The New Face of an Ati

On Sunday of June 20, 2010, I was awakened by the sound of Isabela and Paolo's What Dreams are Made of, my alarm tune. It was 6:00 in the morning. I rushed to fix myself because I had to catch up an early jeepney ride and be at our meeting place before 8:00 a.m. My house is one hour away from the meeting place. Due to traffic and some trouble in my travel, I arrived past eight in the morning. Yet, we still have to wait for some company coming.

It was nearly nine when we started inching our way to the place where we should go. At first, I was hesitant to go there because I will be meeting people of the past - the Ati. Ati, they are the early settlers of the Panay Island, Visayas, Philippines. They were one of the many tribes that inhabited the archipelago that created an early Ma-i civilization before the famous Ten Bornean Datus. colonized the island. They were one of the Negrito ethnic groups which were close to the Aetas of Luzon, Batak of Palawan, and Mamanwa of Mindanao. They were considered to be the aboriginals or "first inhabitants" of the Philippine archipelago.

While on my way, I was thinking of what the place would look like. Though I was raised in a rural area but we seldom see people like an Ati. Or shall I say, we have used them as our object of fear for young children. Our elders would often tell the toddlers to be good or esle they will be sent to the maountains and live with the Ati. The Ati settled in the hills during the time of the Ten Bornean Datus who started bartered their Golden Salakot (head dress) and the golden long necklace from the Ati headman Plopolan and his son Marikudo. Thus, from then on they stayed n the uplands and some of them became, nomadic in thier own land.

From Iloilo City, we dropped at Dingle town proper to hire either a tricycle or a single motorcycle to bring us to the area settlement of the Ati. From Dingle town proper, we travelled as much as thirty to forty minutes to reach the foot of the mountainous area where we need to walk up the hillto reach the place. But the trek going up is harder than we imagined. Despite of the sun rays striking our skin, we reached the hillside where the place of Ati is located with flying colors.

But the challenge did not end in reaching the place. The community of these indegenous people is even more challenging. I was struck seeing them in dim colors and curly hair; although, I can see many of them in the lowlands. But it was still different to see them up close and personal in thier own place where they extend thier arms for formal handshake to visitors unlike in the lowlands where they have to extend their hand to beg. I can see dignity in the gesture of these people from these place.

Thier pastor leader brought us to thier community church and allowed us to take some air to breathe for they knew almost all of us were strangulated to climb up the hill. But it was not long enough when we see a pack of children with their parents approaching the church area. Some of our company welcomed the children inside and let them took seats; while some of my company have to prepare the school supplies to distribute to the school children. Afterall, our main purpose of going there was to share school supplies to school children as our way of delivering the advocacy of the organization. Though some of the company prepared the weighing apparatus to check for childrens nutrition, while others are busy doing relevant things which I could hardly recognize because I had the chance to talk to the pastor leader himself.

We took the bamboo bench at the side of the hill and I started conversing with him. He has three children. The eldest is a first year college student taking school in Iloilo City. The second is a secondary student. And the third is a five year old boy. His wife is his aid in their household while he seeks for their everyday living. He and his community's means of living depends on the available resources nearby such as sugarcane planting and harvesting, root crops growing, rice harvesting, firewood chopping and among others. Yet, they dont own that livelihood. They just have to get their working share from the property owner; a sad truth to reveal that the government only provide the the place to stay but not the livelihood to work for their living.

Yet, I can see contentment in the Pastor's eyes when he said that their place is safe from insurgencies. Good thing, they get to have a nice sleep at night without the worries to hear roaring guns. but their silence is deafening that until this period they dont have the electricity supply. While we enjoy the night life in the city with the dancing lights and danceable sounds of the music, they are contented with listening to the transistor radios and kerosene lamps to ignite their nights. When I looked down the hillside, I saw an electric post three meters away from where we sat. Then the pastor told me that sooner or later, they will have an electricity supply. In fact, he keeps himself a cellular phone for himself to get in touch with the people inn their local government.

Good thing the local government gives them support in a way as much as the help extended to them by some private sectors. Their church was indeed bulit by the Korean missionaries who visit their place regularly. Thus, their place isnt remote at all. They also keep pace with the changing world. The same change also happened to one girl I saw who has a straight hair. I asked who her mother is and she told me her mother isn't an Ati; rather a city girl who happened to marry an Ati bachelor.

As I looked closely at the children running to and fro, I saw some of them are different from the others. While some children have curly hairs; some have bulky to straight hair. While some have big, flat nose; some have long pointed nose. While some have dirty, black skin; some have faded brown to fair skin. While some have short, stout legs; some have thin, long legs. While some children are shy and timid; some are extrovert and inquisitive.

My curiosity about this group of people made me realize that they were not the same black native pygmies we used to see in the city streets. Rather they are hospitable early people who would welcome anyone to their place. Isn't it that the early people were that cordial enough to strangers that end up to be their colonizers? These people in their community lived a simple yet dignified life. They are the people who belong to a minority group which sometimes become the buffer the politicians for their political interests. They are supposed to be the people who will be brave enough to fight for their existence for afterall this land was theirs. Yet, they don't ask for their property anymore. They know it would be impossible for them to get back what was theirs . Rather they opt to choose to live a normal life like that of a normal Filipino in the lowlands.They also want to be educated and know their purpose in life. They are now trying to catch up with the trend of the new generation. They even try to be modernized in their way of living.

After all, some of these people are no longer authentic pure blooded Ati. Some of them, they call themselves Kalibugan- The New Face of an Ati.

Thanksto the Omnibus Brotherhood for taking me there!