by Arsenio Macanas
THIS Ilocano song lingers on in my mind. My grandpa taught me this beautiful Ilokano song. I taught this song to my daughter also when she was a baby. She now just like me every time I sing this song she follows me. She loves to sing the song even if she doesn't understand a word of it.
One time my daughter asked me, "What is kan-naway means? I said, "It's a bird a beautiful bird like a Flamingo. Maybe they should have called it Philippine white Flamingo because it has a different color from the real one which is pink.."
When my family went to Philippines for a vacation last year, my daughter told me she never saw any kan-naway in the taltalon. I explained with her that this species is already endangered and one rarely see them anymore.
The last time I saw the kan-naway was when I was maybe when I was in the 3rd grade. The kan-naway was sitting or posing on the back of the carabao while the carabao was busy in browsing and grazing around the pasture. I really miss the beautiful scenery in Cabincolan rice field viewed to the west of "Domaquette City" and Carusucan norte and sur. The view really mesmerized me.
Back then, every afternoon, kids from our place sometimes hangout in the bangkag playing, running, doing all kids' stuff until dusk. I saw the beautiful sunset in the field then but we were kids and did not pay any attention about to things like that. But scenes like those stick in their brain and and later in life, they will come out as beautiful memories.
I fell sorry for the youngster for not seeing those birds anymore. It seems the birds (kan-naway) no longer exist. What a shame to those birds hunters who ate them all. If there some left, please save them. This species is almost extinct.
An old Filipino veteran hang out at my store one time and chatted with me. When I asked him, "Why arethe birds (kan-naway ) are endangere? His answer in Ilokano was , "Ngamin, awanen wenno manmanon iti nuang. Sinukatan iti Kuliglig, ket saan nga kayat ti kanaway iti kuliglig."*
I laughed loud.--#
*Because there are not very many carabaos ( water bufalloes) left ( in the Philippine fields ).The animals were replaced by KULIGLIG ( a kind of mini-tractor/plower ) and the kannaway do not like the kuligligs..
note: The kannaway thrive partly on the lice that infest the back of the carabaos.The carabaos flick the flies and lice from their back with their tail. But what the tail can not drive away, the Kannaway eats it..
3 comments:
I was thinking, do we blame the hunters who ate those carabao-back perching birds? Sometimes, we dont understand those who are poor, because we have enough.
It is not easy to see how kapit-patalim really push people to do illegal, immoral and shameful things.
The question is, is it allright for people to hunt those things?
Would you deprive the native hunters, those that make their living since the time of their ancestors by hunting, of their prey when that prey is endangered, in the light of preserving both the native's way of life and the prey itself?
I have a few guidelines. First, I say that no matter the poverty, or the kapit patalim, one cannot justify doing bad. It is easy to see how poverty and hardship of life become the excuse." Pampakain lang sa mga bata ko, and the vendor will overprice you, or put in ice into your 1kilo bangus to make it look like 3 kilos. That is not justified.
Marry for money? Nope. Fooling the white man, saying you love him and all when your true intention is to haul you and your family out of the hardship is an admirable intention but your way of achieving it is so low. Deceive a man and you are very a scum.
It is okay if you really like him though. But really?
We have hunted down these birds since time immemorial, why the heck are you trying to prevent us? Well, it is really hard to answer that. But it all boils down to majority rules.
It just so happens that in a democracy, some minority, both people and ideas, just have to sacrifice some of their wants and needs.
In the mountains of mangatarem, there are a few deers roaming. The local people hunt them. Those deers are in the protected list of animals. Even trees nowadays you cant cut them down unless a permit is given by DENR, even in your own backyard. A surprising law, but still a law, and if you look at the basis and the rationale of that law, it is noteworthy and understandable. Anyway, it is the LAW, and we have to follow it.
By the way, there are still several of those white birds perching on the backs of the carabaos. In the Zambales area, the southern mindanao, and probably the whole of the island of visayas and the bicol region, you see still those picturesque carabao-and-bird phenomenon.
The pangasinan area is unique since it has a lot of people. The dagupan Junction Jollibee alone has the most record number of customers among all Jollibees nationwide, outside of Metro Manila.
I have lived in the visayas and mindanao areas, and people arent as many there. Those places are really nice, it just the proximity to manila that is troublesome. I now understand the secessionist's view. We who have mindanao our home, have to go and fly to manila for some of our needs, the big ones of course, not the day to day needs. Things like education, airports for international flights, it is good that the Court of Appeals have a Cagayan de oro branch, but what if we want to elevate our case to the supreme court?
But the greatest justifiable reason is the tax money that Visayas and Mindanao pay to the national government. More is poured into Manila and Luzon.
well, well, I now live in the Pangasinan-Luzon area, but i told my Muslim friends there, if ever you succeed in creating a Republic of Mindanao, tell me and Ill come running back there. They said theyre gonna make me a secretary, I said dont be serious!
Those bird are still existing in our place Magalang, Pampanga. 💙
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