LUID YA ING CATIMAUAN NING BANGSANG KAPAMPANGAN!
siuala ding meangubie
LUID YA ING CATIMAUAN NING BANGSANG KAPAMPANGAN!
siuala ding meangubie
Óbat dugû makanian? Óbat ding ának kng siúdad, nung ibúlus mó kng yátu, sálâng maté la kng dánup ó sálâng maging na lá mû dugûng tulisán ó kayâ patútut? Bákit pin mó?
Ing pakibat i yápin iti: Ding supling ning báriu maksalálé ya ing kabiáyan da kng gabun dang tíbûan. Úlîng túbû la kng gabún, malaguâ lang kumabié kng gabún. Nung sésen de ing gabún, sésen na lá mu naman ning gabún. Ding supling na naman ning siúdad makasalálé né mû ing kabiáyan da kétang kapirásung papil a gauâ námû ning táu: ing péra. Nung alâ nóng péra alâ nóng kuénta. Nung alâ nóng péra é nó táu. Makanánu móng ausan táu nung ing bálang singap ning pangisnáua ra kukumpas ning pangimut ning péra. Bagutan mé ing péra at magmistúlâ lang bangké, anti móng piálungan a kélagan mu batiria. É nó mikimut. Muluk na lá mû kng súluk. Maté la kng dánup nung é la magpalimus, mamanáko o magpatútut. Úlîng túbû lang péra, suplîng na na lá mû ning péra. Úlîng ing péra géuâ né mû ning táu bang maging kasangkápan na, ring sablâng táung túbû kng péra kasangkápan lá mû naman.
Nánu ing súkat nang daptan ning táu siúdad bang áyatbus néng pasibáyu ing kayang pángatáu? Kailángan yang múlî kng gabun. Kailángan néng kilalánan iting pasibáyu bílang indû na at tíbûan. Kailángan né iting luguran at lingápan, ipanluálu karéng mangatakbâng mánintúnan a magnásâng manambúnan kayang sementu at basúra at karéng pákalukluk a mánungkúlan a patérakan na mu naman ning péra. Kailángan nang bayáran ing útang na kng Indû nang Tíbûan kapamilatan na ning kayang pámamúlat at pámangísing karing sablâng ának a tútukî mû at pásanggúyud kng bálang sulápo nítang kapirásung papil a lélangan námû ning táu.
Alâng túne Kapampángan a é lulugud kng gabun nang tíbûan. Alâng túne Kapampángan a é ná mu naman luluguran ning kayang indû at tíbûan. Sabáge, nung é me man agiûng básan iti, kabud da naka ausan Kapampángan.
Siuala ding Meangubie
Ding Sísinup kng Singsing
K [The Kapampangan Magazine], November 2004
Óbat lása ing Kapampángan mû ing búkud mámangan kámarû? Ing balâ ding kéraklan táng kabalén yápin itang póta kanu kéti lá mû ping galáng Kapampángan mayayákit déng kámarû at alâ karéng áliuâng lugar. Sinálâ la reng kabalén támu kng balâ ra úlîng lása at lagánas ya ing kamárû mabílug a Pilipínas dápûat é re pa múrin kanan ding áliuâng Pilipínu iti. Bákit? Métung pa, alâ yang lagiû ini karéla. Bákit? Mágtakâ lá pin déng entomologist kng Talamban Campus ning San Carlos University karin Cebu nung bákit déng Kapampángan atin lang áus kng inséktung ini. Angga ré mûng áusan kng scientific name na, Neocurtilla hexadactyla, úlîng karing álakbayan da nang dáke ning Pilipínas, alâ la man áus ding áliuâng kultúra kng inséktung iti. Ó bákit mó karéng Kapampángan atin ya kábang karéng áliuâng Pilipínu alâ ya?
Ing sangkan yápin ing mikakabaldúgan ya kng kultúra támu ing kamárû bílang pámangan úlî ning mísan sinópan nó ning inséktung iting kumabié ring Kapampángan búsal ning karélang kasakítan.
