Story by: Jocyl Ann B. Ejoc and Butz Muyco
Photo Credits: Kurt Anthony Chan
“The hardships we experience in life teach us to become stronger and to keep moving forward.”
This is the belief of Silda Docenos Hing-on, or more widely known as “Bae Mangangapog,” a member of the Bukidnon tribe who now lives in Sitio Ulangohon, Barangay Dalwangan, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon.
Bae Silda is the third of five siblings. She was born in Barangay Songco, Lantapan, Bukidnon. Now 52, she learned early in life that life is not always easy. Sometimes, in order to keep going, one must first learn to endure and persevere.
Her mother died when she was still young, so she and her siblings lived with their grandparents in Sitio Inhandig, Dalwangan. From then on, Bae Silda experienced moving from one place to another and taking on different kinds of work, not only to stay in school, but more importantly, to have food and make it through each day.
In the mountains where they used to live, there was no school nearby.
“I was 10 years old when I started Grade 1 in Kubayan, somewhere in Impasug-ong, Bukidnon. We would start walking at around 4:00 in the morning to get to school. We carried torches and walked home again in the afternoon. Sometimes, it was already dark when we got home. The road was difficult because it was only a horse trail. It became slippery when it rained, and we got used to walking through mud and sometimes falling along the way.”
But the long walk to school was not her only struggle. Her family was also struggling to make ends meet.
Root crops, or whatever edible food they could gather, were often their main food. They were fortunate when they had money to buy dried fish or fermented fish to mix with vegetables. When there was none, salt was enough to go with the root crops. There were even times when they had nothing – not even salt.
There were days when she went to school with an empty stomach.
“There were times when I went to school without breakfast and without anything to bring for lunch. I was just fortunate when a classmate took pity on me and shared some of their food, even if it was only a little.”
Still, she did not stop.
Bae Silda endured those difficult years and managed to finish Grade IV.
When she reached Grade V, she returned to Barangay Songco after an aunt took her in as a working student. Her responsibilities included taking care of the house and children, as well as working on the farm.
By Grade VI, another aunt took her in at Barangay Dalwangan.
There, she also worked as a daily farm laborer, doing jobs such as weeding and harvesting corn. At that time, farm workers earned only about PhP100 a day. If she could finish weeding five rows of corn, she would earn PhP50.
It was not much, but it helped her stay in school.
“Life was really difficult back then, especially when it came to earning money. If I did not work, I had nothing to buy the things I needed, including my school supplies.”
When she entered first year high school, she studied in Barangay Kalasungay, Malaybalay City. In second year, she moved again, this time to Valencia City, Bukidnon, where she continued working while studying. From third year until she finished high school, she studied in the city proper of Malaybalay.
She moved between schools and took on different kinds of work, but she never considered these as obstacles to her dream.
“I studied and worked in different places, but I did not let that stop me because I had a dream back then – to finish school because I wanted to become a teacher.”
It was a simple dream for a young girl who only wanted to finish her education. For Bae Silda, finishing school was also a way for her family to rise above poverty.
Bae Silda married at the age of 24. Together with her husband, Nardito, she has been farming their small piece of land in Sitio Ulangohon.
They grow coffee, corn, bananas, root crops and vegetables. Coffee and bananas are sold to earn income, while corn is mostly kept for family consumption. When their corn runs out, they have to buy rice. The root crops remain something they can rely on when there is no money to buy rice.
As she grew older, however, Bae Silda never forgot her identity as a Bukidnon and the traditions she had learned since childhood.
Bae Silda is one of the mangangapog, those entrusted with preparing the materials needed for rituals.
For her, this responsibility is part of keeping their beliefs and culture alive.
“We need to respect the things we see and those we cannot see. There are guardians for everything. Even though times have changed and we are now living in a more modern world, we will never abandon our culture and traditions. These are what our tribe continues to hold on to.”
Despite the many changes she has experienced, there are things she wants to carry on—including the culture that has been part of her life since childhood.
Her long experience with hardship also helped Bae Silda understand why having a good road is so important to their community.
Today, she is one of the members of the Community-Based Monitoring and Evaluation Team (CBMET) for the ongoing road project connecting Sitio Damitan to Sitio Ulangohon. The 1.18-kilometer road is being implemented under the Department of Agriculture–Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project (MIADP), with support from the Regional Project Coordination Office X and the Local Government Unit of Malaybalay City.
For the Bukidnon community, the road is more than just infrastructure. It is a long-awaited improvement they have hoped for.
“Here in our place, it is very difficult to bring our products out because the road is in bad condition. Horses are commonly used to carry our goods, while those who do not have horses or carabaos have no choice but to carry the sacks themselves all the way to Sitio Damitan.”
Although the distance is only a little over a kilometer, the road has been difficult to pass, especially during the rainy season. Students who travel to schools in Sitio Damitan and Barangay Dalwangan are also affected.
Emergencies are especially difficult because there is no easy way to transport a sick or injured person. At times, a blanket tied between two bamboo poles is used as a makeshift stretcher to bring a patient to Sitio Damitan, where transportation is more accessible.
This is why Bae Silda understands the importance of improving the road.
“I am really happy that the road has already been improved, even though it is not yet finished. Before, the mud was really terrible and could reach up to our knees. When my child was still in kindergarten and studying in Damitan, I had to carry him because the road was so muddy.”
Today, she no longer simply passes through the road.
She is now one of the people helping watch over the project.
As a member of the CBMET, part of her role is to take geotagged photos of the construction activities and post them in the CBMET group chat.
They were also taught about the road concreting process, measurements, and the proper types of gravel, sand and cement to be used, as well as the things they need to watch out for to help ensure the safety of workers and people using the road.
For Bae Silda, it was a new experience.
“I learned a lot from the CBMET training. Even though we do not have high educational attainment and we are not engineers, they explained the road construction process to us in a simple way, including what we need to watch out for and what we need to take pictures of.”
Her experience with CBMET is a reminder that participation in a project is not only for people with technical expertise. Members of the community themselves have an important role to play in watching, monitoring and reporting what is happening in a project.
And for Bae Silda, who has spent much of her life experiencing difficult roads, hard work and the challenges of making a living, there is a deeper reason to keep watch over the project – to help ensure that the road is built with good quality and can serve the community for many years to come.
Throughout her life, she has traveled many kinds of roads.
There were roads that were long and difficult to walk on just to get to school. There were muddy and rocky roads.
There were days when she went to school hungry, and times when she had to work just to buy the things she needed.
But she never stopped.
She never gave up on her desire to learn. She never let go of her culture.
Today, as a mother, wife, farmer, mangangapog and CBMET member, she is no longer striving only for herself. She is now part of a community that is also working toward a better future.
The hardships she experienced in the past have become part of her strength and have given her a deeper understanding of life. They helped shape her into a woman who does not easily give up.
And perhaps this is the greatest lesson she has learned from all her experiences:
“The road does not have to be easy for us to keep moving forward. What matters is that we do not stop.”
