THE BONTOC "PASUK-EY"

By Josephine M. Ngodcho*
MPSPC, Bontoc, Mountain Province

This study aimed to describe and document a cultural practice of the Bontocs – the Pasuk-ey which is a Lang-ay activity. Specifically, this study answered the following problems: 1) What is Pasuk-ey? 1) Why is it called Pasuk-ey? 3) How is Pasuk-ey done? 4) What are the practices before and after the pasuk-ey itself?
To gather data, the author used participation-observation, focus group discussions, and interviews, supplemented by pictorials.
One of the Lang-ay activities of the ato in Central Bontoc is Pasuk-ey. It is called Pasuk-ey because, originally, the women participants ensukey or insert leaves between their beads and hair to protect them from the scorching heat of the sun as it is summertime. Also, the women give out to gong players gifts in the form of tobaccos and leis during the said affair.
Pasuk-ey is an ato feast where there is gong playing and dancing, singing, praying, eating and drinking, and sharing. Men and women in the community bring to the ato having the feast tobaccos and drinks like tapey (rice wine), fayas (sugar cane wine) and San Miguel gin, and soft
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*The author’s family maintains its membership to Ato Sipa-at, the lead ato in Central Bontoc, Mountain Province. Membership to the ato is by families.
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drinks. While dancing, the women give to the gong players tobaccos and
leis consisting of matches, cigarettes, and candies. Men and boys take turns in playing the gongs; women and girls from the different atos also take turns in distributing to the gong players tobaccos and leis. Meanwhile, other men are singing the ay-yeng in a separate portion of the ato. After each group gong playing and dancing, one is tasked to collect from the gong players the distributed tobaccos and leis which will be hung on a tree in the ato.
The collected tobaccos and leis will later be redistributed to men and children. Before these will be redistributed, an old man prays (enkapya) so that nobody will get sick.
Ato non-members who attend the Pasuk-ey eat and drink at the house of the ato members who will invite them.
Playing gongs and dancing and singing go on simultaneously.
In the morning of the pasuk-ey, men and boys set up ar-along si pasuk-ey (branches or twigs used as shade). These are taken either from the forest or from the homes like the coconut palms.
In the late afternoon, ato members with invited relatives eat at the ato where their viand consisting of meat, chinad-alaan (dinuguan or dinardaraan with rice shaped into balls) and soup are cooked and/or prepared. Ato members bring their own cooked rice to supplement the rice cooked in the ato. After eating, the ato members are given additional
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cooked meat called “pasing”. They share cooked meat with their other relatives, and even neighbors.
Ato members also invite their peace pact partners. An example is: the members of Ato Sipa-at invite people from Betwagan, Sadanga, Mountain Province two days before the Pasuk-ey to come and join in the merry-making. The peace pact partners who will come with their wines as gifts will be the special guests. They will be given their share of the meat when they go home the following day.
In the evening, there is Cha-ing which is preceded by a prayer by an old man. In the Cha-ing, the participants with two leaders (a male and a female), each holding a stick with feathers, repeatedly dance (without gongs) in circular formation, with a “toonan”, a special jar with wine at the center, as they sing prayers to the powerful Kafunian to send rain. The Cha-ing will stop at midnight.
Dancing and singing will stop for two nights/days. The third day is Feklas. During daytime, the men and boys go to the river to take a bath and have picnic. They bring with them cooked rice. For their viand, they cook crabs and fish taken from the river plus vegetables like apako and
sibsifit taken from the river banks. Bathing symbolizes the coming of the rain.
Late in the afternoon, they go back to the ato. In the evening, there is again gong playing with dancing which goes on overnight.
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The following morning is Sangat. The men and boys go to the mountains to cut and gather twigs to be used as Sangat around and on the lot used for gong playing and dancing.
There are preparations before the Pasuk-ey itself. First is the Manerwap. Manerwap is a ceremony for the calling of the rain. During summer, men of the ato go to a certain mountain at night and build fire then beat their gongs to plead Kafunian to send rain.
The following morning, the men go back to the ato and are met along the way by women who bring food for them. Both groups will eat at the fawi (small hut in the mountain) then come home together and
assemble at the ato where they will be served sinab-ang (cooked glutinous rice with sweet potatoes/camotes) by other women.
Men start playing gongs. With that, there will be nightly gong playing (pattong) by men and boys and dancing (sagni) by women and girls plus singing (ay-yeng) by men until the scheduled Pasuk-ey. Meanwhile, the young men and the boys have to daily butcher pig or chicken and cook them with vegetables like unripe papayas. If this is not done, there is no nightly gong playing and dancing.
Men, in deciding the schedule for Pasuk-ey consider some factors like the availability of pigs to be caught and the availability of employed ato members; hence, Pasuk-ey is usually held on week-ends.

