The ‘spirits’ of the Cordilleras

The ‘spirits’ of the Cordilleras
Maurice Malanes
Philippine Daily Inquirer

November 01, 2008

BAGUIO CITY – Many Cordillera upland folk are practically spirit-filled each day of their lives and not only shortly before or during Halloween.

So it’s not surprising to see an elder whispering a prayer and pouring a drop of native wine or liquor before he and others partake of their drink in someone’s house or at the neighborhood variety store.

In Kibungan town in Benguet, this practice, called petik, is for spirits, which include those of soldiers who fought and died in World War II and other members of the community who had gone ahead.

It is believed that the petik helps assure that nothing untoward will happen to those partaking of the wine and liquor.

With the petik, the discussion and the exchange of ideas and stories of men in the community will run smoothly as the spirits are not only watching over but guiding and inspiring them.

On the other hand, failure to perform the petik or missing out some important names of dead ancestors while performing the rite will be suspected as the cause of some troubles such as violence that may mar the drinking session and discussions.

There are also spirits in the mountains, forests, rivers and caves.

The Kankanaey believe that the kakading and pinad-ing live in the mountains and forests. A favorite abode of these spirits is a water-bearing tree much like the balete.

A tree believed occupied by these spirits, therefore, cannot be cut. Otherwise, something untoward such as sickness or even death can befall a person who dares to cut the tree.

If a tree has to be cut because a road has to be built, for example, the spirits have to be appeased through a ritual, which involves sacrificing and butchering an animal such as a pig or chicken.

The rivers also have spirit guardians called pinten.

A person has to first seek the consent of these spirits before he goes swimming or fishing. To get consent, one should first throw a pebble in a river pool and utter a short prayer offered to the pinten.

A no-no for the pinten is dirtying the river. It is believed that a person who dirties the river can get sick, a belief common among upland folk who take their indigenous spirituality seriously.