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I was digging through my archives on some photos I could find in relation to Halloween. I found some old 2005 photos that I still haven’t posted here. It would seem I’ve been posting Sagada every All Saint’s Day on this site. Perhaps because I find their traditional practice still interesting at this time when I find Filipino Halloween practices being more modern and commercial with lots of western influences coming in.

Some people may ask why I feature destinations abroad whereas the Philippines has a lot of tourists attractions that can rival other countries as well. Why not promote what’s ours? It’s true that we have a number of world-class attractions that we can be proud of. But venturing outside our own country also gives us a wider perspective and see more potential in our country beyond our myopic vision when we are stuck here. We see practices and conditions which can help both our thriving local tourism industry as well. Our visit to Sagada recently was prompted by our recent visit to Sapa, Vietnam. These two places are quite similar with the later being more sophisticated, engulfed by modernization which had us worried about the present condition of our beloved Sagada.

Once in a while, I miss long road trips. Riding at the bus for hours on the road. Come night you rest comfortably at your seat and let the rocking motion of the bus cradle you to sleep. That may also be one reason what drew me back in Sagada last I went there. It’s the road journey itself. And the highlands is the perfect destination for it. Even if the bus doesn’t have air conditioning, most times packed on their crammed little seats, the cool mountain air blowing from the window, the bucolic back country panoramas sliding in front of your vision is enough to satiate my crave to hit the road and travel.

First off all, my sincerest thanks to all those who greeted me on my birthday last week. My apologies if I couldn’t reply back earlier. Braving the category four storm, Marce on the night of my birthday, September 11, was a bit of an extemporaneous decision. Somehow I wanted my birthday to be different especially with the milestone of reaching the age of 30. So after dinner with my family, I called up my friend Lagal[og] and dragged him on a road trip up north to Sagada.

I noticed since I was young, Halloween here in the Philippines has been greatly influenced by the American culture. Adorned in many houses especially in subdivisions, are numerous decorations from pumpkins, spiders, cobwebs and the usual monsters we grew up liking to fear like Dracula, Frankenstein, witches and the local mix of Aswangs, tikbalan, manananggal and white ladies. Those talk of ghost and other supernatural phenomenon that seems to populate our TV screens and print media whenever Halloween approaches have waned my interest recently. I used to like them growing up.

People of Sagada still practices their old traditions and rituals. A walk through their native village of Demang, you’ll sure to pass by a number of Dap-Ay’s. Dap-ay, also called Ato by different tribes is a low-roofed, windowless structure with a small door. In front is a circular structure where improvised stone stools surround the edges and a hearth at the center where they burn fire. This is a sacred place for them as this is where the council of elders makes major decisions regarding socio-political issues, religious rites, settle disputes and where young boys are passed the lessons about disciplines, customs, traditions and taboos.

I never get tired of this place. It’s my third time coming here and there always seems to be something new to discover. This time, aside from visiting the sites I missed before, I got a little brush with their culture and appreciated more of our history, probably because I have a couple of companions who are into Philippine Heritage Conservation. This trip made me realize the importance of our past and connections of various events in different parts of the our archipelago. I may blame it to our schools as not being as interesting in teaching history as you experience in a place.