Daguitan Eco-Village Farm in Kalinga

CLAD in their traditional wear of bahag and woven fabric draped over their body, Froilan Albert and his family welcomed a group of tour operators and media from different parts of the country to their humble abode in Patiking, Tabuk City, Kalinga. Their eco-village farm house, which I later learned to be a different house where the family actually resides, has now been a tourist destination in Kalinga.

There were spring-fed pools with a blue pipe shooting forth cold water from the side before we entered the house itself. There were also a couple of swings to entertain kids and adults alike. The cold breeze brought upon by the trees around and the high location of the eco-village house add to the indigenous experience of living peacefully away from the busy city life.

Once everyone was seated, Froilan showed us their intricately-designed porcelains that seemed to stand out from the general appearance of the house and the farm. Although these items, in no doubt, look ancient and very precious, they seemed to belong to someplace else and not necessarily in a kubo such as the ones where we were in.

Froilan further explained that these porcelains were actually hundreds of years old already, passed by their forefather to generations and generations. In exchange of their well-designed and tightly-weaved fabric, the porcelain items were given to the earlier Filipinos as a form of barter exchange. Froilan said their ancestors took extra care of it and treated it as a family heirloom.

To show the value of their woven fabric, Froilan made us see how the water does not easily penetrate and seep through when the fabric is cupped and the water is poured through. For several seconds, the fabric holds the water tight. He said the complexity and the effort in order to produce high-quality woven fabric had been kept in mind by their tribe so as to still have the kind of quality for their fabric up to this day.

For lunch, we were served with steamed rice cooked in bamboo, the traditional way as well as sinursuran, spicy ground meat with, and fern salad. There was also coffee salad for dessert.

We were also very lucky to be able to taste Basi, the several-year-old sugar cane alcoholic drink that will put the commercial beer to shame. Even some of the men from our group could say that the Basi is indeed a very strong drink.

The Daguitan Eco-Village Farm of the Albert family also has a farm and tourists can also opt to stay and spend the rest of the night as they have rooms upstairs.

Working in Davao City had allowed me to appreciate the local government’s efforts in preserving the culture of the 11 tribes residing in the city. Now, as I was able to travel to Northern Luzon, I am equally glad that these efforts are also being done in other places as well. It is somehow important that tourists are given a glimpse of the life of the IPs, no matter how brief the engagement is.