Abstract:
The Ibalois is one of the many indigenous ethnic groups found in the Cordillera region
with the majority of them occupying two-thirds of the Southeastern part of Benguet (Albano,
2017). Compared to the funeral practices done in Metro Manila, the Ibaloi have several other
elements in their traditional burial and death rituals. In relation to their belief wherein death is
not considered as the end of life, but rather, translocation to the spirit world, the dead are
regarded as being half alive and that they respond to the acts of the living by either providing
blessings, protection from evil, or punishing by spreading disease (Laugrand et al., 2020). The
burial rites of Ibaloi include performing Du-dyang and Ba-diw done by the members of the
deceased family and sacrificing animals in honor of the spirit. The length of the funeral also
greatly depends on the age of the deceased with the children having the shortest and the elders
having the longest no matter how their financial status is (Afable, 1975; Leaño, 1965). However,
due to the suppressed and restricted funeral practices being implemented by quarantine
protocols in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, these rituals are replaced by same-day and
mass burials as observed in countries like India and Iraq (Frayer et al., 2020). Currently, there is
not enough published qualitative and quantitative research about Ibaloi burial and death rituals
despite their complex and intriguing nature such as the practice of exhuming bodies and
mummification.