Dakal na ngéning ébidénsiang magpasiág na kng báyu la pa man dátang ding Kastílâ, maglápo ya ing pópulasiún ning Kapampángan paúlî ning masaplálâng kálam ning ásikan ampóng danuman. Dápûat, sumángid ning kasaplálân, pilálûng ing Kapampángan é na agyung lisian ing paniatang ding sakunâ. Pótang dintang na ing sakunâ at mésirâ na ing púpul, ing tantûng ablas na níti kng maglápo nang pópulasiun ning Kapampángan yápin ing dánup ~ métung a maragul a lakandánup. Kng búsal ning lakandánup, ing malúkâng kámarû mikaulaga ya kng bié na ning Kapampángan a mamamaté kng dánup. Ing kámarû yang tínubus kaya kng tantûng kamatáyan.
Ngára ring mágaral kultúra, báyu né kanan ning táu ing insektu, múna na nóng kanan ding manuk, bábî, áyup at asan a pákapatúlug kaya. Iniâ lása at mabáyat pin uálâ ing méging nang gampâ ning inséktung kámarû kng amlat nang kaligtásan ning táung Kapampángan. Ing kámarû méging yang párti ning kayang kultúra bang é na ákalinguang maliári ya iting pikuánan sustansia. Ing kámarû méging yang párti ning kayang kultúra bang é na ákalinguan na migligtas ya ini kaya. Ing kámarû mikalagiû ya bang áturû né ning Kapampángan ing kabaldúgan na níti kng samantâng atin pang dátang a mas mabáyat a sakunâ karing tutukîng dáî.
Dápûat kalúpa ning ámanuan kung minúna, dakal nó pin karéng tutukî na nang dáî ning Kapampángan ing é pa mékatakam ó ménakit man kng inséktung kamárû. É ra man masabal nung takman dé pa iti ó alî ré. Bákit? Úlîng milaláko ne kabaldúgan karéla. Mumúna, é ra né ákakit ing kámarû úlî ding ásikan dang tutuknangan mipamísan na lang mégauâng mall ampóng subdivision. Kaduâ, é ra na ísipan ing kasirân ning púpul at ing dáratang a dánup bálang atin sakunâ úlîng ákakit dang é naman mámako ing pámangan a ásasalî mu karéng mall. Katlu, makanánu yang mákasáup ngéni ing kámarû kng bié ning bálang métung a Kapampángan nung tiktákan ya kng kakamal iti? Cha dinálan a pésus kng bálang platítu! Nínung Kapampángan ing sálî pa at mangan liuás karing mángulílâng balikbáyan? Asísi mé pa ing kabalén nung paglíbe na né pámûng frenchfries ning MacDo ing kámarû nang mána?
Mákalungkut. Ing sadiang kéka libri dápat mu ngéning bayáran mal bang mú mûng átakman. Ing kabiasnan ding kekatámung pípumpúnan kailángan mu pámûng saliuân karing libru da ring dáyû. Ing sukat amána mu kang ápû mu ó ita nang kakalákal da ngéni karing iskuéla ding mangakuálta.
Nánu námû ing mitágan karing Kapampángan? Anti na karing áliuâ nang dáke ning malagû nang kultúrang mána, ing dimut a kamárû lumbug né múrin kng kamaláyan ning bálang métung a Kapampángan.
Kng pámangan ning Kapampangan, nánung apansing mung ugálî rang aliuâ kareng Pilipinu? Tikman yu ne ing “tinolang isda” ning Cebu? Anti ya móng tinóla uling biluganan deng kalamungge ampong kapáyâ oneng ing asan é ré man kaliskisan, é ré ilako bitúka at é ré ilako ásang. Ére pa dinan láya iniâ tiktákan ya kng lanam. Matábang ya pa úling é re dinan asin úling kasi kanu ibat né kng dáyatmálat ing asan.
Alâng Kapampángan ing mangan kng “tinolang isda” ning Cebu, agyáng pakákalúlû né at malúkâ. Para kaya kanyó ita at é na pámangan táu. Ing maralas kung daramdaman kareng pakakalúlû támu yapin ini: É burîng sabian pakákalúlû ku mû é naku táu. É úlî móng kalúlû ku é náku mándílô, é náku maliáring miblas at mámangan náku mûng kanyó?
Ini ing pamialiuâ ding Kapampángan karéng áliuâng Pilipíno: Ing Kapampángan é mámangan báng mû kng kumabsî yá. Ing Kapampángan mámangan ya báng kaniamánan ya.
