Comments on: Plea to respect the Ibaloi mummies during tourist season

By: Angel Recto, PhD

Angel Recto, PhD — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:20:31 +0000

Town folks of kabayan, benguet are complaining concerning the desecration of the kabayan mummies by the tourists. I would suggest the local authorities to assigned trusted guardians of the place particularly to the cave entrance and exist in a way that no tourists could touch the sacred remains of the ibaloi ancestors. Because if these remains are sacred, then respect and reverence should be observed.

By: Nemi

Nemi — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:54:55 +0000

Sorry, this should read: He told me that for the Ibaloi, the mummies were considered “lucky charms” and they celebrate parties with the coffins of the mummies.

By: Nemi

Nemi — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:53:34 +0000

This tradition is absolutely amazing! My boss in the National Museum of the Philippines was studying these mummies (both he and Jun, my supervisor, were the protagonists of a documentary by National Geographic). He told me that the people of the mummies were considered “lucky charms” and they celebrate parties with the coffins of the mummies. I loved that! The IBaloi kept mummifying their dead up until the 19th century. Some mummies were taken by foreigners and now the Philippine government is doing a lot of efforts to get all of them back since they are a crucial part of Ibaloi culture. Before I left the Philippines, the museum was trying to find out if one mummy in Granada was Ibaloi…But I don’t know what happened.