ALORAN, a perspective HINTERLAND

When I was in Grade School, after celebrating their fiesta in May, families from Mitazan, Nabuna, Toril and others come down to town in their carabao-drawn karomatas with their fiesta left-overs, they head for the beach. Mitazan, Nabuna, Toril and other baranggays, some just three kilometres from the Poblacion were the Bukid and the people living there were the taga-bukid. Another term we give our hinterland brothers and sisters then, is Suban-on. Subano, now Subanen are the indigenous people of the Misamis and Zamboanga Peninsula. They were stereo-typed as backward and ignorant, though I prefer innocent, myself. For more on the Subanen Tribe, visit this site: Our counterparts from the hinterland do not mix freely with the Poblacion guys. In social functions, they segregate themselves. And when it comes the domination of the dance floor, PGs (Poblacion Guys) are all over where Bayle is. And the BGs (Bukid Guys)? I don't recall seeing any of them in any Bayle I was to anywhere near the Poblacion. To avoid being bullied, they come to town in numbers. Looking back, I would say it was a form of profiling. Could their inferiority complex, perceived or real, a consequence of their limited access to school, their being far from the Poblacion where happenings usually take place? Could it be the way they wear their clothes? This surely was one of many others. Those days are gone. Places like Mitazan, Nabuna, Toril and the other hinterland baranggays are no longer called bukid, they are simply Mitazan, Nabuna and so on. Farm-to-market roads are concrete, houses are concrete, painted and beautifully fenced and landscaped in some. People don't walk anymore going to town, dozens of habal-habal ply the route, some with their own motor-bikes (single), and even cars of varying make and model. Complete elementary schools are everywhere, and with the government's Rural Electrification Program, virtually every home is lit, TV and WIFI antennas and satellite dishes are clearly visible. Videoke sessions are common. I noticed a few before noon, already loud. If you follow social media, you see postings after postings of Licensure Exam passers, Doctors, Engineers, Accountants, Teachers and dozen others, many from the hinterland that not too long ago were looked-down upon. In the case of the Subanen, they really come a long way. A DepEd Supervisor, Dr Sam Silacan, hails from that tribe.