Chapter 15 CAR - CORDILLERA ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) is a region in the Philippines composed of the provinces of Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalingaand Mountain Province, as well as Baguio City, the regional center. The Cordillera Administrative Region encompasses most of the areas within theCordillera Central mountains of Luzon, the largest mountain range in the country. It is the country's only land-locked region. The region is home to numerous indigenous tribes collectively called the Igorot.

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION

Located at the northern portion and reaching until the central part of Luzon, it includes the provinces of Benguet, Kalinga, Apayao, Ifugao, Abra, the Mountain Province, and the city of Baguio. The Cagayan and Isabela provinces are on its northern and eastern border, Pangasinan and Nueva Vizcaya on the south and southwest, and the Ilocos provinces and La Union on the west. This region has rugged mountain ranges, forests, deep gorges and ravines, wide pasturelands and river basins.

POPULATION

In 2000, the population of the region in the year reached 1,352,000. It increased by 7.18% from 1995. In 1990, urban residents totaled 356,272 while 792,992 lived in the rural areas.

CULTURAL GROUPS 

The different tribal communities are the Ifugao, Kankanai, Gaddang, Ibaloy, Kallahan, Kalinga, Bontok, Balangaw, Itneg and Isneg.

CLIMATE

The climate in the region is generally cool in the uplands. The rainy season is from May – October, while the dry season is from November to April.

LAND USE 

Around 79% of the total regional land area are forest reserves and timberland. The rest have been classified as alienable and disposable which include agricultural, commercial, industrial, and residential lands. The major crops of the region are palay, corn, fruits, vegetables and root crops. The region leads in vegetable production.

NATURAL RESOURCES 

The region has extensive forest resources, large mineral deposits of gold, copper, silver, limestone and raw materials for construction. Big mining companies abound but small-scale mining is encouraged. Its land is fertile and ideal for growing vegetables. There are water resources suitable for hydroelectric power.

ECONOMY

Agriculture is the backbone of the regional economy. Its main products are rice, vegetables and fruits. It is supplemented by cottage industries, trade and services.

1.. The Boy Who Became a Stone 

A Tinguian Folklore

One day a little boy named Elonen sat out in the yard making a bird snare, and as he worked, a little bird called to him:

“Tik-tik-lo-den” (come and catch me).

“I am making a snare for you,” said the boy; but the bird continued to call until the snare was finished.

Then Elonen ran and threw the snare over the bird and caught it, and he put it other boys to swim.

While he was away, his grandmother grew hungry, so she ate the bird, and when Elonen returned and found that his bird was gone, he was so sad that he wished he might go away and never come back.

He went out into the forest and walked a long distance, until finally he came to a big stone and said:

“Stone, open your mouth and eat me.” And the stone opened its mouth and boy.

When his grandmother missed the boy, she went out and looked everywhere, hoping to find him. Finally she passed near the stone and it cried out:

“Here he is.”

Then the old woman tried to open the stone but she could not, so she called the horses to come and help her. They came and kicked it, but it would not break.

Then she called the carabao and they hooked it, but they only broke their horns. She called the chickens, which pecked it, and the thunder, which shook it, but nothing could open it, and she had to go home without the boy.

2.. Quietness

By Amador T. Daguio

I am lovers of all quietness

unechoed songs within a silent heart,

a silver pond, a statued loveness

where words can take no part.

i love the quiet ways of memory

the quiet looks to give you loving praise,

the quite secrets of my misery

through quiet nights and days.

The quiet mountains of the earth i love,

the moving clouds the sun, the dewy leaf

my quiet questioning of god above,

my quite, tearless grief.