By Prof. Bernie V. Lopez, eastwind and Daily Tribune column StarGazer.
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THE TOMB OF THE JAPANESE EMPEROR.
This story was told to me by Dojin Okada, Japanese journalist and television producer who became a close friend when we covered many Japanese issues in the Philippines, such as the PNOC geothermal in Mt. Apo, where many people were affected by arsenic poisoning.
A decade or so ago, the Japanese people decided to open the ancient sacred tomb of the Emperor. They were surprised to discover that his burial clothes did not deteriorate even after a few thousand years. When they conducted a thorough investigation, they made a surprising discovery.
The cloth was made of the best Chinese silk interwoven with pinya cloth from Antique (pineapple fiber cloth used by ancient ethnic royalty). Pinya today is still hand woven into the finest formal dresses for weddings and special occasions in many parts of the archipelago.THE CLOTH DID NOT ROT FOR MANY CENTURIES.
Antique is an island in the Visayas region, home of the Aetas, who may have started the pinya technology in pre-Hispanic times. It is not known if the Japanese traded directly with the Aetas at the time of the death of the Emperor. Anthropologists theorize that the cloth may have been purchased from a Chinese junk ships (trading ships) which frequented the Philippines during those times.
THE NISSEIS AND SANSEIS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY. RUBBING ELBOWS WITH ANCIENT PEOPLE.
We had a two-day seminar for all kinds of Mangyans of Occidental Mindoro, from the intellectual HANUNOOs to the unassimilated ALANGANs. We invited 300 but they brought their kids whom they could not leave at home alone, so it ballooned to 1,200. We had a food crisis.
An elderly Hanunoo pointed to a giant malunggay tree. So we axed the tree and all had their fill for two days. When I visited 3 year later, the tree had grown to half its original size. The Alangans woke up at 3 am to cook breakfast. They poured tons of rice on a 40-meter banana leaf highway along the elementary school corridor, the venue. Then, they poured BAGOONG (salted fish sauce) on top of the snow-white mountain range of rice. We sat and ate with our hands, no plates, no utensils, just dip your hands on the bagoong-rice. Motor-oil plastic cans were passed around so all could drink fresh water-falls water. Some Christians were afraid they would catch disease from the Mangyans. I told them it was the other way around.
They may catch disease from us.
MANY LOOK DOWN ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AS ‘BACKWARD’, ‘IGNORANT’, AND
‘UNEDUCATED’. AFTER MY IMMERSIONS WITH THEM FOR 15-ODD YEARS, I FEEL IT IS THE OPPOSITE. ANCIENT WISDOM IS DEEPER.
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