Uncovering 'Uwahig' / Phil Daily Inquirer ::
The Season of Peace by Stella A. Estremera / Sunstar Davao ::
MTS celebrates Peace Week 2005 by Mindanao Times ::
India Reviews ::
Bayang's Liberation and Journey to Peace by Jeffrey Tupas / PDI ::

INQUIRER MINDANAO:
BAYANG'S LIBERATION AND JOURNEY TO PEACE
Updated 04:58am (Mla time) Sept 19, 2004
By Jeffrey Tupas
Inquirer News Service
http://news.inq7.net/regions/index.php?index=2&story_id=11935&col=40

Editor's Note: Published on page A18 of the September 19, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

Siyam na taon sa kulungan
Ng mga yakap na mahigpit
Yakap na kay lupit yakap na kay sakit
Kaya ko naman daw siyang pasanin
Kaya ko naman daw siyang buhayin
Kaya, kaya, kaya nga ba?
Halik ng kanyang kamao
Ang sa aki'y sumasalubong
Galit niya sa mundo
Sa aking pagkakababae ibinabaon

-Awit ni Rosario, "Panaw"

ONE MOMENT, she was as restless as a lost soul as she wriggled and wobbled, as if somebody else was trying to possess her, to drive out her lost soul to total oblivion.

In another, she danced, sang and mumbled something that segued into a poignant chant that could hit anyone through. Her face that had been concealed by long, black hair gleamed amid flickering candles and strangely flowing women dressed up in earthly green.

The next showed the synergy of unexplainable energies among the women, with her as the ever prominent figure.

For Bayang Barrios, being part of the Mebuyan Peace Project's "Panaw" (Journey) that ran in Davao City for one night as part of the "Kadayawan" festivities was so special.

She was able to "gymnasticize" her craft as she played the roles of a daughter named Rosario and her dead mother Delia, who were both confronted with the same problem: domestic violence.

"Playing the part was really special to me. I got that feeling of spiritual fulfillment that anybody can't pay at any price. The feeling was not so much about the other people but about me," Bayang said.

Battered wife, battered child

Bayang admitted that she was a product of a broken family. Interviewed by this writer after her performance at the Matina Town Square's Taboan, she said she grew up in a situation in which her father left her mother crying and all bruised-up.

She herself suffered from beatings by her father. "I saw the world of Rosario. I saw the world of Delia and we were having the same experience. Mebuyan opened the door for me ... that I can rise from the burying situation that had me for many years," she said.

"My mother was a battered-wife herself. I had a broken family. The memories and flashbacks helped me in my portrayal of the roles ... there really was a connection between me, Rosario and Delia."

"Panaw," which was staged several times in India, is an hourlong musical packed with soulful voices, rousing but candid lyrics, and dances by Davao's contemporary women's group Mebuyan Peace Project.

Geejay Arriola, the "brains, more-or-less" of "Panaw," said that while the production showed multiple realities, they opted to be "cool" in presenting the main issue of domestic violence.

The 14 songs said a lot. Arriola said they avoided spoonfeeding the audience, especially with an issue so common among many Filipino families.

"Our approach is guess-what-is-happening rather than this-is-what-is-happening," said Arriola, who stressed that going this way entailed a difficulty of putting the message across to their audience.

"But so far we got no complaints. I think, we got a very intelligent audience-Filipinos and some people abroad."

Tale of 2 women

"Panaw" tells of two women, Rosario and Delia, both in the way of looking for meaning for their existence and finding answers to issues they confronted.

Rosario's journey started from her experience of violence in the hands of an abusive husband, who cared less despite the fact that she was the family's breadwinner, having worked abroad as a domestic helper.

Her mother Delia started her own journey in the world of Mebuyan, the Bagobo and Manobo mythical goddess of the underworld.

Because Rosario wanted to find her own self as she tried to escape from her violent life, she took a trip back to her province and climbed Mt. Malakinay where she met Bae Malimlim, a tribal priestess.

Bae Malimlim played a crucial role in Rosario's search for answers. The priestess introduced to the OFW the world of Mebuyan through a powerful ritual that opened a window for her to see the restive soul of her mother. Delia's restlessness was due to the fact that she and her daughter shared a common fate.

"Our attack was to find a connection from the power of Mebuyan as an underworld goddess and the life of Rosario and Delia's own struggle through Bae Malimlim," Arriola said.

Contemporary meaning

As contemporary women, Arriola said, they could not identify with ancient myth but admitted that they are aware that myths like Mebuyan have meaning.

Their understanding and interpretation of existing researches about Mebuyan, Arriola said, was that the goddess took care of dead children and all souls, including those of adults who must pass through Mebuyan's world before their final destination.

Mebuyan's world, she said, was filled with candles and each candle represented life. Mebuyan's role, she added, was to cleanse the souls of the dead and in the play, the goddess was cleansing the soul of Delia.

"In mythical reality, Delia was telling Mebuyan her problems. Delia could not journey on because of her baggage. Unless her daughter's problem is settled, she could not proceed to her final destination," Arriola said.

Songs of death, life

Bayang's portrayal of Rosario was distinct from her portrayal of Delia. She was basically singing when she was Rosario and was dancing all throughout when she was Delia. At one time though, she did both things when the women's energy and spirits came in unison.

Arriola believed that their music, as it told the stories of the two women, opened the senses of the people to the "songs of the past, tragedies of the present, and the rhythms of power and inspiration toward a hopeful future for the two women."

And the truth came unfolding before the senses of Rosario as she felt the gravity of her own and her mother's pain and struggle.

"Rosario began to ponder life. Is it to die without fighting, without meaning? Or is it to live like a dead or to die with meaning. The songs say that even parting can be death in itself but never mind because there is life after death," Arriola said.

Vital messages

For Bayang, the message of the songs are too important to be missed by women who suffer tremendous abuses from the very people whom they expected to protect them-their husbands and other members of their family-the very people whom they love.

"This is for women who do not know what to do when they are in the situation of crisis-the women who always rely on their husbands. Who gave their all for their husbands, and suffered a lot because of their husbands," Bayang said.

Like Rosario, who decided to liberate and free herself from her husband, Bayang stressed that it was important for suffering women to fight for their own rights.

For the Mebuyan Peace Project, making a statement for the women is like being the goddess herself, who according to the myth, refused to go to heaven in her desire to build her own world.

"Mebuyan is powerful. When she refused to go to heaven to build her own world, that was a statement of power ... assertion," Arriola said.

"And the fact that she takes care of the souls illustrates that she doesn't only have power but also a nurturing attitude that is so woman. She's very woman and that is something that she wants to reclaim."