By Manny Piñol
The famed rice terraces of Ifugao need immediate attention if this country were to hold on to something which has been a source of pride and food as well to the tribes of the Cordillera Provinces.
On the way back to Manila from Apayao Fridiay night, the Dept. of Agriculture team dropped by an organic farm in the town of Lumut, Ifugao for a quick dinner with two of the highest political leaders and the farmers of the province.
On hand to receive us were Congressman Teddy Baguilat, a known opposition leader in Congress, and Gov. Jose Mayam-o and the farmer leaders of Ifugao.
It was during the quick dinner that Cong. Baguilat and Gov. Mayam-o shared with me the fear of the people in the province that unless government steps in to protect the rice terraces and make Heirloom Rice production profitable for the traditional farmers, the organic farming practice embraced by the natives for generations now would soon be just part of memory.
The dikes are deteriorating and the farmers, who own only a few square meters of the terraces per family, are not earning much to encourage them to continue embracing the tradition.
The worrying information did not come that easy actually.
Cong. Baguilat, who campaigned hard against President Rody Duterte during the last elections, obviously felt awkward at first, maybe because he knew that aside from being Duterte’s agriculture secretary, I am a personal friend of the President.
When I delivered a short message, however, I relayed to them what President Duterte wanted to tell the political leaders of the country: Politics are over and the Duterte administration will work with the elected representatives and leaders of the people regardless of their political affiliations.
I told them that President Duterte does not look at political colors, rather the brown faces of poor Filipinos who are hoping that his Presidency would change their lives for the better.
After that, everything seemed to go well.
Cong. Baguilat became warmer and mentioned to me that he was actually a DA kid as his father was a Regional Technnical Director of the DA before.
After the traditional garbing which Cong. Baguilat and Gov. Mayam-o performed on me, a sumptuous dinner of Jojo fish found in the rice terraces and organic vegetables followed.
I told Cong. Baguilat and Gov. Mayam-o that since the time was too short for us to discuss the concerns of the province and its farmers, I would come back on Aug. 31 and spend the night in Banaue.
So, at dawn of Aug. 31, I will take another 6-hour land trip to Ifugao to do my part in saving what is considered as one of the 7 Wonders of the World – the famed and historic rice terraces.
I will sit down with the leaders and farmers of Ifugao to discuss ways to save the rice terraces and help the farmers earn more from their farms.
Tiresome? Yes but it’s worth it.
I cannot imagine the Cordillera’s without the brown Tinawon Rice, one of the varieties of the Heirloom Rice, growing in those terraces carved out by the side of the mountains.
(Photos taken by John Pagaduan and Bong Piñol.)
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