Just Like Us

If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh?

Shylock, Act 3 Scene 1,

Merchant of Venice

The night blanketed the sky in silky darkness, and prompted the insects to sing their vesper song. Chinks of warm yellow light seeped through the slats in the walls of neighbouring homes, casting golden slivers against the dark ground. Children have since been herded in, and the carabaos have come home.

Smells permeated the air: the chickens in their roosts, the unwashed dog, and the night’s dinner sitting over the roaring fire in the wood stove. Smoke clung to everything, and it gave everyone a musky scent. Otherwise everything is clean.

It was a typical night in the sitio; the evening repast common rustic fare. The advent of stable electricity led to later bedtimes for all, after watching TV. Doors are simply closed when people go to bed; there are no locks, not even a latch, on anything. But each household sleeps peacefully and deeply, assured and comforted by its community.

In the morning soft daylight broke over the ridge, and gently teased the slumber from the fields. People went about their daily routines, sweeping their homes and making breakfasts, feeding chickens and leading cattle to pasture. Far off a woman readies her laundry basket for the day’s wash, the freshly laundered clothes to dry on the wire fence later on. An easy morning.

Our household ran a small stall of halo-halo and banana cue. A pabunot board hung on a branch nearby. Clean calico sheets were strung on a line to keep out the sun while resident men folk sat on rough benches, idly watching the world go by – waiting for the next exciting event to happen.

In the hot noonday sun the warm wind made the bougainvilleas dance, the red flowers simultaneously hypnotising you and lulling you to sleep.

How simple the good life is in Sitio Maalyabon!

Yet exists the other side of “easy livin’” urbanite dreams.

In Sitio Maalyabon you need to be up early and beat others to the nearest spring – or else end up trekking much further to get the day’s water ration for the household. Just like any urban employee who fears being late and leaves early for work.

You need to work hard to make a living: You need to be in the fields at daybreak to pick vegetables, or to be by the marsh to gather snails. You need to go to the mountains to gather banana hearts and then sell them by the sack to the middleman for a piddling price. Just like the city salaryman who toils hard for his pay.

You need to prioritise and budget your resources carefully. Just like the urban mother worried for her brood.

You need to learn your lessons and study and become a productive member of your community. You need to find your own way and pick yourself up when you fall down. Just like any youth the world over.

And in their hardship there is pride, pride in being who they are. Joy in the simple life they live. And in each gleaming face lie great hopes, and plans, and dreams for the days to come.

Just like us.

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Sitio Maalyabon sits on a hillock in Crow Valley (in Capas, Tarlac), at the base of which lies Sta. Juliana. Sitio Maalyabon is also referred to as Sitio Ye Young, after the most significant structure that is currently standing there.

Although Sitio Maalyabon existed (albeit sparsely) before Mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1991, many of the present residents settled there after the eruption. The community is now comprised of Ungey and Abilin Aeta subtribes, and lowlanders.

Currently the beneficiary of the Caravan Mission to Indigenous Peoples program, the residents look forward to assisted long-term development and self-sufficiency.