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.

LAGAWE, Ifugao — In line with the directive of President Arroyo to promote and safeguard the country’s eco-tourism sites through the provision of essential services for tourists, the Provincial Tourism here is promoting the Grassroots Entrepreneurs For Eco-tourism (GREET) Livelihood Grants Program.

Marieta Hangdaan, Provincial Tourism Officer, disclosed that the GREET Program would provide blocks of P50,000 worth of grants to deserving groups or individuals with feasible entrepreneurial/business proposals in eco-tourism sites in the country with priority given to young entrepreneurs.

Hangdaan is encouraging individuals or groups with in the province who would want to contribute for the development of our tourism industry while they earn to move before the deadline of submission of applications which has been extended until August 2007.

She said entrepreneurs who wish to establish a new business or expand existing tourism products and/or services can avail of the grant.

Parties who wish to secure application forms may get from their office, Hangdaan said.

Proposals of eligible individuals and organizations shall be invited to submit innovative, creative, well -planned and environment-sustaining business proposals for implementation to chosen eco-tourism site. She said business proposals should be based on the GREET Program Business Plan Template.

Applications will be evaluated in terms of how well they meet the GREET program objectives, she said.

With the value tourists place on indigenous culture and pristine attractions, and with the very unique culture and attractions we have, coupled with government programs that give us the opportunity to develop what we have, we hope to work in partnership with the community as development efforts for the countryside is very essential for the sustainability of tourism in Ifugao, she added. (PIA Ifugao)

LAGAWE, Ifugao — The Ifugao Culture Heritage Office (ICHO) here will enter into a Memorandum of Undertaking with the China Great Wall Society of China on the World Heritage Protection and Sustainable Development.

Sharon Sarol, outgoing ICHO Officer said that the signing of the MOU will expand mutual understanding and friendly exchanges between people of China and the Philippines.

“The undertaking will establish a cultural exchange program which implementation shall primarily involve the direct participation of the actual stakeholders of the world heritage sites and their immediate partners in sustainable development, including their associations and local government units,” Sarol said.

Geared towards uplifting the economic situation of the heritage owners, Sarol said that exchange of delegations including relevant experts, scholars and leaders of the world heritage sites in the Philippines and China and to share best practices in the protection of each others world heritage sites and promotion of sustainable development will boost tourism in both countries.

Within the framework of the agreement between the National Commission for culture and the Arts (NCCA) of the Philippines and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China, the ICHO has come up with this agreement due to the following concerns raised by heritage owners here as follows; the produce of the farmers is not enough to sustain the daily needs of their families; the heritage owners claim that they do not gain anything from the tourism side of the rice terraces, and they do not want to pass on the responsibility to maintain the rice terraces to their kids because they want them to go to school.

“These are some concerns which the farmers voiced out during our regular meetings with them,” Sarol said.

Sarol disclosed that since the China Great Wall Society, a government institution responsible for the restoration of the Great Wall of China reported that they have the same plight with the Rice terraces here the ICHO and the said institution can come up with strategies on how to save the two wonders of the world while taking into consideration the economic plight of the people maintaining it.

She added that about six kilometers of the Great Wall of China has been destroyed by the people. “According to the China Great Wall Society, the people made used of the bricks in constructing their houses or their pigpens.

“The said MOU will not go contrary with other agreements done at the national level,” Sarol said. The management of the said program will be easier if the heritage site owners are being organized she added.

The heritage sites in the province are the municipalities of Banaue, Hungduan, Kiangan and Mayoyao. (PIA-Ifugao)