BAGUIO CITY — Elders of the Bontok tribe of Bontoc, Mountain Province conducted a rain-calling ritual called “manerwap” in Bontok language on 22 March, hoping that rain would fall to help put out forest fires razing mountain forests.

According to the local government unit of Bontoc, 29 forest fires already recorded in the town since January.

Elders and members of the “Ato Sipa-at” and “Ato Laoi-ingan” started early in the morning to perform the ancient tradition done amid droughts called “tikag” by the “Igorots” one of the indigenous people of the Cordillera.

Igorots invoke ‘manerwap’ for Lumawig’s help.

On 20 March, the Bontoc LGU and the local community held a “tengaw” or a cultural community lockdown. Bontoc Mayor Jerome Tudlong consulted with the elders and barangay officials of the town and agreed to hold the “manerwap.”

During the “manerwap,” elders lead the tribesmen in going to the sacred locations in the mountains. There, they will pray to “Lumawig” the Creator of all, and they will offer wines and tobaccos to their ancestors. They tribesmen then play the “gangsa” or gongs.

The ritual also manifests the people’s resiliency through their strength, unity and a deep connection to their ancestral and natural surroundings.

This also shows how they strongly believe in the spirits of their ancestors or the “adi kaila” (the one that cannot be seen) watching and guiding them and their community.