Sitio Falel is representative of any small off-the-grid community in the Philippines – approached by an unpaved path and a monkey bridge, aquified by a natural water source, lacking electricity, clustered with semi-permanent houses, and inhabited by kind, generous people. The ubiquitous basketball court in the center of the community is shared by teens in a 3-on-3 pickup game and younger children engaged in tumbang preso and hopscotch games. Kids, unaffected by our presence, stopped to get their photo taken, and jumped right back into the game, not one hand held out for alms. What makes Falel different is that it is a T’boli community created thru the vision and will of one man.

Rudy Tagum, the man responsible for Falel’s founding, and a handful of other Falel pioneer families, emigrated to this plot of land in the hills of Kiamba, to bring scattered members of their tribe together, and thereby protect their culture. Thirty-one years later the community has grown to 60 households with approx 400 individuals. Preserving T’boli identity as originally envisioned the founders is successful in Falel, where the community is still ruled by the elders in a council, residents speak in their vernacular, observe tribal rituals, marry among the families and practice heritage skillcraft. We witnessed traditional mat-weaving, fire-starting, music, and shared stories of martial arts, metalwork, over a few glasses of basag, a palm toddy, far removed from a choreographed tourist-y presentation.
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by Junx Muana

Harana TG200DN, a travel size or mini dreadnought design © Junx Muana

Harana guitars officially started in November of 1999 when I hired a full time workman to build guitars of my own designs using techniques borrowed from the western model of lutherie and the use of local materials and methods from the local guitar making industry.

Building guitars seemed a natural consequence for someone obsessed with guitars all his life. I started playing guitar at thirteen and went thru a succession of high school garage bands. Even thru college, marriage, kids and career there would always be a guitars and guitar music around the house. To feed the soul I would always say. In 1994 I went through a medical crises that left me with a lot of time on my hands and a totally changed outlook in life. I vowed to take it easy and focus more on things that I loved to do and music was high up on that list. I took up playing the guitar again, eventually building a recording studio and forming a band. The renewed interest in music also awakened a dormant dream I had to learn to build guitars, really good acoustic guitars. I started reading and researching whatever I could about it, embarking on a quest to build the perfect guitar that even now eludes me.
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Sarangani capitol building © Cocoy Sexcion

Sarangani sits on territory formerly part of South Cotabato, was conceived by gerrymandering and finally birthed by popular plebiscite in 1992; South Cotabato was then divided, its coastal lands surrounding its eponymous bay became the new province. Two annual fiestas are held in Sarangani: the Munato, that celebrates the indigenous people of the province, and the Bayfest, which celebrates all things related to the 200+ thousand hectare bay. This was my sixth Bayfest since it began six years ago, and is unique because of the Munato ingredients tossed into the mix.

The timing of my visit was coincidental to the schedule of the Bayfest. I arrived along with a WWF marine mammal survey team on reports of orca sightings. The team of Dr Jom Acebes, Elson Aca and AG Sano, veterans of the humpback station in Camiguin Norte, Babuyan Is, led by Lory Tan, WWF boss, was here to do an initial mammal survey and training of a diverse group of reps from various government agencies that would become part of a larger team.
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Mathieu and Emilia flying over Hundred Islands National Park, Alaminos

French and Polish Powered Paragliding/ Paramoitoring (PPG) champions Mathieu Rouanet  and Emilia Plak visited the Philippines in February this year and flew over some of well-known and loved sites of the the Philippines — Pinatubo, Taal, Hundred Islands and others — offering views unseen from the paragliders’ vantage, until now.

This video, traces the  70km, 2.5hr flight from San Fernando to San Narciso in Pampanga, features fly-overs of the ash-buried town of Bacolor and its salt fields, Pinatubo crater, and lahar desert. The flight is quite committed owing to no available roads along its path for a quick extraction in case of an emergency landing.

Their tour manager, Buko Raymundo, president of the Philippine Paragliding and Hang-gliding Association (PPHGA or SkysportsPH), umbrella organization for Filipino -gliding athletes, advocates the use of paramotors for exploration particularly for aerial recon and photography. Buko reports a relative growth surge in the small, but close-knit community of sky-sportsmen in the country.

Check in for succeeding videos, some exclusive to Dispatch.