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The day before the Pasuk-ey is Chepap (catching pigs). Chepap is of two types: the kachongsan and the sangfo. The type to be followed is to be decided by the ato members, especially the men. In the first type, catching and butchering pigs and Pasuk-ey are simultaneously done in one day. In the second type, catching and butchering pigs is done one day before the Pasuk-ey. The male ato members catch pigs to be butchered and to be eaten by ato members and others who attend the Pasuk-ey. Of the many pigs caught, at least three pigs will be carried and brought around the members’ houses then will be carried back to the ato where the pigs will be butchered and kept for the next day which is Pasuk-ey. The many butchered and sliced pigs will be cooked during the Pasuk-ey.
Before, during and after the Pasuk-ey is tengao (rest days) among the people.
Before all the activities, meetings of ato members, especially the men, are conducted.
The following are some of the pictures on Pasuk-ey taken by the author on May 12 – 18, 2004 when Ato Sipaat had its Ato Chomno which included the Pagpag or Parpag and Cheg-as, hanging of heads and other parts of butchered pigs, Pasuk-ey, Cha-ing, Feklas, and Sangat.. There was no Pasuk-ey last summers 2005, 2006 and 2007 in the said ato and in the other atos because the rains came early.
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1. Ar-along si Pasuk-ey (Shade for Pasuk-ey)
2. Women preparing tobaccos for gong players
3. Women giving gong players tobaccos with matches
4. Women giving leis to gong players
5. Man turning over tobaccos to an old man for safekeeping and for
redistribution later… At the background is a bunch of leis hung on a tree.
P.S. Researchers interested in the details














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It could be concluded that all the ceremonies before, during and after the Pasuk-ey are for the calling of the rain through pleadings to the powerful and merciful Kafunian who will finally send rain to the simple, humble, prayerful and grateful people.
Throughout the duration of the Pasuk-ey, there is Lang-ay.
It is recommended that other practices related to Pasuk-ey be documented.















































































































































































































































































































It could be concluded that all the ceremonies before, during and after the Pasuk-ey are for the calling of the rain through pleadings to the powerful and merciful Kafunian who will finally send rain to the simple, humble, prayerful and grateful people.
Throughout the duration of the Pasuk-ey, there is Lang-ay.
It is recommended that other practices related to Pasuk-ey be documented.
Special thanks are given to the following key informants:
Ing-inga, Pablo “Kamodchay”. 57 years old, of Ato Sipa-at, Chakalan, Bontoc, Mountain Province.

May-ao, Ignacio “May-ao”. 61 years old, of Ato Sipa-at, Chakalan, Bontoc, Mountain Province.

Mi-ing, Leona “Attaw” M. 51 years old, of Ato Amkhawa, Amkhawa, Bontoc, Mountain Province.

Ongngog, Jose. 88 years old, of Ato Sipa-at, Chakalan, Bontoc, Mountain Province.

Pecley, Fagsao “Tecla”. 70 years old, of Ato Lao-ingan, Chakalan, Bontoc, Moun tain Province.

Peleo, Margarita “Eneman” Fackayan. 78 years old, of Ato Foyayeng, Foyayeng, Bontoc, Mountain Province.

Yango, Alicia “Fakokad”. 93 years old, of Ato Songowan, Chao-ey, Bontoc, Mountain Province.

The author also wishes to thank Mr. Vicente N. Tafaleng, of Ato Sipa-at, Chakalan, Bontoc, Mountain Province, for assisting the author in tape recording the old men’s prayers (kapya) and the “Cha-ing” prayer-songs.