Song of the Ivatan mom

Television advertisements rarely come with sense and sensibility to regional and indigenous cultures.

In fact, too many times, the Visayans are insulted by some imperialists’ play-up of our lilt and accent/intonation patterns; so that when this coffee commercial on a man coming home to Sabtang (in Batanes as emphasized by his mother donning the traditional headgear vakul), backed by the monotone in the laji which is typical of ancient Asian sung heritage, I had to savor what the ad has to say very much like sipping gourmet coffee.

From what I could decipher, the mom wrote her son who has been working far away. Must be mainland Philippines or somewhere. As shown, the son arrived in the island, stepping out of a small boat. The paved docking area spoke of the gradual change happening to some parts of Sabtang.

Then, he came near a group of men and women preoccupied with repair works on the thatched roofing of their stone houses indicating their fresh start after a storm. Batanes, as we all know, lies on the typhoon belt. But because townsfolk have refused to give in to the lashing of storms, they have this gift of resiliency to envy at. They can easily pick up from the pieces, quickly work on rehabilitation, and start back to square one. This attitude is aptly described by a voice-over: sanay sa bayo ng bagyo, di na natitinag…kahit anong pagsubok di nalulugmok – sort of!

The son began reviewing his mom’s letters after the camera panned to the mother, standing in the dirty kitchen and holding a small glass of branded coffee. Actually, the brand name isn’t the focus. The mom brought out two red mugs with steaming coffee. But the golden piping running around the upper body of the two mugs gives the hint what established brand it was. However, the coffee product is just there on the sidebar. The real story is about familial values that stand through tempests.

Says an old Ivatan idiom: Ulungen mu ava u kakedkeran mu which when loosely translated means “do not forget your heritage.”

Since, I’m not that adept at forms of folk music, I mistook the “score” for the uyayi; this time, not of a mother lulling her baby to sleep but a lonesome mother singing a song of longing to see her child. At a point, I thought the music has something to do with the kalusan, a working group song or a kayvayvanan (community cooperation song), an oral tradition about bonding that’s meant to be sung. However, the entrancing pattern leads to the laji, a dying oral tradition. This is because many of those who grew up to this type of songs failed to pass on the legacy to the youngsters who are now educated in English language schools and were not able to grow up hearing the songs.

Anyway, thanks to the copywriter and those behind the production of this ad. Such certainly renews interest for folk memory. With our access to technology nowadays, this is the best time to strengthen our advocacy for broadened research works and archiving of oral culture and pre-Hispanic music. Batanes is a treasure trove of both sung and non-sung traditions.

Our interest and focus is the missing note in the production of more and diverse folk music. Despite the fact that it is already a luxury today to relearn ancient tradition, or in its indigenous form, it’s sweetest to be able to reconnect to the wisdom of the ages. Ulungen mu ava u kakedkeran mu!