have to crush up some ginger root and stuff it down the babies throat and then place it in a shallow grave under the house. We don't like doing this because many times we hear the baby screaming from under the ground for a long time.
"We also have to worship and obey our ancestral spirits because they control every part of our lives. They are the ones who control our crops and give power to the tribal leaders and who also help us catch wild deer and pigs. Without their help our crops would not grow and we would experience floods, storms and earthquakes. They also help us defeat our enemies and keep away warring neighbors."
Story 4 - When the Missionaries First Came
"When the missionaries first came to our place, we were terribly afraid of them and we ran away when they came near us. We had been told by our parents that white people were demons in disguise who would befriend us and then later on, cook us all in a great big pot and eat us. Our spiritual leader told us that it was all right for these particular white people to live with us because the dee-wah-tah spirits had told him so, but we remained very suspicious for some time.
"At first we did not understand the missionaries because they could not speak our language and when they tried to speak they seemed to babble like children. Eventually, they learned to speak properly and many of us began to like them being around because they helped us with our sicknesses and other problems.
Others of us hated them because we blamed some of our sicknesses and deaths on the fact that the spirits were angry about us letting the missionaries live with us. "We did wonder, though, how their medicine could sometimes overcome the spirits, but we just thought that it must be because the spirits didn't have power over white people. Somehow the spirits did not seem to be able to control the missionaries.
We thought that the missionaries might give us lots of goods so that we could live long and gain favor with the gods. We were a bit angry sometimes when the missionaries would not give us all we wanted and we made up schemes that we could use to get as much out of them as possible. We would give them false information and try to make them feel obligated to give us things and do things for us out of pity. After all, they had so much more than we did."
Story 5 - Why The Missionaries Came
From Grandpa Mahn-peel-yoo-nun
"We often wondered what the missionaries purpose really was. They didn't try to do anything bad to us like our ancestors had told us they would, and they didn't gain anything from being with us except a lot of problems that we created for them. Their children played with our children and we became fond of them like they were our own. They caught our sicknesses and their children even got malaria.
"They missed their families from where they came from and they had to put up with the constant threat of communist rebels attacking our village. Some of the village leaders were jealous of them and tried everything they could to harass and drive the missionaries out but still they stayed and we wondered why.
"After the missionaries had lived in our village for nearly two years they told us that they had a message for us from the creator's book and that they wanted to teach it to us if we would gather twice a week to listen. Our chief told us that we should listen. Many of us were skeptical and did not want to, but most of us attended because the missionaries were no longer strangers to us and we were curious to hear what they had to say.
"We were amazed that their stories were about the creation and the beginning of the world because our stories are about that, too. But unlike our stories, their stories seemed to explain the truth about the way things are in the world. The stories told about how Satan lies to people to get them to follow him and how that what he promises doesn't come true and we knew that this was describing our dee-wah-tah spirits because that is exactly what they are like.
"We started to get angry with the dee-wah-tah spirits and some of us talked about abandoning our old ways to try and get away from them, but the missionaries told us not to make any decisions until we had heard the whole message. "As we listened week by week to the story from the creator's book, we were amazed at all we heard and began to believe that the way in this book must be the way that our ancestors had searched for but because they did not have the book they didn't know the truth.
"Then we heard the story of Moses and the creator's law and how we could not keep it. The Creator gave us His laws so that we could know that we are guilty of offending Him and we understood then why we were lost.We could see so clearly the lie that the dee-wah-tah spirits had controlled us with because they always told us that it was possible to gain the creator's favor by keeping the laws that they gave us.
Now we knew that the Creator wasn't waiting for us to keep laws but rather to believe in the way written in His book. "So we pleaded with the missionaries to tell us how we can be saved from the creator's wrath on our sin. What if we died and our sin was still not dealt with?"
