(An ethnic costume of an Ifugao wearing a g-string known as bahag to them.)(The frontal look of the mass grave of the Japanese
soldiers during WW II in Mayoyao)
Although it was a personal dream, not after I saw in one evening about 2 or 3 months ago on how Japan in its NHK TV program happily appreciates the Rice Terraces in the Philippines that I planned to fulfill that dream. Ifugao in the Philippines is a mountainous province and a home to a thriving ancient culture and host to the famous rice terraces carved from the base of the mountainsides to the top, which appear to be massive green stairways reaching the sky.
Knowing that my former student and friend Leon Magangat Jr. is from Ifugao, I plan and calendar within the Bon Holiday on August 5 to 8, 2007 our mountain-climbing to view and reflect with the nature and see how man and nature could harmoniously be united peacefully and exist eternally. To reach the top, view the nearest angle before the Creator and see the big responsibility below; whisper some words to Him and document the art of man’s traditional but majestic dealing with nature were all set as goals.
Bound to Ifugao
After a dinner in Baguio City (5-hour bus-ride from Manila) last August 5, Leon and I proceeded to Ifugao via Santiago , Isabela. We transit in Santiago at around 6 am the following day and reached Mayoyao almost 12 noon of August 6 where the nature is so fresh to welcome us. Leon’s mom Mrs. Magangat and his brother Randy welcome us in their house and offered us a lunch and accommodation.
My first outdoor in Mayoyao, Ifugao started at around 1:00pm in August 6, 2007. Although it was a bit showering, I told Leon that our itinerary should go on rain-or-shine. The first mountain we climbed was that hill where the WW II Japanese beheaded-soldiers were entombed. It was very timely to be attuned to the 62nd anniversary of the end of WWII in August 1945. The place which was a cave-shaped and is known as Mass Tomb of WWII Japanese soldiers in Mayoyao, Ifugao. My friend Leon briefed me on the history that at the last stage of combat years between the Japanese and the Allied forces during the WWII, the Japanese forces who were occupying the Mountain Province and Ifugao (which was still part of the Mt. Province that time) were grounded by the American and Allied Forces. Ifugao became one of the centers of warfare during the last stages of World War II in the Philippines . It was in Ifugao, particularly in Mt. Napulawan , where General Yamashita, the known “Tiger of Malaya,” decided to put his last stand against the Filipinos and American forces. The Japanese have no choice but to climb the peaks of the mountains rather than be captured by the Allied Forces who were at the lower grounds. The peaks of Ifugao including Mt. Napulawan and Mayoyao became their dead-end when the Allied Forces caught them. Those Japanese soldiers who were killed and were beheaded were entombed in one the hills in Mayoyao, Ifugao. Some Japanese relatives came after the war and most of the remains of the entombed soldiers were claimed back. Others remained and the mass tomb was preserved.
It was said that along the way evading from the Allied forces during the war, General Yamashita hid his treasures to strategic spots in the mountain range of Ifugao and Mt. Province while escaping from the Allied Forces. He informally surrendered to Captain Grisham of the 6th US Army in the Philippines , based in Kiangan, Mt. Province and Ifugao, before he was flown to Camp John Hay where he formally surrendered.
I offered my prayers in front of the mass tomb and pray for the eternal repose of the souls of the Japanese soldiers. Leon as a guide served as my photographer. There was a rocky hill nearby which is partly torn obviously by man. Some pieces of rocks from there may have been used to build the tomb for the soldiers. The hill is overlooking the valley of Mayoyao Municipality where inhabitants are growing peacefully and customarily.
The opposite mountain where a cell site was already built was taller that the first one. My guide helped me conquer it as it was challenging to reach it where you can see the terraces of rice field gold at harvest time. Noticeably, there are few houses already in the midst of the rice terraces. Layer of the rice terraces are wider and its slope is not as steep as Batad or Banaue. Some big stones are natively arranged as a sitting-bench on a hillside where one can enjoy the freshness of air, the terrace of nature and the majesty of nature as art full of beauty, harmony and purity.
