BAGUIO CITY, Philippines-- Igorot rights advocates, public school teachers and ukay-ukay (used clothes) vendors turned out to pay their last respects to young actor Marky Cielo whose remains were brought to this city on Wednesday, as a stopover before his burial in his hometown in Bauko, Mountain Province.

Mourners from the cross-section of Cordillera society indicated Cielo?s impact on indigenous communities of the north.

Unlike other Igorots in the movie business, Cielo alone symbolized the assertion of indigenous Filipino identity when racist attacks about his Igorot heritage consumed him during the third season of GMA 7 network's talent search show "Starstruck."

Online Igorots and communities from the highland provinces buried the telephone lines with text messages to ensure that Cielo was not voted out of the TV game, because of the racist attacks. Cielo became "the ultimate sole survivor" in 2006, as a result of the controversy.

About 600 people received Cielo's remains when they arrived from Antipolo at the Church of Resurrection here.

Rev. David Tab-oy officiated mass for the young actor while 13 Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) members volunteered to control the crowd for Cielo's family.

Cielo's mother is from Mt. Province, so his remains will be brought to the village of Sinto of Bauko town there at dawn on Thursday. The family has not announced his burial date.

At the wake, Cielo's cousins sang "Tears in Heaven." Members of the Saint Louis University dance troupe danced an improvised ballet for him at the altar. Cielo was taking up architecture at SLU before he joined Starstruck.

Cielo was found dead by his mother inside his room at their Antipolo residence last Sunday morning. The family has not revealed to the public the cause of death, although an autopsy was reportedly conducted by the Rizal provincial Scene of the Crime Office.