Regulating tourism in Sagada

HAPPY WEEKEND

(2nd part of a series) 

By Gina Dizon 

Regulating conduct of tourists in the 21st century is not the first time that Sagada got itself into

The Sagada Environmental Guides Association  Rule Number 4 , along with other  tourist  guide organizations in town,  is continuously a reminder:  Do not deface caves, waterfalls, rice terraces and other tourist spots in the community.

Sagada is a cultural town where customs are keenly practiced and sacred sites are  respected much as these are places of worship and rituals are conducted. Almost every attraction is a sacred site which has a historical and cultural story in it demanding the very respect that it should accord to.

Number 4 is a general  rule and this  continually needs reminding  among  guides, the community and the tourists of respect to  culture of people  on  sanctity of  sacred spots- waterfalls, caves, watersheds, springs, and rice terraces. Many an incident has shown the defacement of coffins and bones of the dead. This has already been observed in the ‘80s back then when I was in high school and a tourist guide on weekends. Memorable days when  children did not bother to ask for  guiding fees and  were content when they gave us five pesos  after showing them the many chambered  Sumaguing  cave and its many wonders. 

Some tourists then would open the lined up coffins inside the burial caves and see what is inside.  I come to know later some bones were missing. Would be good to know what rules the Sangguniang Bayan has enacted for protecting Sagada’s sacred sites. 

These burial grounds were tolerated for sightseeing and visiting by tourists and locals did not see this as a problem. Though locals  grumbled on the very defacement of the  bones and skulls of their  ancestors  some of which may be  some bones of  my ancestors  scattered  in burial graves or somehow lost.

Tourist guide Fabian Batnag who comes from Ambasing and house located near the hanging coffins of Ambasing tells tourists that hanging coffins containing corpses and bones of dead people are sacred. Asked why the coffins  are hanged, Fabian answers that the spirits of the dead would not like to be buried underground.

Burial caves have coffins always at the mouth of the cave and not inside. What is inside the cave is not the domain of the dead. Why they are at the mouth of the case is one big question and not inside. Where the low temperature is one big reason why to keep the bones preserved May not an only be the reason of placing the dead in burial caves. Dead are also placed amongst the rocks.  It is not a common practise before that the dead are buried. They are found over ground. And their burial places are considered sacred to be respected as their final resting place.

Now comes the 21st century where a mock burial was conducted by  a foreign documentary  film company assisted by locals  August of 2013 with the blessings of an elder, a tourist guide, and a municipal officer. Why the elder did not negate the activity and could have asserted that such was not proper. A coffin is customarily carried to the burial places when somebody dies. 

The Sangguniang Bayan investigated following a complaint from the treasurer’s office that the foreign film company did not pay the required fees and found out that the mock burial amongst the rocks was done without the required process and not even paid the required fees and not until the legislative body investigated said incident. According to a municipal ordinance, any documentation should be reviewed by a review team composed of members from the Sangguniang Bayan and the Mayor’s Office.  The legislative body condemned the act noting that the mock burial is a sacrilege to Sagada’s customs and practises. 

It is now a constant reminder to be alert of any activity that defaces customs and practises of the people.

This conscious norm of adhering to respect of customary practises has been noted in a community meeting of Poblacion barangays of Demang, Dagdag and Patay last December 4, 2013.  The people wanted to correct the close distance of video cameras and photographs by tourists on rituals done during a Begnas, an agricultural festivity. 

People present during the  community meeting at  Tuking  said that a distance of at least 20  meters be observed between tourists and the ritual taking place in order to  let the  ceremony  proceed without unnecessary  disturbance of  video cameras and photographs  interfering in their ceremonies to add to a crowd that jostles around the ceremonial area.  Let us see this happen in the coming begnasof  Tangeb di Latab or the closing of wedding celebration this June along with the ceremonial festivity of growth of rice seedlings. Otherwise, see the passage of an ordinance to monitor the event and keep visitors out of the ritual area and penalize violators.     

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Regulating the conduct of tourist’s dates back in the ‘80s when tourist openly showed amorous advances to each other in public- kissing, hugging and petting in public and doing the sexual act in the mountainsides.  The mountain sides is the public domain of the people of Sagada- where they walk  the forests  to gather firewood, pasture their  cattle, and traverse to the other side of the village.  Many a couple have been spotted in mountainous sides doing sexual acts in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

People in the village did not like this and this made known to the guides who made Rule Number 2:  No kissing, embracing and petting in public. Doing any sexual act in public is taboo to the Sagada community.

Rule Number 1 is related to Rule Number 2:  Always wear proper attire when in public.

This rule especially came up in the ‘80s on to 90s due to skimpy clothing of women tourists almost revealing the breast with spaghetti straps or the butt with very short shorts reaching up the butt cheeks.  Now, shorts not so short are considered proper attire by the locals.

In this  closely knit community where  proper  conduct  on clothing, dating and  livelihood is closely  watched, the people are ready to talk and  ostracize  conduct when it’s not proper.

The global code of ethics for tourism enacted  December  2001 by the General Assembly of the United Nations of where the Philippine sis part of, is one with the Sagada people protecting their  sacred sites, their culture, and safeguarding their  existence as a cultural community attuned with  their immediate environment. 

Hinged on an overriding policy of ‘minimizing the negative impact of tourism on environment and on cultural heritage while maximizing the benefits of tourism in promoting sustainable development and poverty alleviation’, regulations of Sagada on abuses of tourism jibes with the global tourism code of ethics.  The code specially forwards that ‘tourism activities should be conducted in harmony with the attributes and traditions of the host regions and countries and in respect for their laws, practices and customs.’

The international tourism code  forwards in principle that, ‘tourism policies and activities should be conducted with respect for the artistic, archaeological and cultural heritage, which they should protect and pass on to future generations; particular care should be devoted to preserving and upgrading monuments, shrines and museums as well as archaeological and historic sites.

Rule Number 1  of the  global tourism code further forwards the “understanding and promotion of the ethical values common to humanity, with an attitude of tolerance and respect for the diversity of religious, philosophical and moral beliefs, are both the foundation and the consequence of responsible tourism; stakeholders in tourism development and tourists themselves should observe the social and cultural traditions and practices of all peoples, including those of minorities and indigenous peoples and to recognize their worth”.