Noticeably, there are rare plants along the trail, ferns on those mountains. One flower that shapely looks very similar to a man’s sexual body part has some juice in it. Leon told me to taste it as it has a mineral water. He said, when they were young boys playing after school time, it was their fun to drink it to help them go on in their youthful games. Giant ferns are so beautiful and asparagus plants as well are present. Wild flowers and birds sing in rhythm to be with you in that trail.
(At Mt. Batad, Ifugao where the missing Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell was found dead.)
The 2nd day was set to a far bit mountain infamous as the site where the missing Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell was found dead. Mt Batad although part of Banaue is a mountain trail where going up will give you a far overview of the rice terraces is needed. To go down again, a trail is needed in order to have frontal view of the nicely crafted rice terraces. It was on this down-trail where Ms Campbell was found dead. Eventually, it was starting on this up-trail that I challenged myself to feel and be like a full-blooded Igorot to wear the g-string gift to me by my guide Leon . It was a route with a prayer and meditation to engage myself with the nature and the culture of the inhabitants therein. Leon and I prayed for Julia Campbell and the Filipino forefathers who made the great architectural treasure manifesting the ownership-responsibility of dominating properly the creations. Julia, the Peace Corps was a free-lance journalist before she came to Philippines . In her blog, she said: “At the age of 38, I decided to step out of the rat race of New York , join the Peace Corps and board a plane for Manila .” She lived in a nipa hut in Donsol, Sorsogon, without running water, and delighted in the care and attention of the townsfolk. Apart from her teaching, she had another project, a Marine Ecology Learning Center called Bahay Kalikasan that would teach “environmental science for children, solid waste management seminars for adults and … create livelihood programs for the local fishermen.” She was later reassigned to the big city, Legazpi, still a whole day’s drive south of Manila , where she taught English and organized English-language training seminars. She went missing in April this year in Banaue, some 10 hours north of Manila and famous for the rice terraces carved on the mountainside. At the time of her death, she was one of 167 Peace Corps volunteers assigned to the Philippines .
We took a trail going down. A steep trail was more challenging when wet slippery rocks could pull you down like what it did to me. That consumed our whole morning time for Batad.
After Batad, we proceeded to the famous Banaue Rice Terraces using a bus ride.Although the mountain side of the road is almost fully occupied by commercial stalls displaying souvenir items. The majesty of the rice terraces prevail as a world-class wonder. Being one of the "Eight Wonders of the World," the Banaue Rice Terraces start from the base of the mountain range and reach up to several thousand feet high. It is said that their length, put end to end, would encircle half of the globe. From left to right and beyond 180 degrees, the ranges of mountains were fully dominated by the native skills of these Filipinos called Ifugao with their agricultural dream of having a plain land to plant their rice on the midst of high altitudinal mountain ranges and hills.
Made 2,000 years ago, these rice terraces manifest the engineering skill and ingenuity of the sturdy Ifugao. Streams and springs found in the mountains were tapped and channeled into irrigation canals that run downhill through the rice terraces. Several viewers are even attracted to go down the stream to enjoy the water bathing them.
In Banaue, the famous terraces had been inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1995 as “a continuing cultural landscape” and likewise considered by the U.S. Association of Civil Engineers as an engineering marvel built by unschooled and free men not of slave labor. A UNESCO marker proudly stands in one of the view-alleys there.It was a credit to the inherent wisdom of the Ifugao forefathers that a forest and watershed management system was instituted to help sustain the terraces that serve as the basic food source of the sturdy Ifugaos.The Ifugao native huts could probably be among the world’s first prefabricated houses that do not use a single nail or metal to fasten their parts.
During my time to enjoy the architectural harmony of the rice terraces, several tourists at my side appreciate and enjoy too the harmony expressed by the terraces. One of them I heard was saying, “Sugoy! Kawai desu ni”. And I confirmed that he and his companions were Nihon-jin together with a few of his friends taking their Obon holiday to the famous Rice Terraces in the Philippines . According to Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Amb. Ryuchiro Yamazaki, who will soon be replaced by Amb. Makoto Katsura, “there are 400,000 Japanese tourists who come to Philippines every year to deepen their mutual understanding and enjoy the beauty of the Philippines .” Aside from them, other Asian tourists were notably present. Another team of US tourists who, after enjoying Banaue, went to Mayoyao Rice Terraces but left all their admiration to the hand-made architectural treasure of the native Filipinos.
