I met up with Tanya’s mom—Manang Briggs Hamada recently at Rockwell, an unlikely place to meet up but it was a chance. That or wait till I go up to Baguio-which is not always an option for me. But we had a great time. I can’t believe the added notes that I gathered from just this short meeting. I am grateful. So we will let the wheels begin on some ideas. They are all about the wealth of our heritage and culture as Ibaloys, as a people of the Philippine highlands.
Esid Ngimol, said to be the oldest man in Benguet-he is possibly 100 years old.
When my cousin Cherry asked him once how he has kept healthy, he said he ate salt sparingly and avoided fried foods. Photographed in Atok, Benguet, 2005.
Mekja (or Mikdya) Chapyaoen died last month in August. I had found her photograph again and sent facebook inquiries to my cousins who might know about her only to find out that she had just died. Atok, Benguet, 2005.
