Message for Cordillera Day 2011

Update as of April 16, 2011

The NCCP General Secretary notice a glaring error in his message and noted that the 3rd to the last paragraph should read:

"Then the elders will dance.  It is the dance in rhythm with nature.  They sway elegantly as the pine trees.  They bend lightly then stand firm like the majestic golden grain on the stairway to heaven.  The dance celebrating community and harmony with the land and ancestors is a declaration to uphold for all time all that is noble and just."

Our apologies for the error.

The Library staff

“Let the mountains bring prosperity to the people, and the little hills bring righteousness.”  (Psalm 72:3)

Time will come, and now is, when our children will ask what we mean by the annual observance of Cordillera Day.

Then their elders will tell of the unceasing chant for peace.  They will speak of the women and men who guarded the mountains and rivers for our sake; of the reverence to land and life that went beyond the commerce of human  beings; of the painstaking weaving of the tapestry of unity amidst systematic and furious attempts to break that unity; and of them, some in the prime of their youth, who shed their blood in defiance of principalities whose designs eventually meant death to a race.  They will speak of the past not so much for its grandeur but to pass on the tradition of vigilance against any desecration.  As stewards of creation, they shall make certain that the resources on the mountains and under it are to be used sparingly for the prosperity of the people of the Cordillera and of this country.

Then the children will ask their elders if such a cause is worth preserving in these days.

Then their elders will dance.  It is the dance in rhythm with nature.  They sway elegantly as the pine trees they bending lightly than stand firm like the majestic golden grain on the stairway to heaven, hearts pumping to the solemn beat of the gong.  The dance celebrating community and harmony with the land is a declaration to uphold for all time all that is noble and just.

To chant and dance is to declare the legitimacy of the right to dignity; free from the distraction of money and power in exchange for land and identity; and, strong in the resolve to be counted worthy descendants of a race who held fast to the inviolability of land and life.

To chant and dance is to affirm the prosperity that the mountains bring.  May it be so for generations to come.

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REV. REX RB REYES, JR.
General Secretary

April 11, 2011