My three nights and three days including the travel from Manila to Ifugao were all worth beyond my exhaustion and expenses. The purity, freshness, love, and beauty of the place together with the historical inputs of the place manifest and give you peace, harmony and man-made product of vision-based architectural prowess.
Knowing that my former student and friend Leon Magangat Jr. is from Ifugao, I plan and calendar within the Bon Holiday on August 5 to 8, 2007 our mountain-climbing to view and reflect with the nature and see how man and nature could harmoniously be united peacefully and exist eternally. To reach the top, view the nearest angle before the Creator and see the big responsibility below; whisper some words to Him and document the art of man’s traditional but majestic dealing with nature were all set as goals.
Bound to Ifugao
After a dinner in Baguio City (5-hour bus-ride from Manila) last August 5, Leon and I proceeded to Ifugao via Santiago , Isabela. We transit in Santiago at around 6 am the following day and reached Mayoyao almost 12 noon of August 6 where the nature is so fresh to welcome us. Leon’s mom Mrs. Magangat and his brother Randy welcome us in their house and offered us a lunch and accommodation.
My first outdoor in Mayoyao, Ifugao started at around 1:00pm in August 6, 2007. Although it was a bit showering, I told Leon that our itinerary should go on rain-or-shine. The first mountain we climbed was that hill where the WW II Japanese beheaded-soldiers were entombed. It was very timely to be attuned to the 62nd anniversary of the end of WWII in August 1945. The place which was a cave-shaped and is known as Mass Tomb of WWII Japanese soldiers in Mayoyao, Ifugao. My friend Leon briefed me on the history that at the last stage of combat years between the Japanese and the Allied forces during the WWII, the Japanese forces who were occupying the Mountain Province and Ifugao (which was still part of the Mt. Province that time) were grounded by the American and Allied Forces. Ifugao became one of the centers of warfare during the last stages of World War II in the Philippines . It was in Ifugao, particularly in Mt. Napulawan , where General Yamashita, the known “Tiger of Malaya,” decided to put his last stand against the Filipinos and American forces. The Japanese have no choice but to climb the peaks of the mountains rather than be captured by the Allied Forces who were at the lower grounds. The peaks of Ifugao including Mt. Napulawan and Mayoyao became their dead-end when the Allied Forces caught them. Those Japanese soldiers who were killed and were beheaded were entombed in one the hills in Mayoyao, Ifugao. Some Japanese relatives came after the war and most of the remains of the entombed soldiers were claimed back. Others remained and the mass tomb was preserved.
It was said that along the way evading from the Allied forces during the war, General Yamashita hid his treasures to strategic spots in the mountain range of Ifugao and Mt. Province while escaping from the Allied Forces. He informally surrendered to Captain Grisham of the 6th US Army in the Philippines , based in Kiangan, Mt. Province and Ifugao, before he was flown to Camp John Hay where he formally surrendered.
I offered my prayers in front of the mass tomb and pray for the eternal repose of the souls of the Japanese soldiers. Leon as a guide served as my photographer. There was a rocky hill nearby which is partly torn obviously by man. Some pieces of rocks from there may have been used to build the tomb for the soldiers. The hill is overlooking the valley of Mayoyao Municipality where inhabitants are growing peacefully and customarily.
The opposite mountain where a cell site was already built was taller that the first one. My guide helped me conquer it as it was challenging to reach it where you can see the terraces of rice field gold at harvest time. Noticeably, there are few houses already in the midst of the rice terraces. Layer of the rice terraces are wider and its slope is not as steep as Batad or Banaue. Some big stones are natively arranged as a sitting-bench on a hillside where one can enjoy the freshness of air, the terrace of nature and the majesty of nature as art full of beauty, harmony and purity.
Noticeably, there are rare plants along the trail, ferns on those mountains. One flower that shapely looks very similar to a man’s sexual body part has some juice in it. Leon told me to taste it as it has a mineral water. He said, when they were young boys playing after school time, it was their fun to drink it to help them go on in their youthful games. Giant ferns are so beautiful and asparagus plants as well are present. Wild flowers and birds sing in rhythm to be with you in that trail.
(At Mt. Batad, Ifugao where the missing Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell was found dead.)
