INTERCONNECTIONS OF SYSTEM DENSITIES

The rice ter­races of the Philip­pine Cordilleras are a com­plex set of sys­tems, which over time have come to realise a state of sym­bio­sis. How­ever, sym­bio­sis is not a sta­tic achieve­ment. Cur­rently the rice ter­races are in dan­ger of degra­da­tion through a lack of labour as the tra­di­tional inhab­i­tants, the Ifu­gao, migrate to the cities in search of more lucra­tive employ­ment and access to gov­ern­ment ser­vices. This migra­tion has cre­ated a labour short­age, leav­ing ter­race walls in dis­re­pair and nurs­eries unattended.

These issues can be faced by insti­gat­ing a revival of Bad­dang. This tra­di­tional cus­tom of the Ifu­gao peo­ple involves a trade of labour in return for food and shel­ter. This his­tor­i­cal cus­tom could be revived today to pro­vide ser­vices and basic labour on the rice ter­races. Tem­po­rary accom­mo­da­tion for both skilled labour and unskilled labour is required. Orga­ni­za­tions such as ‘Hands Up Hol­i­days’ offer trips where social ser­vice is inter­twined with cul­tural expe­ri­ence. This arrange­ment of tourists giv­ing back to the places that they visit cre­ates a new form of sym­bio­sis between peo­ple and the landscape.

Three facets of the pro­gram are iden­ti­fied as health­care, edu­ca­tion and accom­mo­da­tion. All are based in the stew­ard­ship of the site and its tra­di­tions. Accom­mo­da­tion forms the back­bone of the health­care and edu­ca­tional facil­i­ties as it allows these ser­vices to be ren­dered with­out the issue of trans­port and access. Accom­mo­da­tion facil­i­ties will be mod­ern in tech­nol­ogy, but will draw from the tra­di­tional build­ing forms and cus­toms to embed the new con­struc­tion in a his­tory of build­ing which dates to back over two thou­sand years on the site.

A series of health­care clin­ics across the region, staffed by doc­tors on tem­po­rary vis­its, could vastly improve health con­di­tions of the Ifu­gao, who strug­gle with­out access to gov­ern­ment health ser­vices such as basic inoc­u­la­tions. In exchange for their labour the doc­tors will be given a truly unique oppor­tu­nity to expe­ri­ence a rich and diverse cul­ture and loca­tion. They will be offered accom­mo­da­tion on site and will become part of the vil­lage for their stay. This expe­ri­ence is one that will no doubt be com­pletely dif­fer­ent for doc­tors trav­el­ling as tourists from the west. The access to these vital ser­vices will help to bridge the social ser­vices gap between the vil­lages and the low land cities.