Of Romanticized and Insulting Statues

I was a freshman at a state university almost two decades ago and I still remember how a male classmate from the south embarrased me due to my ethnicity. I was standing in front of my History 1 class reporting on my home province when we suddenly heard a male voice say, “Ay, Igorot!” I felt so humiliated that I shot back, “So, what makes you different from me?” Our young female instructor immediately intervened and said we were there to learn and not to put others down. The guy never said sorry for what he did and expectedly, we never became friends up to the time I graduated. He stayed for another semester, I think.

I remember this incident now as a fellow blogger, Bill Bilig, writes about his anger over a seemingly harmless statue of a peeing Igorot man at Barrio Fiesta in Baguio. You see, the restaurant placed several Igorot statues in different poses and that of other prominent personalities along its “Igorot Stairs.” How do we know they’re Igorots apart from a big sign that says “Igorot Stairs”? Because the statues are all in traditional Igorot garb – tapis, g-string, inabel vest. Some of the statues are even naked. A few of the statues have explanations near their base with captions like “Headhunter,” “Chieftain,” and “Mumbaki.” With or without the sign, you’d know the group of people these statues represent.

From Upper Session Road, you’d see Cardinal Sin and Cory Aquino talking and a group of Igorots sitting on the stairs. As you go down, you’d see on your right Ninoy Aquino and on your left, another group of elderly women Igorots removing lice from each other’s hair (nagkukutuhan). A few more steps and there’s a statue of a guy in shorts, texting. Behind him, at the entrance of the restaurant, are two Igorots posed ala-Bernardo Carpio, their hands supporting the ceiling.

Go several steps down and you’d find a young Igorot boy picking on his nose and a young Igorot lass, half-naked, her breasts exposed. Further down the stairs are two jubilant headhunters, one of them holding the severed head of an enemy. All these images are acceptable to me because they show glimpses of our way of life almost a century ago (or was it just several decades ago?). No matter how much we have achieved as a people, it seems lowlanders will always choose to remember us as headhunters and half-naked people. But here’s the really infuriating part.

At the lowest level of the Igorot stairs, near the main entrance of BIR, are three statues in one corner. One is a giant image of an Igorot chieftain and below him, that of a security guard whistling at an Igorot in a g-string peeing against a post with a yellow sign that says, “Bawal umihi.” What's this statue doing here?

I bet many Igoys who frequent the resto don’t notice this insulting statue since it's placed way down below. I myself haven’t seen it until I read Bill’s post. What’s bothersome is that someone uploaded a video of this humiliating depiction in the Internet, giving thousands of readers from all over the world a wrong impression of who are.

That statue is offensive and should be taken down because it’s a clear sign of prejudice and discrimination against Igorots. Why depict them as ill-mannered, ignorant and lawbreakers? What's worse is that this statue is a permanent, inaccurate image being displayed by the restaurant for all to see, year in and year out.

So, are we going to let this pass since it’s not that serious, according to some? Rage, rage against the dying of the light. The anger I feel towards this statue may be linked to my own experience of prejudice years ago. When will other Pinoys see us in a more positive light? I hope in my lifetime. But I guess the past will always haunt us if we don’t do something about the present.

(Tourists take a look at these romanticized images of Igorots along the "Igorot Stairs")