Story 6 - Fear to Faith
From Mrs. Naha Tee-nug-ha-now
"After the missionaries told us the story of the birth of the promised Savior Jesus Christ, and also his death and resurrection on our behalf, most of us said that we were now trusting in the Lord Jesus as our Savior. A few were still not convinced but most of us said we were. We were so happy! All we could talk about was what Jesus had done for us and how we could now see the truth so clearly. "We were amazed at the darkness and depth of sin that we were in before. To think that we actually worshipped God's enemy thinking that we were on the right track! Some of us who had dee-wah-tah spirits living in us actually felt them leave as the Lord Jesus came to live in us. It was such a joyful time in our lives to be set free from the terrible bondage that the spirits had held us under through fear. "The missionaries were happy too. Now we understood why they stayed with us and put up with so much. We were overwhelmed at all that God had done for us."
Story 7 - Too Late
Thoughts from Tudd-ha Ahn-see-ha-gun
"We were sad about our chief because even though he had encouraged us to listen, he turned away when he realized that we were no longer going to follow his dee-wah-tah spirits. "He tried to scare us with threats from the dee-wah-tah, but it was too late. We belonged to the Lord now and we told him that we would not follow him or his spirits any more. He tried really hard to draw us away from listening to the missionaries.
It wasn't long before the Lord stopped him by allowing him to die of a throat disease where he could not talk anymore. He died without being able to draw anyone away from the truth. We were really sad but we knew that God was in control. Some of the spirits came back and tried to reclaim us, but when we called on the Lord they disappeared.
"We were really eager to learn more and so the missionaries continued to teach us. We were so excited about our new life in the Lord and it was not long before there were no more sacrifices in our place and no one was following the old ways. Most of the village shamans and spirit men had turned to the Lord so even if anyone wanted to follow the ways of the ancestors there was no one to lead them. Those who wanted to continue in the old ways moved away to other places where the people were still doing that.
"As we learned more about the Lord, we became concerned about our fellow Higaunons in other villages. We questioned the missionaries about why it took so long from when Jesus told His followers to take the message to the whole world to actually bringing it to our place. We wanted to know what happened to our ancestors who never heard. Anyway it seemed to us that 2000 years was a really long time to bring the message to our placeand we didn't want it to be a long time before it reached other Higaunon villages. So we began to discuss and pray about how we could take the message of salvation to the rest of the Higaunon people."
Story 8 - First Higaunon Missionary and Martyr
From Mah-lee-sah
"My husband Monsing was the first one to go to another village to teach the message of eternal life. He learned from the missionaries how to teach and they gave him pictures and the stories in Higaunon. Monsing went to a village, a 2 day journey away and he was able to teach there often. After a while though he started getting visits from communist rebels in that area who threatened to kill him if he did not stop teaching. Quite a lot of people were turning to the Lord and they did not like losing their followers. Monsing himself had been one of them before he turned to the Lord.
"Monsing really loved to teach the Gospel and he would not stop because of their threats. In 1985 they killed Monsing but the church there kept growing."
Story 9 - Struggles from Within
Mr. Yahn-dung Tee-nug-ha-now
"About three years after Monsing was killed, there were quite a number of Higaunon men from our village involved in the ministry of God's Word. Some of them had gone to other areas following Monsing's example and there were believers now in each of those places. Others, including myself, were leading the church in our village and we often had conferences in our village with believers coming from the other outreaches.
"As the missionaries continued to teach us from the word of God and we were exposed to deeper truths about how we as God's children ought to conduct our lives, we began to notice quite a number of our people openly reject this teaching. This was especially evident in situations where people wanted to continue on with sinful practices. To our surprise when they were confronted with sin like continued drunkenness or adultery, they not only rejected the exhortation but they got mad at those dealing with them and they began to slander the church and even persecute those who wanted to follow the Word of God. What tended to happen then is their believing relatives would take sides with them and this caused a lot of strife and division in the church.
"Through these things we have seen that not all those who claimed to be believers in the beginning were really genuine. Many simply followed the majority, but their motive was wrong. Then, because they did not have the Spirit of God to enable them to follow the Word of God, they turned away from it. Some of them have even gone back to the old spirit worship and others have joined false cults. We are sad about this but not discouraged because it is just like the parable of the sower.
