Bayah

CULTURAL NOTES

Richard Kinnud

It is the general term for wine native to Ifugaos.  It is usually made from glutinous rice though some native fruits and rootcrops can be processed to wine and also called bayah. (In writing, many would spell it without the letter “h” but under the rule of writing as pronounced, I think it should be written with the consonant in its end.)
    The process of making bayah is “iwa”.  Thus, attaching prefixes, the person or people in the process are the “mun-iwa” (also the future tense of it as a verb - will still do the iwa) or “nun-iwa” (the past tense when used as verb).
The process starts with the pounding of the glutinous rice (daya’ot or dayakkot in the Ifugao languages).  Tuluy botok (three bundles) to hin-hongol (five bundles in the Ifugao way of measuring rice harvests) would usually make a hin-iwa (good for one processing).  The more, of course, the more rice wine is produced.
    The next process is the cooking.  If the glutinous rice is of the dark variety, it is preferred that this is roasted first in a vat.  In making the ratio for the rice and water, the mun-iwa makes sure that it is not too watery when the rice is a little over half-cooked.  At that point, the rice would be spread on ligawu (winnower) for cooling down.
    The cooling process will give time for other procedures.  One is getting banana leaves and neutering them over fire.  These leaves will be used later in wrapping.  Also, the binokbok (native yeasts) is also pulverized.  The binokbok is usually processed or procured earlier.  It is made from onwad (a native herb), finely ground rice, mother yeasts, and ginger juice.
    After cooling down, the powdered yeast is sprinkled and mixed delicately with the half-cooked rice.  The amount of binokbok to be mixed is usually on the ono’nong (intelligent estimate) of the mun-iwa.  The good ono’nong is what usually distinguishes the “maphod di pun-iwa na” (good rice wine maker) from the rest.
    The mixture is then transferred to a labba or tudung (these are holders made of rattan and/or bamboo).  The labba is prepared by spreading the neutered banana leaves onto it before transferring the rice.  The mixture is then carefully wrapped with the banana leaves.  The holder containing the mixture will be hanged with one end lower than the other preferably in a room or at a corner away from disturbance.
    After a day, a very small hole is punched on the lowest end of the mixture.  This will allow the initial juice from the mixture to flow out.  This juice, called the tonoh, will be collected in a clean container.  The mun-iwa will just let it flow until no more tonoh is expected, usually two or three days.  The mixture will then be transferred into clean and dry jars and the tonoh will be remixed to it.  The jar or jars  will be covered tightly with clean banana leaves and kept again in a place where it should not be disturbed until mapgot (the term for matured wine.)
    It is again upon the ono’nong of the wine maker when would he or she would extract the wine.  It could be from five days to two weeks.  On a appointed day, the wine maker can extract the initial rice wine and when desired, add more liquid for fermentation.  This process is called tomyang.  A hin-iwa can produce at least four bottles of undiluted rice wine.  A bottle is usually of the 4 x 4 of the popular ginebra brand.  The additional liquid for fermentation is usually the mixture from sugar heated until it becomes dark, dissolved and boiled in the desired amount of water.  The process can be repeated until no fermentation is expected.  The pure wine (initial extraction) is called the pinahapa while the last wine juices usually bitter in taste is called the hubul.
    In earlier times, as related by elders, bayah is at the core of festivities hosted by abled households.  In these festivities, days are designated for preparing the wine and for extracting them at the homestead of the hosts.   This is the reason why the couple hosts are called the “bumayah” (future tense) or “bimmayah” (past tense). Households in neighboring hamlets can also prepare their own rice wine simultaneously with the hosts.  One of the climaxes is a day designated for drinking the wine coupled with dancing.  In the morning of that day, it is expected that guests from everywhere come and go around the village especially in hamlets where wine was expected.  This is the day of the “gotad” which is actually an eve of a grander day of lunching.
    This kind of festive occasion is unheard of as hosted by household these days.  There could be similar events such as weddings but to some elders who saw “bayah” of old, what society has today are incomparable.
    Even bayah, the wine, at times takes backstage.  For one, the process of making as discussed earlier is very wearisome and takes time.  In occasions where alcoholic drinks can be appropriately served, it is more convenient to purchase those that are readily available in stores.  Additionally, the production of glutinous rice, the main ingredient is also tedious.  And, it also happens that those who do consume wine prefer the smoother taste of the ones in wine shops than the natively manufactured ones.
    At any rate, bayah remain to be icons of a distinct culture.  For the wine, the elements are a produce of the native land and the elaborate process is a labor of passion.  These make it a nectar of love that should remain to be cherished.
    As a festival supposedly hosted by households, they are symbols of abundance, of sharing, of good neighbor relations, of prizing relatives, and many other values.  It could be for the good that the present society remembers these by using it as names of barangay, municipal and provincial fiestas.  It would be an opportunity for the generations to examine culture.
Incidentally, Kulpi ad Lagawe (fiesta of the capital town of Ifugao) and Imbayah ad Banaue (fiesta of the home to the more known rice terraces of Ifugao) are still ongoing with many of the cultural parts happening this week.  This corner greets the i-Lagawe, and the i-Bannawer/Ifannawor, and every other else celebrating their town fiesta – Happy festivities!  Hopefully, the young would indeed look into the good cultural and social values and uphold them, aside of course from the economic opportunities that these give in terms of commerce and tourism.