Lost People Series: Ifugao

"Apo" is what they call their elders.  This is Apo Tomas, he's the infamous view point Apo and have graced some photography and travel magazines.  He's now at least 80 and is partially blind.

From my previous post on a trip to Banaue, I realized that the rapid modernization of the world have a negative effect to our indigenous culture.  Our future generation would be lucky to see this culture in person.  I only saw a handful of the Ifugaos practicing the old ways, and these were 80 year old elders.  It would be a shame if these traditions can't be preserved.

So this is my goal.  In my own way, I will try to, as many as I can, seek out and take an image of  indigenous Filipino people from all around the country, capturing images of their traditions and old ways, preserving them for future generations. I started from the north of the Philippines, Banaue.

I was back in Banaue 2 weeks after my first trip.  This time around, I took a public bus that will travel 8hrs to Banaue. I didn't go to Batad, and endure the long trek, and instead went to other smaller villages around the town proper such as Tam-An.  Here lives a few remaining Ifugaos who still live the old ways. 

Sitting underneath his house, this Ifugao man tries his best Ifugao pose for the camera

They were pretty used to tourists visiting their place, peeking in their homes.  This was their first time, though, to get photographed with lighting equipment, via softbox, umbrella and a speedlight.  They weren't eager to pose, and I don't really want them to, so I just had them stand or sit and just talk to them about their history and what they think about the modern times.

Apo here does not speak any filipino nor english, making it hard to interview her

They said tourism is a source of income now, since their rice harvest from their rice-terraced farms are not enough for their own consumption.  With a couple of major storms from the past year, harvest has been few and delayed.  What ever the tourists (including myself) gave them is a big help.

Tourists looks on as some kids dance around the bonfire before a traditional Ifugao dance

As their children, and their children's children move out and take jobs from outside their small town, so does their traditions.  All that's left are the elders trying to earn a few pesos while showing tourists around and their history.  These are a friendly group of people and it was an honor to spend a few days with them.

Apo gave us a smile.  She and her family gave us a tour of their rice "terraces" field

My next stop will be in Pampanga/Zambales, looking for the first Filipinos - the Aetas.  I hope I can go there this year.  This series could take some time, which is something to look forward to.  Let me know in the comment if ever you would like to join me in this endeavor, the more the merrier :)

Banaue -Land of the Rice Terraces

They said this was the 8th wonder of the world, so I had to see it at least once (or twice, in this case, more on that later) in my life.  About a month ago, I went to banaue with a handful of office mates for a weekend trip to this wonderful place.  The photo above is the famous Banaue Rice Terraces in Batad.  It's a beautiful, picturesque place and the locals say that these are the most beautiful rice terraces in all of Banaue.  What the photo doesn't say is what a pain( and fun) it is to get there. 

First you have to take an 8-10hr drive from Manila to Banaue.  We took the company's shuttle vans, and it was hard getting a comfortable position even with only a few people inside (there were 9 people inside an 18-seater van). Photo at left was the bridge was our entry point in Banaue.













From the Banaue town proper, we had to take a jeepney, and go for a 1hr or so ride through rough terrain along the side of the mountain.  I went and take the top-load seat (sat above the jeepney) thinking I'll get a better view. It wasn't the best plan but was fun.  It was hot and we were sitting on big aluminum rails which hurt our butts like you can't imagine.  I did get a nice view, and scary too. We passed by a number of cliffs and were inches away from the edge. I commend the driver, as it was a hell of a ride.  I later learned that a jeepney fell over a cliff earlier in the day so I think top-loading won't be a thing I will do again. :)

views from the top

After the hour long, painful drive, we reach the "saddle".  Not sure why the name (?) but it marks the place where you will start your hour and a half trek down the mountain (yes another mountain), as well a as passing over cliffs and narrow rocky terrain.  This was the hardest part of the trip for me (and the way back will be the trek back up) and I was thinking that the view must be worth the pain. And it was.

Photo to the left marks the Saddle entry point (Batad)

We also had a chance to see a cultural presentation at night.  The locals wore their traditional clothes and dance to the sound of traditional instruments.

The visitors soon joined in: )

All in all it was a lot of fun.  We went to some other view points but the one in Batad was the best. I won't tell you about the trek back, beacuase it was more pain and bruises like on the way to Batad, but it was worth it.  The nights activity with the locals got me to think of the fast disappearing culture of the Ifugao people.  they said they need to do what they need to so they can survive, even if it means to stray away from their old ways.  Too bad my future kids probably won't see these anymore. 

This got me thinking of a photo project on trying to save their culture (in images) for future generations to see.  So I went back and did it.  (more on this on a future post)

Winning Branding Photo

As I have mentioned on a previous post, the photo above won a company branding competition held last June.  The theme was to represent in pictures the company's branding attributes: Agile, Clear, Human and Optimistic.  I submitted 3 entries, with the one above bagging the top prize.  Here are the other 2 entries I sent in.  One is familiat to long time readers as this was part of my Lemon project:

The prize was an Ipod and the winning photo will be printed, framed and will grace the walls of the company's office.  Not bad, considering it will be right beside award winning photos from the company's photographers. :) I was hoping the print will be mounted by the time I post this (hence the delay) so I could include pictures of it, but unfortunately, that won't be until the new office in Taguig gets designed.  I'll post pictures when it's up.