"We have also learned that, though our old ways were broken by the introduction of the Word of God, many of our strong Higaunon family relationships still have a strong hold on those of us who are not making a determined effort to follow the Word of God. Family loyalties and the pressure of expected cultural behavior from our unsaved relatives and tribal leaders is often the cause of us choosing to deny the Lord rather than follow Him. We are sad about this because, on the one hand, we are so excited about our new life and all that the Lord has done, but then, on the other hand, there are so many of us that are still very weak in standing up for the truth.
We have also struggled with the idea that we are not all equally as strong in the Lord because, in the tee-noo-mah-nun before we were saved, the whole group had to be equally committed for it to succeed. We know that this is not how it is in the Lord, but, because the group feeling is so ingrained in us, we get easily discouraged when some members of our church choose to follow their own selfish desires. We feel as if it is us doing it. We hope that anyone who reads this will pray for us in this area because we want things to go smoothly but there always seems to be problems."
Story 10 - Suffering and Growth
From Tah-huck
"This is me teaching at our weekly discussion time. We are talking about our problems and suffering. As we have continued on with the Lord we have begun to learn that it is all the problems and suffering that God allows us to face that causes us to grow. We can see so many areas where we have grown in our spiritual understanding because of hard things.
"One difficult thing that happened was about 13 years after the church was first established in our place, our main church leader committed adultery with the wife of one of the deacons. When it happened it was as if we completely forgot our faith and we reverted right back to wanting to deal with it the way we would in our old ways. Adultery is the worst form of sin in Higaunon culture and it is punishable by death if the person doesn't flee quick enough.
"Those believers who belonged to the ladies" family wanted to take revenge on the family of the man who committed the adultery with her. It took a long time for us to get sorted out and we nearly ended up killing one another, but the Lord used lots of situations to show us that we were all walking in sin. Like when the river flooded really badly and we couldn't cross it to go and take revenge and the Lord used that to speak to us. Since that time we have actually seen a complete reconciliation of everyone involved. This was absolutely unheard of before we were saved. We learned so much about God's forgiveness and realized that there are still many things in our ways that are opposed to the creator's ways.
"This is another area that we hope that our fellow siblings in the Lord in other places will pray for us in, because we tend to be so stubborn when it comes to issues between family groups. We get along fine within the bounds of one family group, but when an issue comes up between two or more family groups we are so easily tempted to be loyal to our own family group even if they are walking in sin! We need a lot of prayer in this area.
"Another area that is affected by our family relationships is the church leaders. This happens when the church leaders are having to deal with an area of sin in someone's life and if there is a church elder who is from that person's family group, he is expected by his family group to take sides with the person being dealt with. This often causes a problem between the church leaders. If the church leader takes sides with the person because of his family group then there is a rift in the fellowship of the leaders. If the leader stays faithful to stand with the church leaders in dealing with the person's sin, then there is a lot of strife and problems between him and his family group. Either way, it seems that this area of family relationships is something that Satan is really trying to use to destroy the fellowship of the Higaunon church leaders and teachers.
"We think that Satan is doing this because there are so many new groups of people who are asking to be taught the truth these days that he want's to get rid of all the teachers and leaders so that there will be no one to tell them".
Story 11 - Can You Pray With Us?
Mr. Sahn-soo-wah Ahn-see-ha-gun and family
"Please can you pray with us that the Lord will destroy the effectiveness of Satan's attacks on us. We want to grow and not be controlled so much by our Higa-unon ways. Please pray that those of us who are church leaders will be able to recognize the tricks of Satan and stand against them in the Lord.
"We really want to be faithful to the Lord and we want to see the rest of our people reached with the Gospel. We really need help through your prayers, that we would overcome these areas of our culture that we struggle with."
Story 12 - Grandpa's Request
Grandpa Wee-kee's request...
"One last thing that we want to ask you to pray for is our language. Our children are abandoning their Higaunon language because they want to be like the city people. Satan is bringing all kinds of things into our place through the contact of our young people with the city ways and they are being tempted with this. The worst thing, though, is that they don't want to retain their Higaunon language and this makes it hard for us to teach them spiritual truth. Then they listen to false religions who teach in the city language and they don't understand Higaunon anymore. We want our young people to know our language so that the church can continue to grow and be effective to reach out to the rest of the Higaunon villages. So please pray that the Lord will help us with this problem and that our children will want to retain their language and still be able to learn the truth about the Lord before they get confused."
