Cordillera Day is typically held in a large outdoor venue. It is necessary, since the annual 2 day political event is usually held in a remote, indigenous, mountain community that would never accommodate the average 3000 participants. Rice terraces, inactive for the dry season, are cleared, a douzen CRs are dug and a stadium is erected out of bamboo and blue tarps. This year was no exception, and the participants hide from the blistering Abra heat inside a shelter that had been constructed in the days prior by young Filipino men walking delicately across the bamboo beams. Sitting in the shade on the bumpy ground I was surprised to see rows of tiny ants everywhere, working away around our mats and under our discarded flip flops. In complete unison the ants marched with purpose. Noticing them
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