Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 837 views

    The Life of Macli'ing Dulag

    Uploaded by

    Murphy Red
    Macli'ing Dulag was a respected elder and leader of the Cordillera people who opposed the Marcos regime's Chico River dam project in the 1970s. The project would have flooded rice fields, homes, and sacred sites of over 100,000 people. Macli'ing led resistance efforts against the project despite harassment and imprisonment of leaders by the martial law government. He gave eloquent speeches defending indigenous land rights. Macli'ing was assassinated in 1980 by soldiers, but his resistance efforts helped unite the Cordillera people and force the government to abandon the dam project.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    The Life of Macli'ing Dulag

    Uploaded by

    Murphy Red
    837 views3 pages
    Macli'ing Dulag was a respected elder and leader of the Cordillera people who opposed the Marcos regime's Chico River dam project in the 1970s. The project would have flooded rice fields, homes, and sacred sites of over 100,000 people. Macli'ing led resistance efforts against the project despite harassment and imprisonment of leaders by the martial law government. He gave eloquent speeches defending indigenous land rights. Macli'ing was assassinated in 1980 by soldiers, but his resistance efforts helped unite the Cordillera people and force the government to abandon the dam project.

    Original Description:

    The life and works of a Cordillera leader and martyr

    Original Title

    The life of Macli'ing Dulag

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Macli'ing Dulag was a respected elder and leader of the Cordillera people who opposed the Marcos regime's Chico River dam project in the 1970s. The project would have flooded rice fields, homes, and sacred sites of over 100,000 people. Macli'ing led resistance efforts against the project despite harassment and imprisonment of leaders by the martial law government. He gave eloquent speeches defending indigenous land rights. Macli'ing was assassinated in 1980 by soldiers, but his resistance efforts helped unite the Cordillera people and force the government to abandon the dam project.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    837 views3 pages

    The Life of Macli'ing Dulag

    Uploaded by

    Murphy Red
    Macli'ing Dulag was a respected elder and leader of the Cordillera people who opposed the Marcos regime's Chico River dam project in the 1970s. The project would have flooded rice fields, homes, and sacred sites of over 100,000 people. Macli'ing led resistance efforts against the project despite harassment and imprisonment of leaders by the martial law government. He gave eloquent speeches defending indigenous land rights. Macli'ing was assassinated in 1980 by soldiers, but his resistance efforts helped unite the Cordillera people and force the government to abandon the dam project.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    TODAY IS THE 40TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LEGENDARY TRIBAL HERO OF

    THE CORDILLERA INDIGENOUS PEOPLE - MACLI'ING DULAG.


    THE LIFE OF MACLI'ING DULAG
    Birth: 1930
    Death: April 24, 1980
    Place of Death: Bugnay, Kalinga Apayao

    Macli'ing Dulag was a respected elder who successfully led his community and the Cordillera
    ethnic people in opposing a dam project of the Marcos regime that would have inundated
    ricefields, homes, communal forests and sacred burial grounds.
    Macli'ing was a little-known village “pangat” serving his mountainside village of Bugnay in the
    1960s. Pangats are village elders in Kalinga, chosen by the community to lead because of the
    courage and wisdom they had shown in the past.
    Macli'ing was a rice farmer, and also had a weekday job as road maintenance worker for the
    Bureau of Public Highways.
    In 1974, the newly-installed Marcos dictatorship sought to implement a 1,000-hydroelectric
    power project along Chico River. The project involved the construction of four dams that would
    have inundated 1,400 sq. kms. of Kalinga homes, rice terraces, orchards, and graveyards. The
    lives of as many as 100,000 living in villages along the river, including Macli'ing’s Bugnay,
    would have been affected by the project.
    Macli'ing became a strong and articulate leader in this struggle, which pitted small nearly
    powerless communities in the Cordilleras against the full powers of the martial law regime.
    Kalinga and Bontoc leaders were offered bribes, harassed, even imprisoned by the martial law
    regime but they, including Macli'ing, stayed firm in their opposition.
    The ethnic Kalinga and Bontoc communities, and lowlanders who sympathized with their cause,
    argued that national development should never be achieved at such extreme sacrifice.
    "You ask if we own the land. You mock us. Where is your title? Where are the documents to
    prove that you own the land? Title. Documents. Proof. Such arrogance of owning land when you
    are owned by it. How can you own that which outlives you? Only the people own the land
    because only the people live forever. To claim a place is the birthright of everyone. The lowly
    animals claim their place, how much more of human beings. They are born to live," spoke
    Macli'ing, when asked about land titles and documents.
    Resistance to the dam project helped unify what was once a divided Cordillera region. Macli'ing
    and other Cordillera leaders initiated a series of tribal pacts, which helped cement this unity and
    create a very broad anti-dam front. Macli'ing became the recognized spokesperson for the anti-
    dam opposition, for although virtually unschooled, Macli'ing saw life sharply:
    “If you (government) in your search for the good life destroy life, we question it. We say those
    who need electric lights are not thinking of us who are bound to be destroyed. Or will the need
    for electric power be a reason for our death? "
    Macli'ing was assassinated on April 24, 1980. A group of government soldiers raided his house
    and killed him with a rain of bullets. His assassination, however, solidified the opposition to the
    dam, which had won sympathizers from all over the country and even outside the country. His
    assassins were eventually convicted.
    Even the World Bank, which would have funded the dam construction, withdrew from the
    project, forcing the government to back out of it at last.

    From:
    The Bantayog ng mga Bayani Archives │ DULAG, Macli'ing
    BANTAYOG NG MGA BAYANI website
    http://www.bantayog.org/node/96

    A SONG FOR MACLIING DULAG


    He was a leader in the struggle against the Chico River Project started in 1974 which intended to
    build dams that would have affected the lives of about 100,000. About 1,400 sq. kms of Kalinga
    homes, rice terraces, orchards, communal forests and sacred burial grounds would have been
    inundated to generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity which the Marcos technocrats said were
    needed by the country. The Cordillera people led the struggle against the project.
    On April 24, 1980 state security forces killed one of its well-known leaders, Macli'ing Dulag,
    hoping to stop the opposition to the project. But the struggle went on, and the Marcos martial law
    government was eventually forced to abandon the project. A people united was victorious. But
    like all extrajudicial killings up to this time nobody has been punished and jailed for the crime.
    Click link below to play song by Nonilon V. Queano:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZVJoqzZG-
    E&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3xeDWwR5WHTINGR8SNPhHthwQydYRbSwr1fTpSm4OjyCLi4n
    GGpzmH3WU

    ALAY KAY MACLI'ING DULAG is a song from the album PAGBABALIK NG MUSIKERO
    by Nonilon V. Queano. All the songs in this album were written by Nonilon Queaño, a professor
    at the University of the Philippines Diliman, and award-winning playwright and poet. He also
    did the vocals for most of the songs. Musical arrangements by Karl Ramirez and featuring
    special performances by soprano Rica L. Nepomuceno and classical guitarist Nobel Queaño.
    Ganda ng arrangement and musical background, Karl Ramirez
    This is a great song, one of the best of its kind, and I never tire of listening to it especially
    because one recalls all the many martyrs who have died for the great cause of national liberation.
    It provides inspiration to continue and contribute to an undertaking that is beyond one's
    immediate personal concerns. Thank you, Noni!
    You can download the clear high-quality audio file here:
    http://arkibongbayan.org/macliing/macliing.htm

    Click the link below to play the music video:


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZVJoqzZG-E&feature=youtu.be
    Contact Prof. Queaño if you want to have a copy of his special release album. He is here in
    Facebook.

    You might also like