Story 13 - A Closing Word
From Mo-yee-koo Sah-la-mung-kah
"Thank you for listening to our testimonies. The Creator has done so much for us and we are really happy about that. He is still doing so many things and yet we have a hard time living godly lives according to His book."I am reading His book quite often because there are still so many things in our Higaunon ways that are opposed to the ways of the Creator. We need to grow in our understanding of what He wants. "That is all we have to say now.Thank you for praying for us. We hope that Jesus, the Creator, will bless you."
____________________________________________________________________
"After the missionaries told us the story of the birth of the promised Savior Jesus Christ, and also his death and resurrection on our behalf, most of us said that we were now trusting in the Lord Jesus as our Savior. A few were still not convinced but most of us said we were. We were so happy! All we could talk about was what Jesus had done for us and how we could now see the truth so clearly. "We were amazed at the darkness and depth of sin that we were in before. To think that we actually worshipped God's enemy thinking that we were on the right track! Some of us who had dee-wah-tah spirits living in us actually felt them leave as the Lord Jesus came to live in us. It was such a joyful time in our lives to be set free from the terrible bondage that the spirits had held us under through fear. "The missionaries were happy too. Now we understood why they stayed with us and put up with so much. We were overwhelmed at all that God had done for us."
Story 7 - Too Late
Thoughts from Tudd-ha Ahn-see-ha-gun
"We were sad about our chief because even though he had encouraged us to listen, he turned away when he realized that we were no longer going to follow his dee-wah-tah spirits. "He tried to scare us with threats from the dee-wah-tah, but it was too late. We belonged to the Lord now and we told him that we would not follow him or his spirits any more. He tried really hard to draw us away from listening to the missionaries.
It wasn't long before the Lord stopped him by allowing him to die of a throat disease where he could not talk anymore. He died without being able to draw anyone away from the truth. We were really sad but we knew that God was in control. Some of the spirits came back and tried to reclaim us, but when we called on the Lord they disappeared.
"We were really eager to learn more and so the missionaries continued to teach us. We were so excited about our new life in the Lord and it was not long before there were no more sacrifices in our place and no one was following the old ways. Most of the village shamans and spirit men had turned to the Lord so even if anyone wanted to follow the ways of the ancestors there was no one to lead them. Those who wanted to continue in the old ways moved away to other places where the people were still doing that.
"As we learned more about the Lord, we became concerned about our fellow Higaunons in other villages. We questioned the missionaries about why it took so long from when Jesus told His followers to take the message to the whole world to actually bringing it to our place. We wanted to know what happened to our ancestors who never heard. Anyway it seemed to us that 2000 years was a really long time to bring the message to our placeand we didn't want it to be a long time before it reached other Higaunon villages. So we began to discuss and pray about how we could take the message of salvation to the rest of the Higaunon people."
Story 8 - First Higaunon Missionary and Martyr
From Mah-lee-sah
"My husband Monsing was the first one to go to another village to teach the message of eternal life. He learned from the missionaries how to teach and they gave him pictures and the stories in Higaunon. Monsing went to a village, a 2 day journey away and he was able to teach there often. After a while though he started getting visits from communist rebels in that area who threatened to kill him if he did not stop teaching. Quite a lot of people were turning to the Lord and they did not like losing their followers. Monsing himself had been one of them before he turned to the Lord.
"Monsing really loved to teach the Gospel and he would not stop because of their threats. In 1985 they killed Monsing but the church there kept growing."
Story 9 - Struggles from Within
Mr. Yahn-dung Tee-nug-ha-now
"About three years after Monsing was killed, there were quite a number of Higaunon men from our village involved in the ministry of God's Word. Some of them had gone to other areas following Monsing's example and there were believers now in each of those places. Others, including myself, were leading the church in our village and we often had conferences in our village with believers coming from the other outreaches.
