The batbat is given in all Benguet towns, by the Kankanay as well as
the Nabaloi, to cure or prevent sickness and to bring riches and long
life to the giver. The ceremony is held for the same general purpose
by both tribes, but the manner of celebrating it is different.
In the Kankanay towns from one to twelve hogs may be used for
this ceremony. The number varies according to the wealth of the
giver. Unlike the Nabaloi they do not pretend to deceive the spirits
by tying hogs which are not to be killed. The following story regarding
this difference was related in Legleg, [8] a barrio of Kapangan:
Ud nabaon si Lumawig winatwatun ifugau gudu ta siay aduum si
okana. Gomosad pay sin kayilokoan, ay mankadu si gudu adida
donongun. Isakayatna pay sin Nabaloi; inamtada di nangia si esa
ay yatdaum adadu di indawatna. Sin nangi bagaana sin Kankanay
pay yaanda si adadu.
Sia say gapona ay iwud diidawat si Iloko sin batbat, mo din
Inibiloi ya anda si usaloi, mo di Kankanay pay yaanda si adadu.
Long ago Lumawig gave the people hogs so that they would give some
of the increase. When he came down from the sky to the Ilocano
country and asked for hogs, they did not comply. He asked the
Nabaloi; they knew how to give him one and pretend that many were
given. When he asked the Kankanay, they gave him many.
This is the reason the Ilocanos do not celebrate the batbat;
why the Nabaloi give one (hog) only; why the Kankanay give many.
Before each hog is killed, the mambunong prays as follows while
holding a cup of tapuy in his hand:
Kabigat ay maybungan, Lumawig ay maybungan, Buliwan ay maybungan,
Pati ay maybungan, Gatan ay maybungan, Dulo ay maybungan,
Bintawan ay maybungan, Balitok ay maybungan, Ubang ay maybungan,
Bangon ay maybungan, Bugan ay maybungan, Singan ay maybungan,
Ubagan ay maybungan, Kolan ay maybungan, Angtan ay maybungan,
Soyaan ay maybungan, Amdoyaan ay maybungan, Wigan ay maybungan,
Mantalau ay maybungan; mo wada pay di sangbounda ya bomaknangda ut
ta mapno di dapatanda, ya mapno di kuboda, ya magabay sinanak, ya
gamun ya salon, to wada pansosokubantayo si tapin di agou. Bomangan
sin sasakit.
Kabigat to whom prayer is offered, Lumawig to whom prayer is
offered, Buliwan to whom prayer is offered, Pati to whom prayer
is offered, Gatan to whom prayer is offered, Dulo to whom prayer
is offered, Bintawan to whom prayer is offered, Balitok to whom
prayer is offered, Ubang to whom prayer is offered, Bangon to whom
prayer is offered, Bugan to whom prayer is offered, Singan to whom
prayer is offered, Ubagan to whom prayer is offered, Kolan to whom
prayer is offered, Angtan to whom prayer is offered, Soyaan to whom
prayer is offered, Amdoyaan to whom prayer is offered, Wigan to
whom prayer is offered, Mantalau to whom prayer is offered; since
there is praying here may it cause them to be rich so that their
yards will be filled with pigpens, and may they be lucky in having
children and money and cattle pasturing, so that there will be our
eating and drinking together some other day. May the sick be cured.
After the hog has been killed, the mambunong takes the stick with
which it was stuck, and swings it while praying as follows:
Sika pay ay wikibuyak ta dakami di omanda ya bomaknang, nakasnatna,
tan onmandakami, ta isakladmi di puogmi ya malipunan kami si anak,
gamung, ya salon.
You, the stick, are swung so that we shall live long and become
rich, so that we shall live long, so that our legs shall be as
horn, so that we shall have many children, much money, and many
cattle grazing.
The prayer recorded above is used in Legleg and all the other Kankanay
barrios of Kapangan, but in Kibungan the prayer recorded under the
mandit is also used for batbat. In Buguias the souls of the dead and
the malevolent spirits as well as the deities are addressed, and the
prayer as a whole is probably more similar to the Nabaloi prayer for
batbat than to the one recorded above.
Dancing the tayo forms a part of this ceremony in all Benguet
Kankanay towns.
The ceremony may last from one to three days, and is generally more
expensive than the batbat of the Nabaloi. As a rule more hogs, tapuy,
and rice are used.
It will be noted that in the prayer used by the Kankanay for batbat
only the deities are addressed, while the Nabaloi not only relate a
sacred story, but also petition the souls of ancestors, the pasang,
and some of the constellations.
In some respects the Lepanto ceremony called keslei resembles the
batbat.
Among the Benguet Kankanay as well as the Nabaloi the term saad is
used to designate the batbat on a small scale.