HAPIT Vol. IX No. 2
April-June 2006

HAPIT is rootword of the Ifugao term Hahapitan, meaning community dialogue. It is published quarterly by the Cordillera Peoples Alliance.

“Makoy” stood firmly for and by the principles that made him — to serve unconditionally the oppressed and exploited people to his last breathe.

Born Rafael Markus Bangit on October 24, 1959 in Sitio Tomiangan, Brgy. Dupag, Tabuk, Kalinga province, Makoy was the eldest of six children. His father, also a peacepact holder, is Mr. Pedro “Mangwag” Bukaw-Bangit, who traces his roots to four tribes in the province: Malbong, Naneng, Salegseg and Sumadel tribes. His mother, Mrs. Adelina Banutan Bangit, is of the Malbong and Naneng descent. Makoy was born at the time dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos was president of the Philippines.

Schooling and the Chico Dams Struggle
Growing up in serene Tomiangan also meant difficult access to basic social services. But Makoy walked long dirt roads daily and did well in school, having finished elementary education at the Gao-gao Elementary School in Dupag in 1972. This was also the time that Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law, putting the whole country under military rule. Formal schooling gradually exposed Makoy to the social conditions affecting the country under the US-Marcos dictatorial regime.

Ferdinand Marcos started constructing the Chico Dam, one of the largest dams to be built in Asia. As a highschool student and graduate of the St. William Academy, Makoy witnessed the human rights violations carried out by the State’s military to his fellow i-Kalinga, and to the Bontok peoples who were directly affected by the dam construction. Tribal members were arrested, thrown in jail and even killed due to their opposition to the dam. Already a leader among the youth in his community, Makoy was elected chairman of the Dupag Sannguniang Kabataan (Dupag Youth Council), where he effectively led and educated his fellow youth.

The conditions under Martial Law and the hard peasant life of the Bangit family did not hinder Pedro and Adelina from sacrificing once more to make ends meet to be able to send Makoy to college in Baguio City. By 1980, Makoy earned his degree (Batchelor of Arts, Major in Political Science) at the Baguio Colleges Foundation (BCF), now the University of the Cordillera. It was also at this time that Pangat (peacepact holder) Macliing Dulag, a leader of the Butbut tribe in Bugnay, Kalinga, was assassinated by elements of the 44th Infantry Battalion led by Lt. Leodegario Adalem.

As a college student, Makoy was active in information campaigns and public for a regarding the opposition to the Chico Dams, its impact to the land, life and resources of the Kalinga and Bontok tribes. Makoy was one of the youth leaders and best speakers of the campaign, where he’d reach as far as Metro Manila to speak and explain in various conferences about the issue, and gather support from government officials and support groups.

Makoy’s work also extended to issues beyond the Chico dam. He was also part of the struggles against the Grand Cañao, militarization and for ancestral land and self-determination during the early 80s. He also figured in the Cordillera peoples’ campaigns during the Marcos dictatorship, regionalization, national oppression, political repression and killings.

His talent in cultural forms had always been both as a way to educate and inform the people. Makoy was very skilled in the delivery of Kalinga chants, such as the uggayam. As an elder and as a CPA leader, Makoy performed the uggayam in many occasions, with much gusto and passion. In a way, the uggayam had become associated with him. In the recent Cordillera Day celebration in Kalinga, Makoy was asked to deliver the history and rationale of the annual political solidarity event, which he did in an uggayam. Prior to Cordillera Day 2006, he was asked to teach some of the younger cultural workers to perform the uggayam, to which he said sincerely, “Nalaka laeng met ti ag uggayam, basta nagapo iti puso” (To chant the uggayam is not at all hard, it just has to come from the heart).

“As good he was on cultural work, he never ceased from further studying and familiarizing himself with indigenous systems to learn how he would be able to effectively reach out to the masses”, recalls his comrades collectively, adding that he was very particular with word usage (“use words that the masses use in everyday life”), and the use and placing of slurs in chanting.

The saga of the Chico Dam opposition came at a time when the Marcos administration was also facilitating the entry of large-scale mining in Pasil municipality of Kalinga, including massive logging operations by Cellophil Resources Corporation (CRC) in Apayao and Abra provinces. These experiences honed Makoy to be the sharp, analytic person that he became, and fully grasp the situation shrouding his beloved Kalinga and Apayao, and the Cordillera region. Rich as the Cordillera region was, the indigenous peoples thriving therein remained poor, and exploited by local and foreign capitalists of the US-GMA regime.

Giving back to Kalinga-Apayao
Right after college, Makoy immediately decided to head back to his home province and give back his education to the people of Kalinga-Apayao, especially at a time when the province was engulfed by development aggression — the operation of the Batong Buhay Gold Mines Inc. (BBGMI) that polluted the Chico and Pasil rivers, the logging operations in Apayao, land issues with the Hacienda Madrigal at Rizal municipality, and the national oppression and fascist rule of the Marcos dictatorship. Makoy knew and believed that these issues greatly, and adversely affected the people of Kalinga-Apayao, and that ultimately, that these had to be opposed.

On December 16, 1993, Makoy co-organized a 5,000-strong march rally in Tabuk, attended mostly by indigenous peasants, to demand the closure of the BBGMI from the Marcos government. Makoy was instrumental to the formation of the Mutual Assistance of Kalinga-Apayao (MAKA) in May 1984, and the Chico People’s Action Group (CAPAG), which was part of the BBGMI opposition. Makoy was one staunch educator and advocate against the fascism of the US-Marcos dictatorship, campaigning and participating in the February 1986 People Power.

