Balintataw

The Ethnics, Our People

Why is there so much hate?

        Is it because of the color of our skin and the dialects we speak?

        Or because of the traditions of our kin

        Or of the gods we worship?

        Long before this generation was born, we are the masters of these seas.

        And up the mountains, we were the hunters of the beasts

        We braved the invaders,

        For this is the land of our birth

        In his liberty we stand,

        The pride we hold the dearest. 

Why is there stigma?

         Is it because of  the customs people do not understand,

         The manner of sanctifying the dead in the jars

         Or at the cliff the coffins we hang?

         Or because of the rituals done by the katalonas and babaylan?

          We had this ulog, albularios, suob and the rain dance.

          We worship the Bulol, Agni, Sidapa, Magwayen and Magdarangan.

         But at least we do not defile the spirit of gods,

         For we worship them by the heart.

          In our offerings, we do not make ourselves fat.

Why is there discrimination?

         Is it because we do not speak foreign tongues?

         For our education is not advanced?

         But mind you before the technology is at hand,

         We devised the alibata, the karagatan, and dupluhan.

         We have epics too, songs and dance

         We have this Great Hero Lam- ang.

Why is there Marginalization?

        Is it because we do not beg for clothes, food and houses?

        Is it because we do complain of the plight of our races?

        In us there is dignity in our strong hands,

        We build our own mountain terraces,

        Where we  grow crops, grains or rice,

        In communal life, it will suffice.

        But the powerful have driven us to the edge of wilderness,

        Like the lowly brutes, in wealth we have scarce.

We are the ethnics,

     hated, stigmatized, discriminated, and marginalized 

     ignorant in your eyes,

       and have this primitive life. 

        But at least we do not worship people from foreign land,

        And treat them as our gods

        For in us flows this ancestral blood!

        Yes in our culture, dialects, religion and color, we take pride.

       We are not greedy, we are virtuous,

       And like you, we are children of God.