Laki Iwan: Mangyan, philanthropist’
First posted 04:16am (Mla time) June 15, 2006
By Madonna T. Virola
Inquirer
LONG after his death on March 21, Laki Iwan de Jesus, a Buhid Mangyan, is remembered by the community of Sitio Danlog, Barangay Monteclaro in San Jose town, Occidental Mindoro for the parcels of land he donated to different schools that he hoped would ensure the education of the next Mangyan generations.
One of the schools, the Paaralang Mangyan na Angkop sa Kulturang Aalagaan (Pamana Ka), has grown in terms of student population and facilities.
When Laki Iwan saw the high school’s program, he offered to sign a document to ensure that the land would not be taken back by his family and relatives who had earlier agreed on the donation.
“It was funny because Laki Iwan was the one who realized the need for the document and not us who are called literates,” said Sr. Aristea “Thea” Bautista of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, director of Pamana Ka.
Laki Iwan had never gone to school, but his donation has left a deep imprint on Danlog, which can be reached by crossing rivers during the rainy season, or about an hour of travel from the town proper during the dry season.
According to customary laws, a land tiller under the ancestral domain law has the right to the land and may donate it, according to Fr. Rod Salazar, director of the Mangyan Mission in the province.
Revered
Before he died, Laki Iwan was deemed the oldest member of the community. Danlog folk believed he could have been more than 90 years old because of the prewar stories he had related, like when he bartered bananas for American canned goods.
The revered elder had five children. His wife, Darag de Jesus, died of tuberculosis 10 years ago.
His three surviving children are Lay-ot Gana, Lubad de Jesus and Bacay de Jesus.
Lay-ot, the son of Darag and her first husband, said Laki Iwan continued to plant and share his produce with his children and grandchildren, even after the death of his wife.
He has more than 80 grandchildren and great grandchildren, and he used to tell them “mag-aral mabuti para din sa inyo at para makatulong sa tribo (Study well for your tribe’s future and your own).”
Among clan members, Laki Iwan is a legend for his boundless generosity. They recounted that he stocked food from his kaingin just to give away to those who needed it.
“He would always give us bananas for food and when he had none to give, he would say ’sorry,’” said a grandchild.
Another grandchild noted how he was known for keeping his word. “He had palabra de honor,” he fondly remembered.
Calendar
Laki Iwan once told students of Pamana Ka in Filipino: “I didn’t go to school but I am giving you the chance to enter school.”
The high school had just graduated 10 Mangyan students, with seven of them going to a college in town. Six of the graduates plan to take up education and one will pursue an accounting course.
Three of the graduates have applied to Pamulaan, the first indigenous peoples’ college in Davao City, said Sister Thea.
This school year, which will open in September, Pamana Ka expects an enrollment of 43 students, including five Alangan Mangyan. “I have a complete set of second-liners,” said Sister Thea.
The school year follows the planting calendar. Classes end in June and school break is from July to August, which are deemed planting months. In the regular school calendar, the period is equivalent to the April-May vacation period.
At first, Laki Iwan donated land for the site of the Danlog community. He consulted his children on giving up more pieces of his land for school sites.
From 1999 to 2002, the benefactor, who also served as barangay chair, donated patches of his kaingin to a school and would bring his produce of vegetables, buri, bamboo and bananas to the place.
The gurangon or old man also lent another piece of land for the Practical Arts subject called
Kaingin of Pamana Ka. The fruits of the land went back to the students.
“As he ensured education for all generations, he was named ‘Ninuno ng Katutubong Pagkatuto’ (Father of Indigenous Studies) on April 7 and Pamana Ka’s school’s library was launched and named after him,” said Sister Thea.
His betel grinder, consisting of a bamboo and a piece of metal encased in a glass container, was displayed in front of the concrete library.
His grandchildren love to say how Laki Iwan could carry 100 bananas, a big piece of bamboo, or more than 60 kilos of cogon at a time, even as he worked on his kaingin all day.
“We cried when news of lolo’s death came because he was still strong,” they said.
At about 8 a.m. on March 21, Laki Iwan was seen going around the community and looking for betel nut or lunang.
At around 3 p.m., Agmiraw Inungan, a Mangyan, found the white-haired man lying on the ground after he was seen walking in the Tialag spring and munching “chichiria” (snack foods). He had bruises on the forehead and his slippers were stuck in a grassy area.
Laki Iwan met the accident at around noon. As part of the tradition, family members, relatives and friends brought the body directly to the cemetery in Liphan at around 8 p.m.
But for the Danlog folk and all who came to visit the place, the seeds he has planted will bear fruits for generations to come.
