2,000 years old Rice Terraces in Ifugao Province

The governor said that the native rituals, dances, songs and partaking of food for the festival “are, in fact, revival of one of the great traditions of the Ifugaos which were more than 2,000 years old. It is one of our ways to thank God for the bountiful harvest.”

Baguilat said that visitors from Manila like representatives of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) were served with the native “binakle”, a cake made from pounded glutinous rice.

Earlier, the Department of Tourism (DOT) has campaigned for the festival which is now among the yearly big tourism activities which could attract more visitors to the area.

The rice festival, the governor said, is fitting to be held in all the towns in the province, site of the world-famous rice terraces.

Geremy Gawongna, SITMO Media and Advocacy Officer said that primarily this activity hopes to sustain the viability of Ifugao Rice Terraces by improving stakeholders to effectively manage forest resources at the same time provide jobs to the people especially the youth in the heritage sites that would augment their financial needs and preserve their watersheds and rice fields.

He said the endangered terraces facing possible delisting as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an indication of our unmanaged mountains which is affecting our environment thus the landslides that have brought disaster and dry springs we experience today.

“This, the Ifugao people should work out,” he added.

To nurture indigenous knowledge focusing on indigenous practices in three heritage sites of Kiangan, Hungduan and Mayoyao, expertise of Indigenous Knowledge Professors and scholars were tapped.

Gawongna explained that among those that display indigenous engineering and architectural skills in the construction of a native house are the expertise of the Mayoyao people. This comes with the stone tiling which presents a clean surrounding and which makes a conducive area for drying palay harvest, including stone walling in rice paddies.

The municipality of Kiangan displays its indigenous rice production of “tinawon”, and the municipality of Hungduan its Land and Resource Management.

With the participation turn out, initiators of the forum hope to make it a continuous activity province wide.

KIANGAN, Ifugao – With the vision of transforming the oldest and most historic town here into a heritage town and an eco-cultural tourism haven, the municipal dads here enacted an ordinance providing and mandating the protection and management of all God-given natural and man-made tourist spots and providing funds thereof.

Annie Dumangeng, Municipal Tourism Officer here said that the municipal government here supports the tourism industry not only as an economic undertaking but also as a way of promoting its rich historic cultural legacy.

According to Dumangeng, the LGU in coordination with the Save the Ifugao Rice Terraces Movement (SITMO) have trained 40 tourist guides as a means of providing employment to the people. “The tour guides are paid P400.00 for every five tourists,” she said.

Guided by its vision and mission of protecting, managing and preserving the natural and man-made tourist spots, the LGU has been frequently visited by tourists to take a glimpse among others the Yamashita Shrine, Utu and Bagnit Waterfalls, Pangagawan Caves and the Nagacadan Rice Terraces.

Cited as the “Beauty/Tourist Spots Ordinance of Kiangan, Fugato”, the ordinance require foreign as well as local tourists to pay to the barangay P20.00 entrance fee, P10.00 environment fee, P10.00 camping fee to the Municipal Government, P100.00 exploration fee per head (50% of the P100 will go to the tourist guide and 50% will go to the LGU) and a porterage fee of 250.00/day/porter. (PIA-Ifugao)

According to Engr. Jos Aguana, municipal planning and development coordinator of this town, they are still harmonizing all efforts to maximize the development of this industry so that all the potential benefits that can be derived to help the people enjoy economic progress will come to fruition in the years to come.

Aguana identified the activities they have undertaken in 2006 relative to this program but admits that these are not enough and many things more has to be done.

This was confirmed by Jill Kwan, a US Peace Corps volunteer serving in this municipality and providing assistance for the attainment of the objectives of the eco-tourism program.

She said that Kiangan is a beautiful place with a reservoir of tourist attractions but which must be aggressively improved to attract and accommodate more of them.

If all of these are developed to their fullest potentials and all facilities are in place to serve the needs and demands of the tourists and visitors, this can greatly help improve the economic situation of the community, she added.

Among the activities undertaken the past years involve the development of some tourist spots such as the clearing of trails and pathways going to Mount Kapugan located at the northern side of this town.

This mountain is a good place for trekking and its altitude provides a nice spot for viewing beautiful sceneries of some villages of the municipality and the neighboring towns of Hingyon and Lagawe.

Another is the improvement of the trail going to the newly discovered but not yet fully explored Pangagawan Cave at barangay Bolog of which a lodging hut was already erected to provide spelunkers shelter as they try to explore the depths of the grotto.

Clearing of trails and construction of cottages were also done at the Bagnit Falls of barangay Julongan and Utu Falls of barangay Ambabagof which some tourists had already visited.

As accommodation of visitors and tourists is somewhat a problem, the municipal government conducted a feasibility study on the management of the sole youth hostel available and meanwhile endeavored in strengthening the home stays of private dwellings that can be tapped to solve the problem.

Documentation and promotion of tourist attractions was also conducted with the production of brochures and other promotional materials coupled with the preparation of tour packages and establishment of websites.

The municipality also established a monitoring system of tourist arrivals by putting up a tourist desk log book to register the entry of tourists and visitors thus making them safe.

To make them feel comfortable and enjoy their stay, policies and guidelines on tourist site management were prepared complemented with the revival of cultural programs such as the “Gotad ad Kiangan” participated by all the barangays during the summer season.

Kwan promised that before she leaves the place as her period of assignment will expire next year, she will see to it that the only hostel of the community will be renovated and improved.

Improvement of the hostel will include the construction of a cafeteria, an entertainment bar and other amenities. (PIA Ifugao)