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Day 3, International Cordi Studies Conference

SYSTEM OVERLOAD! SYSTEM OVERLOAD! SYSTEM OVERLOAD!

I'm reduced to writing down a few lines that stood out for me today, whether or not I agree with them completely.

"Life in Tinoc is simple. The people plant rice in their payew and ube in their uma." DISAGREE (meaning, I agree that they do plant rice and ube/camote, but this statement on its own tends to obscure the whole picture of life in Tinoc.)

"The uma is a form of common property available to the whole community." DISAGREE

"I did not talk about the issues of the place because I promised my informants that I would not write anything negative about them." DISAGREE

"National living artists or treasures are a form of cultural governance." AGREE

"National living treasures are expected to embody the ancient past and to remain that way, but National Artists are expected to propel their work into the future." AGREE (meaning, I agree that this is a fair analysis of the system, but I don't agree that this system should remain in place)

"The Filipina body as maid, nanny, or whore, is fetishized as one that produces care, remittances, and sexual pleasure." AGREE

"When indigenous women have bared their breasts to protest or confront masculine capitalism they are confronting them with the non-productive bare breast --breasts that do not produce pleasure, remittances, or care, but breasts as embodied protest." Phew. Very pomo. AGREE AND DISAGREE

"Law is a cultural phenomenon." AGREE

"The NCIP is beset with economic problems." AGREE

"In 2010 we will come to a time when our constitution will be under scrutiny again. This will be a time to guard against the possibility that somebody will seek to entrench themselves in power for another long period of time. But it will also be a time to participate in the discussion and transformation of other problems in our laws, particularly having to do with indigneous peoples rights... Is "indigenous peoples" still a good concept to be working with?" CHILLING MESSAGE.

These "quotes" are roughly paraphrased from the very different and yet somehow related talks of Dr. Balangcot of U.P. Baguio, Melisa Calumba-Salazar of the University of Hawaii, and Marvic Leonen of the U.P. Law of School and the LRC-KSK.

Another highlight of the day was the study of Prof. Tad-awan of BSU, who presented the findings on an extensive study to identify the best potato varieties for organic farming. They have identified four varieties as the best in terms of yield and resistance to blight! Yehey! I hope they get this information out to farmers who are ready to make the switch to organic crops. Er, you know, like potatoes!
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