Lagi’t lagi nating nakikita ang anomang pook kung saan tayo nananahan bilang lokal – yaong sisidlan ng mga personal na relasyon, mga pamilyar na gawain at bagay, kumbaga, yaong espasyong nagkakaloob ng mga ginhawa sa danas, malayo sa mga dahas at impersonal na ugnayang dulot ng atomisadong buhay katulad ng sa lungsod. Sa pagiging lokal ng isang pook, ipinapalagay din na tila ganito na sadya ito, hindi produkto ng maraming proseso ng mga ugnayan at tunggalian, ng mga puwersang panloob at panlabas. Sa kalakhan naman ng mga akademikong pag-aaral, sa usaping panteritoryalidad at heograpikal, ang lokal ay kinikilala bilang yaong malayo sa sentro, yaong hindi urbanisado – ang buhay sa probinsya, sa mga maliliit na komunidad, sa kabukiran, sa mga bayan. Subalit simplistiko ang ganitong mga pagpapalagay sapagkat itinatago nila ang mas komplikadong konstitusyon ng mga pook - ang mga daloy at puwersang humubog at naghuhubog dito. Kaya naman, dapat na lawakan ang pag-unawa sa kairalan ng pook sa pamamagitan ng pagsipat dito, sa kanyang hulagway, gamit ang mga eskalang lokal, nasyonal, at global – upang maipakitang ang inaakalang lokal na kalidad ng buhay ay tigib din pala sa ugnayan sa labas, lagpas sa kanyang teritoryal na hurisdiksyon. Ganito ang sipat na gagawin sa Mauban sa pamamagitan ng pagkatayo ng power plant, Maubanog Festival, ang isla ng Cagbalete, mga pinakamahalagang espasyong kultural at ekonomiya sa Mauban sa kasalukuyan – upang ipakita ang kasalimuotan ng Mauban bilang isang pook na patuloy na nililikha at binabago sa ating panahon. Places where we live are always perceived to be local. Our place is the repository of our personal relations, of everyday activities, in a way, the place of our everyday life bestows us with spaces of comfort, of familiarity and warmth, far from the madding crowd of atomised living redolent in cities. In the perceived locality of places, we always assume that they have always been like that, that their being local is a given, an inherent subjectivity of place, free from the myriad complications of social relations and struggle, isolated from the tensions and friction of external and internal forces. On the other hand, in the academic field, in territorial and geographical studies, what is local is conceptualised to be whatever is far from the centre, whatever is not urbanised, in a way, referring to life in the periphery, in rural areas, in small communities. However, such understanding of place and locality of places hides from us the complexities of producing places. There is a need, therefore, to broaden and complexify our perceiving and experiencing of places by framing them in the scales of local, national and global. By doing so, what is perceived to be local is in fact imbued with so much external influences and shot through with the involvement of extra-local forces and significations. This is how Mauban, the locus of the study, will be analysed through three of its important historical moments: the construction of a power plant in one of its districts, the annual staging of Maubanog Festival and the popularity of Cagbalete island to local and international tourists. Through these three historical moments, Mauban is presented in all its complexities, a social construction that is shaped by forces from within and without, a place that is not just local, but is also national and global in so many ways.
Keywords: global, lokal, Mauban, nasyonal, pook, eskala global, local, Mauban, national, place, scaleAbocejo, Ferdinand. “The impact of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Structural Adjustment Policies (SAP) on the Philippines.” Recoletos Multidisciplinary Research Journal 2.1 (2014): 20-25. Print.
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