Macli Ing Dulag

7/24/2019 Macli Ing Dulag

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The Unforgettable Macli-Ing Dulag

Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

[Excerpts from MACLI-ING DULAG: Kalinga Cief! Defen"er of te Cor"illera# $Uni%ersit& of te

'ilippines 'ress! ()*+,

Macli-ings name has been etched not only on the Cordillera mountains and in the hearts of his

people, it is also permanently cared on the blac! granite "all of #emembrance for heroes and

martyrs at the .anta&og ng mga .a&ani!a memorial par! dedicated to those $ho gae up their

lies for freedom.

%pril &', the date of Macli-ings death has, for many years, been celebrated as Cordillera Peoples

Day. "rote sociology professor #andy Daid( )People $ho had done solidarity $or! in the

struggle against the Chico Dam pro*ect usually congregate on this day in +ugnay, not only to

honor the memory of a dead man but to !eep alie the dream of a united Cordillera.

Daid remembers Macli-ing and +ugnay( )I rst isited this place in /0123 as part of a

contingent of *ournalists and actiists from +aguio and Manila $ho had been inited to $itness

a /o"ongof arious Cordillera tribes and illages.4

)Macli-ing presided oer a noel application of this traditional concept in order to unify the

illages that $ere to be a5ected by the goernment plan to put up four dams along the Chico

#ier. 6e brought together illages that had been enemies in the past, or mutually isolated from

one another. 7or the rst time, illage elders from di5erent tribes found themseles in one

anothers presence, tal!ing about a common threat.

8a$yer "illiam )+illy Claer said that tribal con9icts $ere set aside $hen the dam threat

loomed and Macli-ing rallied the tribes to stand together. )"e $ere able to forge a modus iendi

among the $arring tribes $hen it came to the dam issue, said Claer. Macli-ing e:plained the

issues $ell, he had a gift of tongue, so to spea!. )%mong the tribes there $as not one dialect,

Claer said, )but $hen Macli-ing spo!e, eerybody understood. ;en the soldiers. ?s Macli-ing $as after my nec! because I $as la$yering for 8epanto

Consolidated Mines. Macli-ing did not li!e the intrusions into ancestral lands. +ut around /01>,

freshly out of the Constitutional Conention, I made a turnaround.

That $as $hen opposition to the Chico #ier Pro*ect $as pea!ing. Claer, an Igorot, sympathi@ed

$ith the Aalinga cause. )Macli-ing and I became friends. "heneer he came to Tabu! he $ould

isit me. 6e een saed my life.

% tribal $ar bet$een the +utbuts to $hich Macli-ing belonged and the people of


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)Macli-ing taught me about a Philippines I had neer !no$nBand hae only really seen in those

mountain barrios. Macli-ings home $as the land and his honor came in presering that land for

his people.

%fter Macli-ings death, Claer $as among those $ho called for the celebration of Cordillera Day

on %pril &' in honor of the martyred pangat. Claer disputed any other reasonBpolitical or

ideologicalBfor the celebration date, $hich $as being spread around by indiiduals $ho $ishedto smear the memory of Macli-ing and belittle his sacrice for their o$n aggrandi@ement. Claer

$as prosecuting la$yer at the court martial that tried Macli-ings !illers.

8in eumann, a former human rights olunteer from the U.


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resist the dam directly from the spirit of Macli-ing. I had the feeling that the modern $orld, $ith

hydroelectric plans and deelopment pro*ects, $ould hae to run directly through Macli-ing, if it

$as eer to penetrate his illage.4

)I had been told, before entering the illage, that the 8eft $as a great in9uence in +ugnay but I

neer found that these people of the Cordillera too! any real interest in ideology. They $ere

people of the land and their land $as threatened. Macli-ing $as their guardian and emissary.4

)7or me, he $as a teacher. 6is $ords, his stance, his charisma and stubborn insistence on thesanctity of his peoples land, taught me that there $ere places in the Philippines $here money

did not spea! and $here po$er resided in something other than armed strength. I $ill neer

forget him.

Authors Note

The name of Aalinga chief Macli-ing Dulag is etched on the blac! granite "all of #emembrance of

the .anta&og ng mga .a&aniin ue@on City, one of the hundreds of names of honored martyrs

and heroes $ho fought, su5ered and o5ered their lies for freedom, *ustice and truth during the

dar! years of the Marcos dictatorships martial rule.

Macli-ing led the ght against the construction of dams on the Chico #ier, dams that threatened

to $ipe out ancient Aalinga $ay of life. If not for the Aalinga chiefs leadership and bold

utterances of truth to po$er, $hole communities $ould hae been uprooted and scattered.

This boo! is yet another $ay of honoring and !eeping alie the memory of the man $ho fought

for his people, the Aalinga people, $hose mountain homes $ere mar!ed to gie $ay to so-called

deelopment.

Macli-ings struggle that led to his death on %pril &', /02? sered as a $atershed moment.

My story on Macli-ing he is more !no$n by his rst name3 in this boo! is an e:panded ersion of

my a$ard-$inning /02? maga@ine article that led to my rst interrogation and chastisement bymilitary authorities. The article also put my editor in trouble $ith her publisher and the po$ers-

that-be at that time. +ut the piece earned a *ournalism a$ard handed to me by no less than Pope

Eohn Paul II no$ a canoni@ed saint3 during his /02/ isit.

The recognition $as a Magnicat moment for me. %nd in those dangerous times, it signaled the

beginning of my $riting career and aFrmed my human rights adocacy through $riting.

The story on Macli-ings life and death is best understood in the conte:t of the history and culture

of the Cordillera, the mountainous ancestral domain of seeral ma*or indigenous communities.

Dr. estor T. Castro, current head of the Uniersity of the Philippines Department of

%nthropology, so $illingly $rote an accompanying study on the Cordillera that complements thestory on Macli-ing. Gur t$o $ritten $or!s $ere rst included in the boo!0e%en in te E&e of

1istor&%nil, &???3 edited by %suncion Daid Maramba.

Dr. Castros piece, $hich ma!es up the second part of this boo!, proides conte:t, a loo!ing

glass, so to spea!, through $hich the reader can ie$ and better understand the Cordillera

mountain society that Macli-ing so ercely defended.

%pril &', &?/H is Macli-ings Hth death anniersary. %pril &' is no$ celebrated as Cordillera

Peoples Day.3 This boo! is a $ay to remind 7ilipinos and those in foreign lands $ho supported his


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cause about the essence of his struggle and the price of triumph. The younger generation,

particularly those in the Cordillera, needs models li!e Macli-ing.

I am honored to hae, as publisher, the Uniersity of the Philippines Press, $hich made this boo!

a5ordable and easily aailable to many.

"hile $or!ing on this boo! pro*ect, I also had in mind the ne$ly formed Memorial Commission

that is mandated, through #epublic %ct /?>2, )to honor the memory of the ictims of human

rights iolationsJ. This la$, signed by Pres. +enigno %Kuino III on 7ebruary &H, &?/, stressesthat )the lessons learned from Martial 8a$ atrocities and the lies and sacrices of 6#LLs

human rights iolations ictims3 shall be included in the basic and higher education curricula, as

$ell as in continuing adult learning, prioriti@ing those most prone to commit human rights

iolations.

6eres to the Aalinga +rae. ou $ill not be forgotten.

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Macli Ing Dulag