PANAGBENGA 2014

The blooming of flowers of Baguio as it is displayed through the floats....

The Cordillera month celebration

 The 6 provinces of Abra, Ifugao, Benguet, Kalinga, Mt Province, Apayao and the lone City of Baguio celebrated the 26th Cordillera day with fervor and enthusiasm. The local officials of these northern provinces converge in Baguio City after a week-long unity relay that took off from Baguio last July 9, 2013 with no less than the City Mayor leading the send-off.

The Cordillera administrative region was established some 26 years ago to prepare for its conversion from an administrative region to an autonomous one as provided for in the Constitution of the land. The event was celebrated with much "Tadok" - the native dance from the different ethnic groups in the Cordi.

Courtesy of Director Rufina Fegcan

One of the several ethnic dresses of the Cordilleras. This ethnic get up is a Benguet dress

The Great Kalinga dancer ......

An ethnic wear

An ethnic touch on a modern Style of dressing

A prayer ritual.... Gong Caravan send-off

July 9, 2013. Baguio City Sent-off the Gong Caravan to the rest of the provinces in the Cordilleras with the members of the Regional Development Council. The Mayor proudly called Kabunyan to bless the trip and to keep the delegates safe as they leave for the tour of the Cordi.

The prayer ritual....

Just after the ritual..

These are City Hall employees and officers who made the send-off a memorable one..

Pictures courtesy of Bong Cayabyab

The History....

KALINGA is a province of the Cordillera Administrative Region of Northern Philippines. The capital town of Kalinga is Tabuk City bordered on the south by Mt. Province, the east by Cagayan Valley, North by Apayao and West by Isabela.  

Kalinga derived its name from a gaddang (people of Cagayan Valley) term which was used to refer to the people known to practice head-hunting during the Spanish era that continued to disturb the people of Cagayan Valley. These are the dwellers of the mountains which is now the Kalinga area.

Kalinga was recognized as a political subdivision when the old Mt province was established in 1912 but was merged with Apayao when Mt. Province was subdivided.

Kalinga used to be Kalinga-Apayao but in 1994 the people of both decided to split it into two provinces, Kalinga and Apayao.  The province is composed of the municipalities of Pinukpuk, Rizal, Tinglayan, Lubuagan, Pasil, Tanudan, Balbalan and Tabuk City. Like the rest of the  provinces in the Cordilleras, Kalinga is blessed with a temperature of 17-22 °C with rainy season from April to November and the rest of the months is dry season in the area.

Kalinga is dubbed "the peacock of the north" with its peoples' unbeatable belief in their independence and patriotism. The province boasts of legendary beauty, mystical sceneries, strong cultural beliefs and practices that kept them united for centuries to protect their lands. 

This is a landlocked province where the Chico River drains. Tributaries to the Chico are the Tanudan River, Poswoy, Mabaca, Saltan and Dao-angan Rivers of Tanudan, Pasil River and Bunog River of Tinglayan and ends into the Cagayan River.
  

Kalinga is primarily an agricultural area with rice terraces found in some of the municipalities of the province. Tabuk City is the “rice granary” of Kalinga with its vast tracks of ricefields.  

Kalinga boasts of sub-ethnic tribes with similar cultural practices that have been handed down from one generation to the next. The practices range from Birth, Weddings, Marriage, harvest, death and burial practices. You hear of terms such as  "paliwat", Ullalim, Sapata, Tadok, kayaw, saosao-ay, Salidummay, batok and mambabatok, kabunyan, bodong (peace pact),  which are native vernaculars that describe the cultural practices of the Kalingas.

The people of kalinga are referred to as ikalinga. They are hospitable people that enjoy entertaining guests and embrace them to their culture. These are proud people that do not want to surrender their lands and rights just to anyone. This is the reason why tribal wars were a way of  life in Kalinga in the olden times. Even today, the ikalinga observe the “bodong” system of settling disputes. The different ethnic tribes in Kalinga are fierce in defense of their beliefs and loyalty to their people and tribe thus, they fight to unite.

"PANAGBENGA"

Baguio boasts of its "PANAGBENGA" or FLOWER FESTIVAL. "Panagbenga"  means "season for blooming", an annual festival that the City of Baguio celebrates. It is a way to raise Baguio from the ruins of the killer quake in 1990. This event bring in hundreds and even a million of people to this mountain resort every year to witness the amazing display of flowers of myriad colors.

Pictures courtesy of Bong Cayabyab

Beautiful Baguio

Baguio has a lot to offer, the beautiful "Panagbenga"; the people; the climate and the sceneries. One of the most recent additions is the 'ROSE GARDEN".This makes one proud to be a part of a community that cares to have a place such as this available to the all... All these pics are courtesy of Bong Cayabyab