Modular Essay 3

Developing an Understanding of Ilokano Culture in a Changing World
by Michael Schulze-Oechtering Castaneda

In module three there are stories of the Philippines as a home that Filipinos have a need to return to as well as a home that is in constant change. Several question arise that are important to understanding what being Ilokano means in a world that is in constant change. Ilokanos in these stories are forced to ask themselves how to maintain their culture under economic and Eurocentric assimilation forces. However, I argue that these forces do not stop Ilokanos from embracing and celebrating their culture, but Ilokanos find new ways to keep their culture strong and exuberant.
One story in this module, “Rice for the Moon,” follows a family that is forced to evacuate their barrio to the hills because of the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II. During the trip we find out that Manang Ason, the narrator’s sister is being arranged in marriage, which she disapproves of, she is sixteen years old. The story ends with the family taking Manang Ason to her arranged husband. It is important to recognize that the story is told from the view of a nine-year-old child. As this child, Idot, explains the variety of Ilokano traditions presented in the story we can see how he does not understand them from a historical sense, but he tries to make sense of them. When we put this child’s experience in context with the historical and social events taking place, we see that Idot must not only make sense of his culture, but also how war, particular the Japanese occupation, affects his way of life.
Another story is “Selmo Returns Home” by Benjamin M. Pascual. Pascual depicts a story of Selmo, a middle aged Ilokano who returns to his home in San Miguel after many years of living in California. Selmo’s intial plan was to stay in San Miguel, but he reveals at the end of the story that his home “is in America.” Much like “Rice for the Moon,” the story of “Selmo Returns Home” depicts Ilokano cultural traditions. Pascual presents these cultural traditions as a burden to Selmo. However, the question that arises is does this make Selmo less Ilokano?
What these two stories as well as the rest of the stories in this module articulate is a struggle to maintain a sense of what it means to be Ilokano, What all the authors demonstrate is Ilokano as a culture is being threatened by two imposing cultures, capitalism and foreign imperialism. As the characters in these stories struggle to survive in the oppressive cultures of capitalism and imperialism, retaining what it means to be Ilokano is always being threatened. One example of this is in “A Bottle of Rain” by Manuel Diaz. Diaz depicts the story of a man trying to harvest his field, but there is a drought. The man’s wife believes it will still rain and tells him of an Ilokano belief of rainwater in a bottle. If the water bubbles then it will rain. The husband laughs this off as “nonsense.” Through looking at the text closer we can see that the husband loss of faith in the bottle of rain is a result of the stress that comes from economic inequities in the Philippines and his working class position. While resting, images of his family’s struggle flash in his mind, “Cornplants flowering without promise of grain, his carabao struggling through a lean year, a wife denied of the love of a mother and father because of the complications brought by love.” (Diaz,12) The husband follows these images of struggle with a critique of his neighbors looking at faith to solve their problems opposed to addressing institutional changes that need to happen. “A day of trail, a moment of decision, a strong and wise representation to the government for more pumpwells instead of irrigation systems without water. But here they are, singing their way in a procession to ask for rain. Rain!” (Diaz,12) What both passages suggest is a sense of desperation. As a people who are struggling to maintain our culture, we must also recognize our other struggles, particularly for the large amount of our people living in poverty that deal with a puppet government to US imperialism. I argue that these economic and imperialistic challenges that Ilokanos face shapes what it means to be Ilokano just as much as our indigenous traditions. The last line of “A Bottle of Rain” summaries the real problem of the husband in the story. The line “But could the scorched plants still be saved” suggests the question of rain was not the real issue. The real issue is the fact that the social conditions those families similar to those depicted in the story force people into a never-ending struggle. What the Diaz is suggesting is a restructuring of social systems to value the lives of people.