É na kanan ning Kapampángan ing “tinolang isda” ning Cebu, agiáng mángalúlû né, alî úlî ning mayárti ya. É na kanan ning Kapampángan ita úlî ning mátas ya panlása. Burî nang sabian, é sapat kng métung a Kapampángan ing kabud yá mabibié, úlîng ing bábî mabibié yá naman ampong mámangan kilub ning kural. Dápûat ing kutang: Nánung klásing bié ita? Anti ning bábî, ing táu uárî kabud némû mangan ampong magpakabsê?
Nung atin tá man áyaninag kng ugálî támung Kapampángan kapamilatan ning kékatámung pámangan, iya pin iti: Ing panlása támu yang tandâ ning kékatámung pángatáu. Ing panlása támung Kapampangan yang súkat paibábo kékatámu búsal ding sablâng Pilipínu.
Siuala ding Meangubie
Ding Sísinup kng Singsing
K [The Kapampangan Magazine], July 2004
Nung makanian ya kainâ kng natural ing táu óbat i ya mó ing mángibábo karing sablâng lásip a mabibié kng balat ning yátu? Mángibábo ya ing táu úlîng míbaít yang makiupáyâng mabiása. Mébiása yang kumabié kng gabun úling ing gabun i ya ing tínurû kaya. É ya méte bistâ at man natural yang mainâ úlîng ing gabun i ya ing sinése kaya. Ing gabun i ya ing kayang indû. Ing gabun i ya ing kayang talaturû. Ing aús támu kng kabiasnan ning táung bumié kng kayang Gabun a Tíbûan i yá pin ing kultúra.
Úlî ning kultúra, ing táu mebiása yang misúlud imálan bang é né kíkingking patié marimla. Úlî ning kultúra, ing táu mebiása yang manábal kulungbu bang é ne mángaket yamuk. Úlî ning kultúra, ing táu mebiása yang manálîng balé bang é na na pigáganakan ing uran, ing pálî at pati na ring ganid a lásip. Úlî ning kultúra, ing táu é né dumánup nung é nó ápakiraígan pulandit ding usa úlî ning biása néng mamánâ. Úlî ning kultúra, ing táu é né dumánup nung é nó ásisíran lálam danum ding asan úlî ning biása néng mamukatut ampong mamaduas. Úlî ning kultúra, ing táu é né dumánup patié é la makapanaún ding búnga kng kakéuan úlî ning biása néng tánam pále ampong mamúngan tanáman.
Ing kultúra i yápin ing búnga ning maluat nang pámangilála ning táu kng kayang Gabun a Tíbûan. Kng pámangilála karin ya túné mabibiása. Nung ding áliuâng lásip atin lang pakpak, sagu, balútí ó katat a balbúlin bang kumabié la kéti yátu, ing táu naman atin yang kultúra. Ing kultúra i ya ing sangkan nung bakit ing táu i yang mangibábo karing sablâng lásip bistâ at man míbaít yang natural kng kaínâ. Ing kultúra i ya ing sangkan nung bakit ing táu, táu ya.
Nánu pa tâ, nung ilakó mé ing kultúra ning táu anti mu né rin léko pangisnáua kéti yátu. Ing táung alâng kultúra táu é ya táu. É ya súkat mabibié kéti yátu. Mengári ya móng bólang a lálakad pákabálut katat a balbúlin lálam ning mapálîng aldó kéti Kapampángan. Nung é ne ilukas ita, nú ya anti kaluat bié makabilad kng aldó a mapálî? Mengári yá rin kng makasúlud mû kabud pinang kng marimla at mágyélung labuad. Pinandit mû mángaskad né at maláus nang méte.
Ing pamísip, pangimut at panugálí i ya ing daleráyan ning táu kng kayang pamibiébié. Dápot ing kultúra ya ing pékadaleráyan ding kayang pamísip, pangimut at panugálí. Iti i ya ing búnga ning maluat nang pámangilála kng kayang Gabun a Íbatan. Ing kultúra i ya ing súkat ning táung biása. Mebiása ya úlî ning kayang gabun a indû at talaturû. Nung sésen mé ing Gabun mung Tíbûan sésen naka rin anting supling nang líguran. Máyap yang túrû karing nínumang bísâng mabiása. Ing Gabun tang Tîbûan i ya ing pékadaleráyan na ning kekatámung pángatáu ~ ning kekatámung pánga-Kapampángan.