"As the missionaries continued to teach us from the word of God and we were exposed to deeper truths about how we as God's children ought to conduct our lives, we began to notice quite a number of our people openly reject this teaching. This was especially evident in situations where people wanted to continue on with sinful practices. To our surprise when they were confronted with sin like continued drunkenness or adultery, they not only rejected the exhortation but they got mad at those dealing with them and they began to slander the church and even persecute those who wanted to follow the Word of God. What tended to happen then is their believing relatives would take sides with them and this caused a lot of strife and division in the church.
"Through these things we have seen that not all those who claimed to be believers in the beginning were really genuine. Many simply followed the majority, but their motive was wrong. Then, because they did not have the Spirit of God to enable them to follow the Word of God, they turned away from it. Some of them have even gone back to the old spirit worship and others have joined false cults. We are sad about this but not discouraged because it is just like the parable of the sower.
"We have also learned that, though our old ways were broken by the introduction of the Word of God, many of our strong Higaunon family relationships still have a strong hold on those of us who are not making a determined effort to follow the Word of God. Family loyalties and the pressure of expected cultural behavior from our unsaved relatives and tribal leaders is often the cause of us choosing to deny the Lord rather than follow Him. We are sad about this because, on the one hand, we are so excited about our new life and all that the Lord has done, but then, on the other hand, there are so many of us that are still very weak in standing up for the truth.
We have also struggled with the idea that we are not all equally as strong in the Lord because, in the tee-noo-mah-nun before we were saved, the whole group had to be equally committed for it to succeed. We know that this is not how it is in the Lord, but, because the group feeling is so ingrained in us, we get easily discouraged when some members of our church choose to follow their own selfish desires. We feel as if it is us doing it. We hope that anyone who reads this will pray for us in this area because we want things to go smoothly but there always seems to be problems."
Story 10 - Suffering and Growth
From Tah-huck
"This is me teaching at our weekly discussion time. We are talking about our problems and suffering. As we have continued on with the Lord we have begun to learn that it is all the problems and suffering that God allows us to face that causes us to grow. We can see so many areas where we have grown in our spiritual understanding because of hard things.
"One difficult thing that happened was about 13 years after the church was first established in our place, our main church leader committed adultery with the wife of one of the deacons. When it happened it was as if we completely forgot our faith and we reverted right back to wanting to deal with it the way we would in our old ways. Adultery is the worst form of sin in Higaunon culture and it is punishable by death if the person doesn't flee quick enough.
"Those believers who belonged to the ladies" family wanted to take revenge on the family of the man who committed the adultery with her. It took a long time for us to get sorted out and we nearly ended up killing one another, but the Lord used lots of situations to show us that we were all walking in sin. Like when the river flooded really badly and we couldn't cross it to go and take revenge and the Lord used that to speak to us. Since that time we have actually seen a complete reconciliation of everyone involved. This was absolutely unheard of before we were saved. We learned so much about God's forgiveness and realized that there are still many things in our ways that are opposed to the creator's ways.
"This is another area that we hope that our fellow siblings in the Lord in other places will pray for us in, because we tend to be so stubborn when it comes to issues between family groups. We get along fine within the bounds of one family group, but when an issue comes up between two or more family groups we are so easily tempted to be loyal to our own family group even if they are walking in sin! We need a lot of prayer in this area.
"Another area that is affected by our family relationships is the church leaders. This happens when the church leaders are having to deal with an area of sin in someone's life and if there is a church elder who is from that person's family group, he is expected by his family group to take sides with the person being dealt with. This often causes a problem between the church leaders. If the church leader takes sides with the person because of his family group then there is a rift in the fellowship of the leaders. If the leader stays faithful to stand with the church leaders in dealing with the person's sin, then there is a lot of strife and problems between him and his family group. Either way, it seems that this area of family relationships is something that Satan is really trying to use to destroy the fellowship of the Higaunon church leaders and teachers.
"We think that Satan is doing this because there are so many new groups of people who are asking to be taught the truth these days that he want's to get rid of all the teachers and leaders so that there will be no one to tell them".
