Abstract
The Kalinga is an indigenous community in northern Luzon, Philippines which, although often depicted as a homogeneous society, is actually composed of 47 ili (communities). Its cultural diversity has also meant sporadic conflicts, often sensationalized in news reports as “tribal wars.”
The institutionalization of the annual Ullalim Festival in the Province of Kalinga has brought Kalinga culture to the stage of the eco-tourism industry being aggressively marketed globally by the Philippine government. The festival is a three-day agro-industrial and cultural fair that celebrates the founding of the province. It is held in the capital city of Tabuk, one of the places which the Kalingas marked out as a matagoan (zone of life) – i.e. an area where tribal conflicts cannot spill over. The concept of the matagoan issues from the bodong (local peace pact system) and its pagta (code or law) that govern all Kalinga subtribes.
This paper presents the festival as a peacebuilding strategy by looking into how this event (a) portrays multiple narratives that counter the single story of the “primitive” Kalinga spun by colonial historiography and media reportage, (b) balances intra-ili and pan-Kalinga consciousness, (c) creates channels of creativity through socioeconomic activities, and (d) reinforces the bodóng. It also presents some tensions among the Kalingas that can undermine the current peace and development institutions and initiatives in the province.
Keywords: Ethnolinguistic group, tribe, Kalinga, Ullalim Festival, bodóng
The Ullalim Festival of Kalinga, Northern Philippines as a Peace-Building Strategy for a Multiethnic Community
BIBLIOGRAPHIC ENTRY: Scott Magkachi Saboy. 2014. “The Ullalim Festival as a Peace -Building Strategy for a Multi-ethnic Community.” In The Asian Conference on Social Studies Conference Proceedings, 715-729. Osaka: International Academic Forum.