Ing Gabun támung Tíbûan é yá mû kabud pibandîan, liuas kaníti, é mé iti súkat ábandî. Úî ning tutû yang mabié, lúlugud at mánamdáman mû naman. Intâ atin na uárîng supling a sélî ne ing saríli nang indû? Nung makanian, atin ná mû rin kayâng anak a pémisalî né ing saríli nang imâ? Nínung malugud a supling a pábustén nang libakan dé at pasimbalangan ing Indû nang Tíbûan?
Ngéning yarî na ing eleksiun, pansingan tá na la mó nung déting kékatámung mánungkúlan nung mangáyap nóng supling ning Indû táng Tíbûan. Nung bólang nó na naman dugû reng pákalukluk, nínung súkat táng sangkánan? Ing táung bólang, ngára pin, maglayúnan ya mû kng kalúpa nang bólang. Anti na rin kng eleksiun, ing táung bólang i yá mûng mamótu kng kalúpa nang bólang. Nung ding pákalukluk páuâ nó nanaman dugûng makmak, ing burî nang sabian níta dakal nó rugûng tutû kéti réng bólang. Signus:
Dápot makanánu méng árakap ing alâ ya nung alî mû kng singsing? Karéng pantas ding táu Yurópa at Amérika, ing singsing yang simbulu ning kalambayan ulî ning alâ ya kanu iting kamumulân at kayanggánan.
Dápot ngara naman ding kekatámung pantas, mabábo lâ mûng mísip ding Amerikánu at táu Yurópa ulîng ing akákit dá ing material námû ning singsing. Kekatámung Kapampángan, ing singsing yang simbulu na ning kalambayan ulîng ing kalambayan yang makapalúlan karin!
Nánu pa tâ, ing alâ a ati kng singsing maglambayan ya ulî ning alâ ya mismung kamumulân at kayanggánan ing alâ. Nánu pa tâ, kekatámung Kapampángan, ing alâ atiu ya ulî ning singsing. Iniâ ing áus tá kng kaladua ning Kapampángan Aláya at ing basultûng Atin ku pûng Singsing yang makabaldûgan díling kanta kekatámung Kapampángan.
Ing Aláya yang túne magpakimut kng Kapampángan. Ing Aláya yang mamié kabaldúgan kng kekatámung pánga-Kapampángan. Ing Aláya iya mu rin ing áusan támung kultúra.
Dápat ding kekatámung manungkúlan keti Kapampángan íla ring manimúnang sesése at gágambul kng kekatámung kultúra. Dápat ding kekatámung manungkúlan keti Kapampángan íla ring sisînup kng kekatámung singsing. Dápat ding kekatámung manungkúlan keti Kapampángan íla ring kátiuálâ ning Aláya. Dápat ding kekatámung manungkúlan keti Kapampángan túne la ping Kapampángan a lúlugud kng karélang panga-Kapampángan. Nung aliuâ ilang manimúna sasála la kng karélang gampâ at katungkúlan. Nung sinálâ la dapat lang miparúsan. Nung aliuâ ilang manimúna lininlang dakatámung Kapampangan. Nung aliuâ íla ring manimúna alâ lang kuenta!
Iniâ ngéning dáratang a eleksiun pakapansingan támu nung nînu kareng tátagal ngéni ding magmasabal kng kekatámung kultúra. Mangapampángan la kng karélang pamangampania? Kayábe ya ing panyúlung ning kultúra kágum ding sablâ rang pángakûng panyúlong? Kaluguran dé ing karélang pángatáu bilang Kapampángan? Nung alî at alâ bitasâ karéla ing ating malíno a plataporma kng panyúlung ning kultúra, alâ lang bitasang matúlid magnásâng manungkúlan kéti Kapampángan! Ing dápat karéla itábi tá na la! Nánu pa mó ing burî dang gáuan ding lamaran a ren kéti Kapampángan nung alíuâ itang gísanan dakatá malinamnam?
Aiti ing métung a malaguâng súkat: Nung ikang tátagal katungkúlan keti Kapampángan é me apanikuânang básân iti, alâ kang matúlid magnásâng manungkúlan kéti! Nung ikayung bobótu é ye apanikuânang básân iti, é nako bobótu ulîng é makakáyap kng Indû táng Kapampángan ing kekayung pányaptan!
É nakó masias a buntuk! Kasimplian námû namang pakiyintindian: Ing manimúna kareng Kapampángan dápat túne yang Kapampángan!
