18/05/2026
๐๐๐๐: ๐๐ก๐ ๐
๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ค๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ: ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐
๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ ๐งบ๐ซ๐ซ
In the Philippine Cordillera region, food has never been just food. For the Indigenous Peoples here, the Bontoc, Ibaloy, Ifugao, Isneg, Kalinga, Kankanaey, and Tinggian, a meal is an everyday expression of a deep relationship with the land. It is the source of food and of life itself.
๐น๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐
The mountains, rivers, forests, and rice paddies provide a rich source of Cordillera food. Rice is the staple, supplemented by root crops, namely camote, gabi, and cassava, that feed families year-round. Vegetables fill bowls alongside occasional meat. Rivers yield fish, snails, clams, and crabs. The forests provide wild vegetables and foraged ingredients. Nothing goes unused.
The traditional recipes reflect these. There is pinangsot, chinitlug, and binakle, different ways of cooking and preparing rice for different moments and gatherings. There is binongor and dinannaw, dishes built around available greens. There is tengba and hinanglag, preserved foods made to stretch harvest seasons and survive hard times through techniques like smoking, salt-curing, fermenting, and sun-drying.
One elder reflected: "A simple diet of rice and greens with occasional meat is the reason for many of our elders living until they reach one hundred years old."
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Indigenous food knowledge in the Cordillera is grounded in three core values:
Nurturing the Land: Indigenous peoples get their food from all parts of their ecosystems: rice fields, gardens, forests, and waters. This means they bear responsibility for protecting the environment as the source of food and life. The land and its resources should be managed not only for today, but also for generations to come.
Belonging to a Community: Food production and preparation are collective acts. Agricultural work happens through ub-ubbo, a culture of mutual help where community members take turns maintaining community resources and shared properties. The harvest is shared. Seeds are exchanged. Knowledge passes from hand to hand.
Respect for the Unseen: The spiritual relationship between people and nature is woven throughout the food cycle. Before planting and after harvest, communities mark the time with rituals, rest days, and communal feasts. Meat is offered with prayers to the spirits and ancestors. Food is understood as a gift to be honored, not merely a commodity.
๐ถโ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐น๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐
Ub-ubbo has become a culture revered and enjoyed in the Cordillera communities over the years. Through this, communal bonds have become stronger and intact. In recent years, however, labor needed for land cultivation and natural resource preservation decreased due to more young people leaving their communities for education and work.
Synthetic fertilizers replaced the practice of feeding the soil with natural food. Community rituals that synchronized planting became irregular. Market-bought foods replaced what families once grew. Communities that once fed themselves now import much of their food.
However, the knowledge remains, and across the region, people are actively working to revive it.
๐โ๐ฆ ๐๐ก ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ค
Cordillera food traditions teach valuable lessons for our time, when people are increasingly disconnected from the sources of their food, and food is increasingly processed and far from nature.
They teach us to value natural food that is healthy, clean, and fit for serving the family and sharing with the community. They teach mindfulness in gathering and preparing food so that nothing is wasted and others have their share. They show how creativity and resourcefulness, working with simple ingredients, available resources, and what is at hand, can nourish people well.
๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ: ๐กโ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐๐. ๐ผ๐ก ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ข๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ก๐ฆ, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐กโ๐๐.
๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ:
Daguitan, F. (n.d.). Indigenous knowledge systems and practices in the food production in the ili of Payew, Besao, Mountain Province [Presentation]. Payew Indigenous Farmers' Organization; Partners for Indigenous Knowledge Philippines; Transformative Pathways.
Forest Peoples Programme. (2026, April 21). Revitalising indigenous food systems in Besao, Mountain Province, the Philippines. Local Biodiversity Outlooks. https://localbiodiversityoutlooks.net/revitalising
-indigenous-food-systems-in-besao-mountain-province-the-philippines/
Tauli, K. (2025). Cordillera heirloom recipes [Report]. Partners for Indigenous Knowledge Philippines.
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๐๐ช๐จ๐ข-๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ช ๐๐๐ (๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ'๐ด ๐๐ข๐ด๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ต; ๐๐๐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ) ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด (๐๐๐๐), ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ข ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ.
