ADUYON

Aduyon is the system of mutual and reciprocal work (Ibaloy Dictionary, 2011) as when a farmer schedules a day for planting rice (toned), he informs his neighboring farmers about it so they go to his farm to help get the job done in one day, if possible.  He compensates the neighbors’ help by going to their farms on their scheduled day of planting as well.  When there are two heads from a certain household who went to help, he replaces it either with a two-days’ work or sends two persons at one day.  The host of aduyon has to feed those who came, of course,-- morning and afternoon snacks, lunch, and sometimes even dinner.  Other Ibaloi dialects may call it obowan or inatang (from the root word, atang, meaning “help”).

Also synonymous to aduyon is kamal which is defined in the Ibaloy dictionary as a “kind of cooperative work – a gathering of neighbors to help someone who has a heavy-labor project,” as in demolishing a house to build a new one.  The host has to feed the people, of course.  It may also be a community project like road-clearing as weeding or clearing of a landslide after a storm, repair of broken pipeline,  or cleaning the community’s water reservoir.  All these with no pay nor compensation at all.  The food may come from anybody’s contribution.  Aduyon and kamal may be used interchangeably in some Ibaloy dialects.  In the Tagalog language, it is called bayanihan.  In elementary textbooks, this is shown through a picture where the community helps carry a nipa hut that needs to be transferred to another location.

Today, whenever there’s a need for road repair or clearing out the weeds, there’s a cash-for-work project by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) or by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), if the community is lucky, that is.  The government either pays the workers a minimum amount or gives out free food, usually rice from the National Food Authority (NFA) and canned goods and/or noodles (I wonder if the Ibaloys consider the food lucky though, unless the brand of the noodles is Lucky. :D).

In case of farm work, when there are farmers who are done with their toned ahead of the others, they can help out in other farms but then they ask for cash payment since they don’t need help in their farm any longer.  This is called pordiya, maybe from the English term “(paid) per day” or Latin “per diem.”

This is another practice that is slowly disappearing not only in the Ibaloy communities but in other Filipino communities as well.  We observe it though during calamities when there are casualties and Filipinos come out of their way to donate goods and services to those in need.

I hope that the Ibalois and other Filipino communities still practice the bayanihan, aduyon or kamal, even without calamities and tragedies, where we continue to prove and sustain our community spirit.