The Eastern Frontier

A distinct religious character marks the villages along the vegetable frontier east of Buguias, an area not missionized until very recently. Owing to economic change, large-scale feasts, never frequent here, largely disappeared after the war. Still, most villages not yet commercialized remain primarily Pagan. With the recent arrival of roads and vegetable growing in select areas came Christian proselytizers, mostly from obscure charismatic sects, who gained numerous converts. Particularly significant is the rise of syncretic cults in this frontier zone. Although these exist elsewhere in Benguet, syncretic movements have had little chance to develop in established areas like Buguias, which are marked by both an elaborate Paganism and an orthodox Christianity. The eclectic faiths are rather concentrated where commercialization is most recent.

Several cults of uncertain lineage thrive in the villages of eastern Buguias municipality. One conspicuous group is Milagro (Spanish

for "miracle"), led by a "high priest" from a small hamlet to the east of Bad-ayan. Lay members also perform the group's characteristic curative rituals, relying on crucifixes and holy water as well as animal sacrifices. Milagro, like true Paganism, emphasizes the acquisition of wealth and the honoring of the ancestors.

Perhaps the most doctrinally complex of the syncretic religions, however, the Church of the Almighty God, is centered not east of Buguias but rather in Abatan. Its tenets are eloquently displayed on a series of needlepoint tapestries. The first, a calendar, indicates the holy days; the second illustrates the "Holy Family of the Three Kings" (the topmost monarch being labeled both with the Pagan "Kabunian" and the Christian "Apo Dios"); and the third presents an unusual map of the Buguias region. Lines representing "underground rivers" form the map's basic structure; some of these are indicated as running hot, others cold. Dots symbolize "growing stones," which are said to cause earthquakes when disturbed. The whole is crowned by the following message embroidered in English: "Believe it or not it is true, but please do not say bad things about the Almighty God." That this small sect so emphasizes underground water may reflect the worsening water crisis that marks each dry season in Abatan.