2022 BIBAK CHRISTMAS PARTY

Dec 3

The BIBAK Annual Christmas Party on November 26th, 2022 at the St. Patrick’s Gymnasium in Vancouver

Videos and pictures below from that night.

Pictures are taken by Gerold Alatan and Edel Matias with the video clips taken by the latter.

Doors opened at 4:00PM for registration and at 5:00PM music was played while dinner was served. The live music was played by various talented Zac, Zoey, Rainoa, Eric T, Susimo Tanas and other guests. Dinner served by most of the board officers and other former officers and other attendees. Guests were pouring in from the cold late November night eating dinner and being entertained by a medley of various musicians and singers, singing mostly country songs and folks songs that are enjoyed by Igorots young and old.

At the start of the night there was a land acknowledgement as well as a minute of silence for the Begica family in honour of the late Ethan Belgica.

Once dinner was settled, the elders kicked off the program with the traditional opening gongs by performing the Balangbang of Mountain Province (more on this later). This was led by the Right Reverend Alexander Wandag of Kalinga after his opening prayer.

BIBAK elders and prominent members leading the opening gansa, whilst the crowd and spectators join in the Balangbang community dance .

The Balangbang community dance of Mt. Province is displayed by dancing in a circle of men playing the gongs, or gansa, and the women dancing in the outside, also in certain sequences in the inside behind and in front of the men.

After the opening gongs were rung, next came the exhibitions and performances by Christian and Xander, displaying their talents in a dance presentation.

Games for the youth and young adults followed with much excitement. That youthful energy was then further displayed with yet another Balangbang presentation in the form of representing Mt. Province in the night’s display provincial dances. This time the Balangbang was by the BIBAK Youth/Young Adults led by Kierby Dagas. The Balangbang being a community dance with the gong players playing in a circular formation with the rest of the dancers (traditionally women) behind the men or beside them dancing in the outside circumference. In this case the rest of the community with a mix of both men and women joined in the dancing. The Balangbang is a time honoured traditional community dance of the Mt. Province with simplicity and nuanced meaning depending on the context.

The Balangbang is played in a call to response manner, in which the lead gong initiates the music and the rest of the line following by beating in response, creating an almost hypnotic rythm.

How the women hold their hands up varies depending on the area of origin where the dance is from and the type of dance performed . This varies on the dance itself or from what area the dance originates. I.e. from Mt. Province. The women here, seen in the Balangbang, hold their hands in a fist with their thumbs pointing up. Whereas in Kalinga the women have their hands out with their palms facing up.

Interjected in the midst of the Balangbang is the call to perform the Bontoc Boogie seen below.

Seen here is Xeant and Desiree perform the Bontoc Boogie with high energy. The Bontoc Boogie is a dance originating from Bontoc the capital city of Mt. Province. It is a fast dance played by fast gong beats with high energy. The Igorot answer to the “Boogie” introduced by the Americans in the mid 20th Century.

The night continued with other Province dances like the Lablabaan from Abra and the Dinuya from Ifugao.

The Lablabaan , danced by Junelia Ambos from Abra and Justice Bentayen of Bago descent, born locally.

“The dance is called Lablabaan of Abra. Its a traditional dance performed by men and women dancing to the tempo of the gongs while holding “allap” (tapis / wrap around skirt) and placed either below the waist or or over the shoulder. These are danced on special occasions including courtship, wedding, victory, and thanksgiving. The Lablabaan is a version of Tadek in Abra. It has a faster tempo and most of the time gongs are beaten upside down.”

— Junelia Ambos

The Lablabaan, similar to the Tadek as a courtship dance from Abra. Also similar to the Tupaya from Kalinga. The dance is performed with the footwork resembling the movement of roosters and hen, with both dances holding a special piece cloth or tapis.

Dinuya - Cultural dance of Ifugao

Seen below is the Dinuya performed by members of BIBAK BC of Ifugao descent.

The Dinuya from Ifugao. The dance is performed by mimicking the movement of an eagle flapping it’s wings, and/or rooster when with one hand forward facing out, and the other in a fist and arms akimbo.

The highlight of the night was a speech and Christmas message from PBG (Ret) Jimmy Almora Catanes.

PBG (Ret.) Jimmy Almora Catanes,

- Born September 6, 1965 in Magmagaling, Buguias, Benguet. The youngest of five children from hardworking parents who were both farmers. Retired Police Brigadier General and well decorated.

Here are some of his achievements and accomplishments:

Finished BS Criminology from the University of Baguio and graduated from the Philippine National Police Academy June 18, 1989. Started his police service as Police Lieutenant in Mindanao where he had his baptism of fire in the mountains of Davao with the Local Communist Movement.
Reassigned to the Cordillera after four years, and designated as Aide de Camp to the late Gen. Rogelio Aguana, the Cordillera Regional Commander, prior to various assignments including Buguias Chief of Police; 4 th Mobile Company, Talaca, Tabuk, Kalinga; Chief Traffic, Baguio City Police Office among others.
From the Cordillera Police, he continued his service to the Aviation Security Group of Loakan, Laoag, San Fernando, NAIA and Clark airports where they minimized “Laglag-Bala” incidents; Highway Patrol Group of Cordillera, Region 1, NCR and Region 6 where discipline on the road among motorists and “Anti-kotong” among enforcers were implemented; CIDG Camp Crame, Region 2 and Cordillera where their office excelled in manhunt operations, “Saklot-Girls” or prostitution was controlled and the dismantling of numerous companies engaged in “Pyramiding” scams.
He then transferred to the PNP Internal Affairs Service with the aim of improving the discipline of his colleagues; his IAS Unit in Camp Dangwa was instrumental for the Cordillera Police being adjudged by NAPOLCOM as the most disciplined police unit nationwide in 2019. He was further assigned to Region 3 as IAS Director to oversee the discipline of the 12,000+ police personnel of Central Luzon where he was subsequently promoted to star rank.
His last unit was with NCR IAS and concentrated on the internal cleansing of the 28,000-strong NCRPO when the allegations of summary execution or “Nanlaban” cases were high due to the drug war being waged by the present administration.
After 34 years in the police service, he opted to retire early last April 1, 2011 to be with his gorgeous wife Lucia and their three lovely children Steven James, Jamie Lucille and Madeleine Beth here in British Columbia.

The rest of the night was followed by various carols and performances from the other Provinces. Highlighted below with the following pictures taken by Gerold Alatan and Edel Matias.

PART I - Gerold Alatan