Since the last quarter of the previous year, different local government units and other civil society organizations in Ifugao have been engaged in a concerted effort to preserve the rice terraces and promote the Ifugao culture.
BY ACE ALEGRE
Contributed to Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 1, February 3-9, 2008
Lagawe, Ifugao (348 kms. North of Manila) – Hungduan, a laidback Ifugao town famous worldwide because of the famed Rice Terraces, will host this year’s the traditional rice planting in the Rice Terraces or locally known as tunod on February 9-10.
The tunod” is a colorful indigenous tradition among “keepers of the rice terraces” organized by the Save the Ifugao Terraces Movement (SITMo) in partnership with the local government of Hungduan.
This year’s tunod – with its theme “Sowing the seeds of preservation, upholding the heritage of a people, saving a world heritage” is yet one of the efforts being headed by SITMo honorary chairman and Ifugao governor Teodoro Baguilat Jr., in the bid of the Ifugao people to preserve the (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultiral Organization (UNESCO)-recognized site from further degradation, as well as the Ifugao culture closely attached to it.
Tourists will be having a hands-on experience of planting rice at the paddies in Hungduan, packaged as an eco-cultural tour over the vast rice terraces, said Robie Halip of the Office of Gov. Baguilat Jr.
The “Tunod ad Hungduan” tour is a part of the series of rice terraces cycle tours that SITMo offers starting from land preparation (lodah/mamanong), rice planting (tunod), harvest (botok/pfoto), and culminating on thanksgiving (bakle), Baguilat said.
Since the last quarter of the previous year, different local government units and other civil society organizations in Ifugao have been engaged in a concerted effort to preserve the rice terraces and promote the Ifugao culture.
Baguilat said these eco-cultural tours aims to step up the appreciation of the tourists on the culture and tradition of the Ifugaos and encourage the stakeholders to preserve the majestic terraces for the future generations to benefit from. “These tours,” he added, “empower the community as they provide supplemental livelihood to terraces stakeholders and capacitates the community for a community-owned and managed eco-cultural operations.”
Noble grassroots-based preservation efforts
Already, there are noble grassroots-based efforts in preserving the Rice Terraces.
Local government units that play host to the Ifugao Rice Terraces heritage sites have adopted strict policies towards the protection of the terraces like the adoption of an ordinance prohibiting the construction of houses or stores within the heritage sites in Kiangan town.
Baguilat added that more and more Ifugao villagers led by the mumbakis (spiritual priests) are supporting the revival of the rice rituals like tunod and culture-bound festivals, which are critical in the efforts to preserve the terraces.
More and more young and old Ifugaos feel the urgency of preserving the terraces. “We are also thinking of a socialized system where families within the terraces will have to device a method where at least one among them will remain in the village as “protector of the terraces while freeing the others to look for greener pastures,” Baguilat said.
He reiterated that more and more of Ifugao’s people are migrating, thus the ranks of the “keepers of the rice terraces” are dwindling. “A socialized system where others within families support the ones left as “keeper of the rice terraces,” the governor said, will be institutionalized. “We try to blend the need to preserve the terraces while trying to understand the economic plight.”