Story 11 - Can You Pray With Us?
Mr. Sahn-soo-wah Ahn-see-ha-gun and family
"Please can you pray with us that the Lord will destroy the effectiveness of Satan's attacks on us. We want to grow and not be controlled so much by our Higa-unon ways. Please pray that those of us who are church leaders will be able to recognize the tricks of Satan and stand against them in the Lord.
"We really want to be faithful to the Lord and we want to see the rest of our people reached with the Gospel. We really need help through your prayers, that we would overcome these areas of our culture that we struggle with."
Story 12 - Grandpa's Request
Grandpa Wee-kee's request...
"One last thing that we want to ask you to pray for is our language. Our children are abandoning their Higaunon language because they want to be like the city people. Satan is bringing all kinds of things into our place through the contact of our young people with the city ways and they are being tempted with this. The worst thing, though, is that they don't want to retain their Higaunon language and this makes it hard for us to teach them spiritual truth. Then they listen to false religions who teach in the city language and they don't understand Higaunon anymore. We want our young people to know our language so that the church can continue to grow and be effective to reach out to the rest of the Higaunon villages. So please pray that the Lord will help us with this problem and that our children will want to retain their language and still be able to learn the truth about the Lord before they get confused."
Story 13 - A Closing Word
From Mo-yee-koo Sah-la-mung-kah
"Thank you for listening to our testimonies. The Creator has done so much for us and we are really happy about that. He is still doing so many things and yet we have a hard time living godly lives according to His book."I am reading His book quite often because there are still so many things in our Higaunon ways that are opposed to the ways of the Creator. We need to grow in our understanding of what He wants. "That is all we have to say now.Thank you for praying for us. We hope that Jesus, the Creator, will bless you."
____________________________________________________________________
FROM THE STANDS By Domini M. Torrevillas,
Some sectors of media have recently trained the spotlight on tribal groups in Aurora province called Dumagats who are said to be of the same origin as the Aetas from Northern Luzon. The Internet says “they are believed to have resulted from a fusion of Austronesian and Melanesian ancestries.”
The Dumagats belong to the ethnic minority and now live in the uplands of Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, Aurora and Quezon. They used to be semi-nomadic, putting up temporary homes wherever they could find sustenance from hunting, fishing and from crops, fruits and other products from the forest.
Most of them eventually learned to settle permanently in certain areas due to the efforts of missionaries and as a result of their contacts with lowlanders from whom they get occasional jobs, mostly agriculture-related.
The Internet also says there are three types of this ethnic group in Aurora — the Umiray, the Palanan and the Casiguran Dumagat. It is the latter which recently attracted media attention, principally due to the creation of the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (Apeco).
From the very start, Apeco had to contend with severe criticisms that its officials say are largely unfounded. One main accusation is that Apeco has grabbed the ancestral lands of the Dumagats and its establishment has “led to the seizure of large tracts of prime agricultural land.” Allegedly the ecozone would eliminate the livelihood of residents and displace some 3,000 families.
These charges have been categorically denied by Apeco president and CEO Malcolm Sarmiento Jr. who said these are rehashed charges that come up whenever Apeco’s budget is the subject of deliberation in Congress.
Said Sarmiento: "We recognize and respect the Dumagats' right to their land. We even support their demand for the issuance of Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles or CADT. We even prioritize them in our projects and they have shown their appreciation in this regard. In the launching last Nov. 22 of some livelihood projects for them and in the groundbreaking for a hotel and several other facilities, some 2,500 Casiguran residents attended these events. They include 181 Dumagat families consisting of some 800 persons."
Apeco deputy administrator Kent Avestruz also said that an earlier consultation held last March also drew around 3,000 residents from settlements of indigenous people and from various barangays in the town. The consultation included the symbolic signing of a covenant for peace and development in Casiguran.
“Compare this with the reported 120 odd people who are making a supposed anti-Apeco protest march from Casiguran to Metro Manila. The marchers claim they represent 3,000 families. On the average, a family consists of at least five persons, Yet the 2010 census puts the Casiguran population at only 23,865. Hence 3,000 families would mean 15,000 people or some 63 percent of the population, which is incredible,” said Avestruz.
