Coming Home an Igorot

At the end of each year, in a bario in the Gran Cordillera hinterlands, people gathered in the village square for a Costume Ball, a New Year's Eve celebration that has been passed from generation to generation. While awaiting for the clock to strike at midnight, girls were crowned as village queen and princesses and thereafter were entertained with dances and songs and a parade of people from all ages in the different costumes of the Cordilleran tribal groups, the Philippine regions and other nationalities. There's even a fashion competition for the best in formal, casual and occupational attires. At midnight, people danced in big circles at the same time belching out the "Auld Lang Syne". As a child, this was something for me to look forward to, but I've always wondered how this celebration became a tradition in this village and not common in the Cordilleras - at least not in the nearby towns. Apparently, this tradition started in the 1950's when returning workers from Guam and the Marianas Islands gathered around a bonfire and played music and sang and danced and crowned little girls [whoever was around] to celebrate the New Year. Yes, it was started by perhaps some of the first OFW's [Overseas Filipino Workers] before the deployment of Filipino workers became a national source of revenue. As foreign as it is, the Costume Ball became an awaited community activity, a community reunion of sorts where friends and relatives come and bond together. Like their brothers from the lowlands, the Igorots have become 'wandering Jews' in search of better lives and opportunities in faraway lands. For many, leaving was out of necessity as their new found knowledge and expertise couldn't find a decent room for professional and economic development. Some have chosen to put down roots in other places; some go back to the pine covered mountains after a while. But as the trend continues, we can only hope that the old Igorot traits and values don't get overwhelmed and get lost even as they acquire foreign traditions and ethos.