The nunû were not the duendes that the Spaniards made us believe. The nunû were our fathers and mothers, our grandparents and great grandparents who have gone ahead to become one with the force and thus become gods. Ancient graves were placed on the western part of the rice field known as minangun. There, their tombs or pungsû were in the shape of small mountains, a replica of the sacred mountain of Alaya. Nowadays, termite mounds are mistaken for pungsû are avoided and feared as to the dwelling place of the duende.
HAVING A TWIN SOUL
The concept of kaladua would also explain the violent nationalism of the ancient Kapampangans. For them, man and his Indûng Tibuan, the land of his birth, are one and the same. Their souls are linked together intimately. They are twins. They are kaladua. Without the other, man dies a bitter death ‑ the death of a foreigner in his own native land.
THE CULT OF RESPECT
Although death maybe the ultimate way to become a god, the ancients believed in humans who are more or less godlike, those who are nuan, “those who are overflowing with nû“. Kapampangans then believed that man is more or less nuan and must be respected accordingly. Aside from the elderly, those considered nuan by the ancients were the bayanî (warrior) who never lost a battle, the upright dátû, the powerful katulunan (seers) and mamalian (mediums), and members of the mapiâ or ancient nobility.
The way to show one’s respect is often through pamanyiklaud. This is done by kneeling on the ground and then pressing the kanuan, the forehead which is “the seat of nû“, on the pigalanggalangan or wrist of the one being offered respect. One’s rank is often times reflected by the galang or wristband one wears. If the one being respected is at a certain distance physically or in rank, one’s kanuan is pressed on the ground instead of the person’s wrist.
Fray Juan de Plasencia, a Spanish priest observing the legal practices of the ancient Kapampangans at the beginning of the Spanish era, was quite intrigued at why the ancient ones treated insult as the worst possible crime ever, and why it was often times repaid with death. If he took the time to understand the concept of nû, he would have understood that discourtesy then was not a mere question of forgetting one’s manners but was rather a question of sacrilege.
KAPAMPANGANISM VS CHRISTIANITY
Religion is cultural. Culture is a collective expression of man’s ongoing relationship with his environment. When a religion is introduced, it naturally brings with it the culture from whence it came. There is no religion that could be totally abstracted from the culture it sprang from.
Christianity, which ultimately has its roots in Judaism, is a religion born of the desert. In the desert, the earth is death. Nothing grows from it but vipers and scorpions. So for the desert culture, the earth is evil. The intolerant desert soil would also account for the intolerant attitude of most desert cultures as expressed in their religions. In the desert, total and almost blind obedience to the head of the community is a matter of life and death, for he alone knows the trail to all the oases. To disobey is to be driven out into the harsh wilderness. Much like being excommunicated or being sent to hell. To stray away from the path is to end up dead in the hot desert sands.
Life in the desert comes in the form of rain. For the desert people, good could only come from the heavens. If there is a god, then god must come from heaven. The heaven sends thunder and lightning. The heaven rumbles like a man. So god for the desert people must be male. For them, god is a father in heaven, for like a father, he too remains distant from his children even though he provides for them.
The environment of Indûng Kapampangan are in total contrast to the desert environment. Naturally, the culture and belief system of the people here is in total contrast with the culture and religions born of the desert.
For the ancient Kapampangans, the earth is rich. The richness of the Kapampangan soil accounts for the tolerant attitude of the Kapampangans and their culture. The earth is the source of all goodness. Life came from the soil. Life returns to the soil. Because the soil is good, then god must come from the soil. And because the soil nurtures and embraces all life, god must therefore be female. For the ancient Kapampangans, God is our Mother on Earth, Our beloved Indûng Tibuan.
Imagine how the world of our ancestors was turned upside down when Christianity was forced upon them. Imagine the mental, cultural and spiritual anguish they experienced as the words of a totally alien god were rammed down their senses.
Although they would not and could not admit it, Kapampangan Christians today still experience this same mental, spiritual, and cultural anguish. The state of their Christianity remains only in the mind. Deep down inside of them, their kaladua still struggles on to free itself from this totally alien and demanding god.
BORN OF THE GODS
The Kapampangan genesis knows no creation. All life sprang from the gods. All life is related. Oral history tells us that the first Kapampangan, Munag Sumalâ, The Dawn, was born of the union between the Sun God Bápû Arîng Sinukuan and our Earth Mother, the huge crocodile god of the great river, Indûng Tibuan.