The 2nd day was set to a far bit mountain infamous as the site where the missing Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell was found dead. Mt Batad although part of Banaue is a mountain trail where going up will give you a far overview of the rice terraces is needed. To go down again, a trail is needed in order to have frontal view of the nicely crafted rice terraces. It was on this down-trail where Ms Campbell was found dead. Eventually, it was starting on this up-trail that I challenged myself to feel and be like a full-blooded Igorot to wear the g-string gift to me by my guide Leon . It was a route with a prayer and meditation to engage myself with the nature and the culture of the inhabitants therein. Leon and I prayed for Julia Campbell and the Filipino forefathers who made the great architectural treasure manifesting the ownership-responsibility of dominating properly the creations. Julia, the Peace Corps was a free-lance journalist before she came to Philippines . In her blog, she said: “At the age of 38, I decided to step out of the rat race of New York , join the Peace Corps and board a plane for Manila .” She lived in a nipa hut in Donsol, Sorsogon, without running water, and delighted in the care and attention of the townsfolk. Apart from her teaching, she had another project, a Marine Ecology Learning Center called Bahay Kalikasan that would teach “environmental science for children, solid waste management seminars for adults and … create livelihood programs for the local fishermen.” She was later reassigned to the big city, Legazpi, still a whole day’s drive south of Manila , where she taught English and organized English-language training seminars. She went missing in April this year in Banaue, some 10 hours north of Manila and famous for the rice terraces carved on the mountainside. At the time of her death, she was one of 167 Peace Corps volunteers assigned to the Philippines .
We took a trail going down. A steep trail was more challenging when wet slippery rocks could pull you down like what it did to me. That consumed our whole morning time for Batad.
After Batad, we proceeded to the famous Banaue Rice Terraces using a bus ride.Although the mountain side of the road is almost fully occupied by commercial stalls displaying souvenir items. The majesty of the rice terraces prevail as a world-class wonder. Being one of the "Eight Wonders of the World," the Banaue Rice Terraces start from the base of the mountain range and reach up to several thousand feet high. It is said that their length, put end to end, would encircle half of the globe. From left to right and beyond 180 degrees, the ranges of mountains were fully dominated by the native skills of these Filipinos called Ifugao with their agricultural dream of having a plain land to plant their rice on the midst of high altitudinal mountain ranges and hills.
Made 2,000 years ago, these rice terraces manifest the engineering skill and ingenuity of the sturdy Ifugao. Streams and springs found in the mountains were tapped and channeled into irrigation canals that run downhill through the rice terraces. Several viewers are even attracted to go down the stream to enjoy the water bathing them.
In Banaue, the famous terraces had been inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1995 as “a continuing cultural landscape” and likewise considered by the U.S. Association of Civil Engineers as an engineering marvel built by unschooled and free men not of slave labor. A UNESCO marker proudly stands in one of the view-alleys there.It was a credit to the inherent wisdom of the Ifugao forefathers that a forest and watershed management system was instituted to help sustain the terraces that serve as the basic food source of the sturdy Ifugaos.The Ifugao native huts could probably be among the world’s first prefabricated houses that do not use a single nail or metal to fasten their parts.
During my time to enjoy the architectural harmony of the rice terraces, several tourists at my side appreciate and enjoy too the harmony expressed by the terraces. One of them I heard was saying, “Sugoy! Kawai desu ni”. And I confirmed that he and his companions were Nihon-jin together with a few of his friends taking their Obon holiday to the famous Rice Terraces in the Philippines . According to Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Amb. Ryuchiro Yamazaki, who will soon be replaced by Amb. Makoto Katsura, “there are 400,000 Japanese tourists who come to Philippines every year to deepen their mutual understanding and enjoy the beauty of the Philippines .” Aside from them, other Asian tourists were notably present. Another team of US tourists who, after enjoying Banaue, went to Mayoyao Rice Terraces but left all their admiration to the hand-made architectural treasure of the native Filipinos.
My three nights and three days including the travel from Manila to Ifugao were all worth beyond my exhaustion and expenses. The purity, freshness, love, and beauty of the place together with the historical inputs of the place manifest and give you peace, harmony and man-made product of vision-based architectural prowess.
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