The fall of the dictatorship did not mean the end of the woes of the Cordillera peoples, though. Upon the supposed restoration of “democracy” under Pres. Corazon C. Aquino, innocent peasants were massacred in January 1987 (Mendiola Massacre) by soldiers in the event of a peaceful protest against the anti-peasant policies of the Aquino government.

Amid these tumults, Makoy met and married Agustina Pita, with whom they are blessed with four children: Ralph Banna, Mark Bukaw, Rafael Sumkad, and the only girl and also the youngest Crisanta Mae. For a time, Makoy resided in Metro Manila with his young family.

Working with the Cordillera Peoples Alliance Elders Desk
Makoy returned to the province in 1993 and played a key role in the strengthening of the Kalinga-Apayao Chapter of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance, and its corresponding sectoral work, such as among women, elders, youth, peasants and professionals. His guidance and leadership were indispensable to the development of the CPA and strengthening the mass movement in Kalinga. In 2002, he was elected provincial vice chairperson of the Bayan Muna (People First) Partylist, where he actively campaigned for the politics of change through the Bayan Muna platform.

By 2004, Makoy was integrated into the Regional Elders Desk of the CPA as regional coordinator. Years of experience and skill in the mediation of tribal dispute has earned Makoy the respect of his tribe and elders, until he himself became a pangat. As a pangat, he was the peacepact guarantor (holder on behalf of the Malbong tribe on its peacepact agreement with Dangtalan tribe) of his tribe, the Malbong, and the Dangtalan tribe of Pasil municipality. Until the time of his death, Makoy was also the secretary general of the Binodngan Pongors Organization (BPO). The BPO is a federation of Cordillera tribes affiliated with the CPA. Colleagues at the BPO recount that Makoy always took painstaking detail to complete reports, such as documenting cases and recording the names of peacepact holders in specific areas. He worked for peace among the Cordillera tribes, as this was his vision for Kalinga.

As regional coordinator of CPA’s Elders Desk, Makoy had been instrumental in the mediation of several tribal conflicts, such as the Betwagan-Bugnay tribal war, the Mabaca-Malbong and the Sallapaan-Belwang tribal conflicts. Makoy met with tribal elders and leaders from all over the Cordillera region and helped build local alliances to strengthen the CPA’s elders work in various provinces, the most recent of which last year include the MAITUD (Movement for the Advancement of Inter-Tribal Unity) among Bontok and Kalinga tribes, and the UTAPD (Uma Tribal Alliance for Peace and Development) in Lubuagan town, Kalinga. He did not cease to further deepen his knowledge and understanding of the bodong (peacepact), including indigenous laws and practices to tighten inter-tribal unity.

In October 2005, Bangit served as a resource person to the consultation workshop of the Supreme Court Academy on Alternative Dispute Resolution, specifically on the topic of peaceful tribal mediation. He was even encouraged to apply as a mediator under the Alternative Dispute Resolution of the Supreme Court.

Makoy as a father, husband
“He was the best. He was very good to us, and I could not ask for anything more from him as my father”.

In so little words, this is how Banna, his eldest, described his father in the many tributes held for Makoy in Tomiangan. Banna has turned 16 on June 26 and is a college freshman, taking up Civil Engineering in Baguio City. In Dupag Centro at the family residence, he once introduced himself as Makoy’s younger brother, much to the glee of family and friends, who have all spoken of Makoy’s humor.

“Because that was how we regarded each other. And we kidded each other, about being brothers, more than being father and son”, he explained later.

His younger brothers, Bukaw and Sumkad, have continued with their schooling last June. The youngest, and the only girl. Crisanta , who is five years old, is already in first grade.

On the day of his burial in Tomiangan, his wife Ustin called on their clan and tribes to heed the legacy of Makoy and not to turn to tribal war to avenge his death. “My husband’s has always worked for peace among tribes…What I ask for is that we continue to work for this, as this was his dream for our province”, she said.

One younger member of the CPA secretariat, Sam, disclosed during one of the tributes that Makoy had never shared with them his love stories during the many occasions they exchanged stories at the regional office. This was candid, honest response: “Wala akong maikukwento, dahil si Ustin lang ang mahal ko” (I have no other love story to tell, because it is only my wife, Ustin, that I love).

With the onset of the rainy season this year, Makoy worried about his house in Dupag. “There are holes in the roof that I have to fix….”, he kept saying. Later on, Makoy would give instructions to his wife and children through the cell phone to fix the house and transfer some of the furniture. Joris, a Belgian intern who spent most of his internship with CPA in Kalina province, witnessed too the kind of father Makoy was. “Everytime it was time for us to travel back to Baguio, Santa, the youngest, would hide his bag, because she didn’t want him to leave”, he recounts in an article.

“Narigat ti naisina ti bagi na iti kararwa”. (It is most difficult for the body and soul to separate). He said this over and over, in many occasions, when speaking of his family, and being away from them.

And it is with much gratitude that the CPA and its network extends its sincerest thanks to Makoy’ wife and children for sharing him with the rest of the Cordillera peoples.

This is the life of Pangat Markus Bangit — a life dedicated to relentless struggle and service to his fellow Igorots, to the Cordillera homeland, and to his country. We liken him to Pangat Macliing Dulag, whose life was treacherously snagged by military elements of the government. Like the legacy of Macliing, whom he has stood with as a very young activist, the life Makoy lived will be remembered. The Chico River he has fought for will remain to tell his story. # Abigail T. Bengwayan / CPA