Apeco appears to have won solid backing from the Dumagats. Tuesday last week, four Dumagat chieftains, four tribal leaders, two officers of ethnic groups and four barangay officials went to the Senate in support of Apeco. The chieftains are Joel “Katol” Guerra of Dumagipo settlement who is head of the Council of Dumagat chieftains of Casiguran; Hempok Prado of the Depontian settlement; Tersing Bitagan of Dalugan settlement; and Gemma Florez of Calabigan settlement. Apeco appears to have won solid backing from the Dumagats.
The tribal leaders are Ordilong Angidew, Willy Mendoza and Regina Eneria of Casapsapan, Disigisaw and Depontian settlements, respectively. Another tribal leader, Ely de Pablo, was also with the group.
Also voicing their support for Apeco are Renato Prado, president of Agta, Inc. and Nora Gutierrez, president of the Casiguran Federation of Igorot, Dujmagat and Ilongot residents. They were joined by barangay chairperson Madrona Corbadura and secretary Leony Estevez, both of Barangay Esteves, and Captain Binavidez and Merly Curitana, officials of Barangay Culat and Barangay Cozo, respectively.
The group told members of the Senate media that they would distribute signed affidavits and an open letter to the senators attesting to the real situation in Casiguran.
There is evidently a battle of credibility between Apeco and its critics. Whichever side can provide concrete benefits to the Dumagats and the other residents, is sure to emerge victorious.
Apeco offers hundreds of job opportunities in various tourism, commercial, industrial, banking and business process outsourcing establishments in the ecozone, as well as livelihood projects in its agri and aqua techno parks. It has even built a 496-unit Nayong Kalikasan housing project for families affected by development work. It appears therefore, that Apeco holds the upper hand in this regard.
* * *
Is humankind alone in the universe? Hermaneli M. Torrevillas, M.D., author of A Mystical Connection and the Eleventh Hour Before Midnight — sheds new light on this age-old question in his compelling new book, Benevolent Extraterrestrial Guides.
According to the book publisher, Torrevillas' latest work is "based on his many personal experiences with extraterrestrials, a number of which coincide with events leading up to the end time prophecies in the Bible. These encounters, according to him, raised many questions and ultimately inspired him to pursue studies of intuitive feelings as well as the psychic phenomena that relate to the mystifying world of the unknown."
"The voice that talked to me when I was 20 years old, the possession by a spirit when I was 30, the appearance of Jesus Christ in the cloud when I was 48-—were these done by extraterrestrial beings? At 75 years, it was clear that benevolent extraterrestrials had guided me through the years. Now I am called to write this book," the author says.
Writes the publisher: "Incisive and truly extraordinary, Benevolent Extraterrestrial Guides is both a gripping chronicle of one man's quest to unlock some of life's greatest mysteries and a fascinating glimpse into a world that is closed to most people."
Born on September 19, 1937, H. Torrevillas, M.D. is a retired medical practitioner. He is a Fellow of the Australian Medical Acupuncture College. After graduation from the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Medical Center in the Philippines in 1966, he worked in the hinterlands in Northern Luzon. His family migrated to Australia in 1976. He worked at hospitals for three years before establishing his private clinic in 1979 until 2010.
For more information on the book, interested parties can log on to www.Xlibris.com.au.
_________________________________________________________________________
Hello Everybody,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Mrs Sharon Sim. I live in singapore and i am a happy woman today? and i told my self that any lender that rescue my family from our poor situation, i will refer any person that is looking for loan to him, he gave me happiness to me and my family, i was in need of a loan of S$250,000.00 to start my life all over as i am a single mother with 3 kids I met this honest and GOD fearing man loan lender that help me with a loan of S$250,000.00 SG. Dollar, he is a GOD fearing man, if you are in need of loan and you will pay back the loan please contact him tell him that is Mrs Sharon, that refer you to him. contact Dr Purva Pius,via email:(urgentloan22@gmail.com) +918376918351 Thank you.