Dimalanta, Raphael 2019-11724

PI 100 Final Requirement

Our Ancestry is Resistance

Photo by: Kappa Epsilon Fraternity featuring Raphael Dimalanta and Diane Regino in ISKOKA 2019
 Our Ancestry is Resistance

Chronicling the life of Crisostomo Ibarra, perhaps the social ills being shed light in either
Noli Me Tangere or El Filibusterismo that piqued my interest is the existence of the colonial
mentality and its byproduct, imperialist aggression targeted at Lumad communities. In the
novels, Rizal was able to address the economic exploitation of the Philippines by foreign powers.
He illustrates the exploitation of the country's resources by foreign companies and individuals,
often in collaboration with corrupt local officials which is still pervasive to this date. This
economic exploitation underlines the imperialist aggression that sought to extract wealth from
the colonized territories.

Among Lumad communities, Rizal highlights the suppression of Filipino culture and
traditions by the colonial authorities. In "Noli Me Tangere," the character of Padre Salvi
discourages the use of native languages, imposing the Spanish language as a means of control
and cultural assimilation. This imposition reflects the imperialist aggression of suppressing local
languages and imposing the dominance of the colonizers.

With those types of aggressions being present then, I would argue that it is still present
now. The picture used above is my property turned over to me by the KE Fraternity which was
used to forward the #DefendTampakan campaign in South Cotabato. Using the Tampakan
Mining issue in South Cotabato, I will be able to illustrate how these social ills worked their way
to the present and allowed for the travesty of justice among Blaan communities.

With the introduction of the projected mining operation from the Australian mining
company Sagittarius Mining Inc, the security situation is critical, and the locals in Kiblawan,
Tampakan are upset by the presence of both military and paramilitary troops in the region. The
local indigenous population, the Blaan, is claimed to have retaliated by launching a pangayaw, or
tribal war of vengeance, against the company. This manifestation of imperialist aggression in the
form of large-scale mining drives indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands and prevents
them from accessing their ways of life (Cabalitan, 2014)

Local government units and even the government administration contribute to this
aggression by enacting and implementing the Mining Act of 1995 which paved the way for the
murders surrounding the Tampakan mines as military forces were paid for by mining firms to
harass the populace (Holden 2011). This only proves how the social ills of colonial mindsets and
imperialist aggressions are manifested in the present. Then again, Rizals’ creed remains the
same:

Shed light on the oppressive nature of the colonial system and its detrimental impact on
the Filipino people, ultimately fuel a desire for change and awaken the nationalist movement.
 References:

Image: Kappa Epsilon Fraternity featuring Raphael Dimalanta and Diane Regino in ISKOKA 2019

Cabalitan. (2014, August 5). Tao Muna-Hindi Mina! News Page | Tao Muna-Hindi
Mina! | Uphold and Protect Human Rights and Environment. Retrieved
January 9, 2023, from https://taomunahindimina.wordpress.com/news-page/

Holden, W., Nadeau, K., & Jacobson, R. D. (2011, June). Exemplifying accumulation
by dispossession: mining and indigenous peoples in the Philippines.
Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, 93(2), 141–161.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0467.2011.00366.x