So great was the veneration of the ancients for Munag Sumalâ that the early missionaries decided to Christianise her and call her Maria so as to win more souls over to the new religion. Using her father’s name as her surname, the Spaniards reintroduced Bápûng Munag Sumalâ as Mariang Sinukuan. The image of her son Bápûng Tálâ, the god who saved Kapampangans from the floods by teaching them how to plant rice, was used in analogy to the giving of communion by the priests.
Yet the question remains as thus: If all Kapampangans then were sons and daughters of the gods and therefore gods themselves, why should they chose to become Christians and be demoted to mere creations of one god?
Siuálâ ding Meángûbié
Meantime: June 1999
Or if I should put it more bluntly, my question would be: Atin pa uáring Kapampángan a biásing sumúlat ampong mamásâ kng Amánu nang Sísuan? “Are there still Kapampangans who can still read and write in their own native language?”
The sad truth is, there are no new Kapampángan Poet Laureates because for the past thirty years the Kapampángan people have become illiterate in their own language. The younger generation hardly even speak it. The Kapampángan language is not taught in schools within his own homeland.
The Kapampangan ethno-linguistic group is probably the most culturally self-repressed of all lowland Philippine groups. What ethnic group in Philippines, and the world for that matter, would be slapped with a fine every time their language is spoken within the learning institutions of their homeland? Kapampangan students pay up to PHP 5.00 every time they speak Kapampangan in schools…
What ethnic group would put up a sign in his radio station that reads “No Smoking! No Kapampangan!”?
What ethnic group would consider his own language non-intellectual, unsophisticated and uncultured and therefore unfit to be used in the classroom or in the workplace?
What married couple, both Kapampángan speakers, would raise a child that speaks a language different from his own parents’?
The list of aberrations is endless. How would one expect the new crop of Kapampángans, non-proficient and illiterate as they are in their own language, to suddenly produce from among themselves a literary master in the Amánung Sísuan?
Sadly, the list of aberrations is indeed never ending. For their solution to the question as to why there aren’t anymore Poet Laureates in the Amánung Sísuan is, “Let us have a poetry contest and crown the winner Poéta Laureádo!”
Let us not discuss their authority to crown a Poet Laureate. Let us not even talk about the criteria that make a Poet Laureate. Let us discuss instead the logic of their answer. If the reason for not having any new literary masters in the Kapampángan language is that the Kapampángan people now are illiterate in it, and that they are illiterate in it because they are cultural repression reign supreme in their homeland, then, what good would a damn poetry contest do to solve this problem? I guess that abominable sign “No Smoking! No Kapampangan!” will be there to stay for all eternity.
Indû mi pûng mal, Gabun ming Tíbuan,
Pasúsuan yu cami pû qng mitmûng lugud quécayu.
Alî yu pû sâ pábusteang mapatlud ing yamut mi pû quécayu.
Bang manatili cami pûng tapát;
Sísinup qng mal ming singsing à amána.
Bapûng Indû, Gabun ming Tíbuan,
Malugud yu cami pu sâng tanggapan,
Caras ning aldo à mulî na cami pû quécayu;
Matalic yu cami pû sâng caulan,
Caras ning aldo à mulî na cami pû quecayu.
Siuala ding Meangubie
It was an abomination because it was a nest of giant cash-wielding, free-spending kabalat kapáyâ foreign monsters who could afford to have a goodtime amidst the widespread suffering and poverty of its short raddish-skinned host.
It was an abomination because it was an infringement of the Kapampangan’s sovereignty: It was a foreign base on Kapampangan soil!
So, inspite of all the tears shed on lost jobs, lost cash, lost goods, and lost style when the Americans finally pulled out in November of 1992, there was also an equal if not a greater amount of relief and hope for the Pinatubo ravaged Kapampangan: “Salamat at misublî ne quecatámu iñg Clark!” At last, Clark is ours again!
But to which Kapampangan does the “we” in that word “ours” refer to? The old rich families like the Hensons of Angeles and the De Guzmans of Mabalacat who still claim to have titles to the land grabbed by the Americans, or the poor ancient Aita families who swear by Apung Namalyari Kûn Támu that the land was theirs since time immemorial even before the rich Angeles and Mabalacat gentry grabbed them with pieces of paper signed by the court in unintellegible Spanish?
For most Kapampangans however, Clark, with its vast tract of potential agricultural lands and well furnished housing areas, was the perfect resettlement site for all the lahar ravaged Kapampangan Families of Bacolor, Porac, Angeles, Mabalacat, and Bamban. It would have been the ideal womb for the rebirth of a new and prosperous Kapampangan Nation.
That hope was sooner betrayed. Clark was not to be in Kapampangan hands; Not to the old rich Families of Angeles and Mabalacat, not to the ancient Aita families who swear by Mount Pinatúbû, and most especially not to the thousands of lahar ravaged Kapampangans.
While the rest of the Kapampangan region slowly died of hunger, disease and homelessness, Clark was looted, rumours have it, by domestic foreigners in Philippine Airforce uniforms.
While Kapampangans were forced to lived in tents without decent sanitation, water or electricity, these domestic foreigners in uniform lived with their families in the comfort of the US furnished base housing units, with clean water and free electricity.
While thousands of Kapampangan families were forcibly torn from the embrace of their Indûng Tibuan so as to be resettled in the jungles of Bukidnon and Mindoro, these domestic foreigners in uniforms hauled in the rest of their families from the Visayas or the Ilocos to live off Clark.
What Gordon did to Subic, the mayors of Mabalacat and Angeles could not do. When the Tagalog government in Manila put Clark under the management of the Clark Development Corporation [CDC], the Kapampangans, or what is left of them after the forced diaspora, were again promised new hope. The new Clark was to generate new jobs.
The first thing the CDC did however was open up duty free shops which maimed the surviving local economy. As a coup de grace, the next thing it did was import non-Kapampangan labour.
Clark was once a paradox of love and hate in the heart of the Kapampangan Nation. Now, all it could be is a paragon of hate. For Clark remains an abomination. It is not only a symbol of the betrayal of the hopes of the Kapampangan Nation, but all the more, it remains a foreign base within Kapampangan soil.
Keep Kapampangan lands in Kapampangan hands!
But Angeles City’s political separation is not a separation of essences, but a mere accident of being: The heart and soul of Angeles was and is essentially Kapampangan. Political separation does not entail ethnic and cultural separation.
Geographically speaking, Angeles City lies at the very heart of the Kapampangan Nation, a nation whose influence stretches from the barrios northeast of the town-capital of Tarlac all the way down to the coastal barrios of Mabatang and Calaguiman in the towns of Samal and Abucay of the province of Bataan.
Sun Tzu’s Art of War states that to effectively destroy a kingdom one must attack it not only from without but, most importantly, also from within. The Kapampangan Nation has constantly been under attack from without.
At the coming of the Spaniards, the Kapampangan Nation occupied almost the entire stretch of the Central Plains of Luzon. Then, throughout the centuries, provinces were carved out of her vast territories: Governor-General Simon de Anda gave the lands of Burakan and Tundû to loyal Tagalogs displaced by the Brittish invasion of and eventually became the province of Bulacan; Another governor-general carved out the entire province of Nueva Ecija to become his own personal hunting ground; Bataan was separated so as to facilitate the governance of its west coast; and Tarlac was organised as a commandancia politico-militar to pacify the northern frontiers and eventually became a separate province.
The Kapampangan Nation was finally reduced to a tiny province and a few scattered towns. Yet the assault continues from without. In a population survey conducted in 1980, the number of Kapampangan speakers dwindled to about 66.7 percent in Candaba and to 74.5 percent in Tarlac, Tarlac. The survival level of a language group in a given area is seventy five percent.
But the assault from within had already begun. The number of Kapampangan speakers in Angeles City in 1980 was only 76.8 percent. The number continues to decrease. If the Kapampangan Nation is to survive, it must prevent an attack from within. If the core caves in, then the rest of it crumbles until it totally disappears.
One sensible move is to pass a legislation declaring Kapampangan as Angeles City’s official language. Another is to encourage the revival of her rich Kapampangan cultural heritage in schools and the local media.
Angeles City owes it not to the province of Pampanga alone to remain Kapampangan; Angeles City owes it to the entire Kapampangan Nation to remain Kapampangan; To the Kapampangans fortunate enough to remain here, and to the unfortunate Kapampangans shipped to the Visayas, Mindanao, or even abroad.
Siuala ding Meangubie
CURRENTS 3rd Week June 1995