Everytime I go home to my hometown, I always feel sorry both for myself and for my very own dear Shangrila. Considering the other side of the coin though I am not against social and economic development because this is what every society direly seek for. I cannot only help but fear for the consequences of this rapid effect of keeping abreast with advanced technologies correlated to the social and economic status of the town.
I was born from a poor family so I never tasted how it was to sleep in a very cozy bedroom all by myself in a big, big house. I used used to sleep on the wooden floor with my siblings on a mat. The family also used to eat meals squatting on the floor sometimes with spoons and forks but most of the time only with bare hands.
During my school years, I went through several struggles just so I can meet both ends and earn a degree. I am not the only one who had a life like this especially in the region where I came from. What I want to emphasize is, this is how poor my hometown used to be 20-25 years ago.
My hometown had been a tourist spot for so long and only occasionally visited by foreign adventurers. I can still barely remember when I was in grade 1 back in 1978 when I used to meet on my way to school, although occasionally, foreign tourists. As kids we called these tourists, "puraw" or "pulaw" in the local dialect which means white. We always wondered where these kinds of people with unusual sizes of noses and with blonde hair come from and why do they come to Sagada, my birthplace. We were once told that they were Americans but we learned later that not all of those white people were such but people from everywhere around the globe.
Most of those foreign tourists who until now frequent the Shangrilaism of Sagada are the Kibbutz - Israelites, Canadians, Irish, Swiss, Germans, Australians, Italians and of course the Americans.
It was only around 10 years ago that local tourists (Filipinos) started filling the inns and cafes of the town particularly on Lenten seasons. To this date, whenever I visit home I see several new faces roam the town who are not from the locality. They are Filipinos of course - local tourists who frequent every scenic spot of the town. This situation alarms me most, because I know, Filipinos have no discipline when it comes to proper disposal of trash. Every place they visit, they leave sorts of trash!
Just a couple of weeks ago, I accompanied some acquaintances to Sumaguing Cave, the most frequented place in the town these days. I felt ashamed of myself when I saw how the cave looks these days.
I first entered the cave when I was in Grade four and I can still remember some spots that were so intact and so clear. The map of the cave itself found just after the entrance which is used to guide visitors inside was so clear; the pigpen was half-full of crystal clear water; the rice granary looked like one amidst the flowing clear water; the entrance was knee-full of guano, bats' dirt, and it smelled awful; the thick black bats that were once so noisy above the walls of the cave with their eyes glittering against searchlights; the king and queen's curtains that really looked like curtains while clear water flowed over them and the intact stalagmites and stalactites.
The second time I visited this cave again was after 10 years. It seemed it had no great difference since the time I first entered it except the bats that seemed to have been 50% gone so that their guano was just around ankle-deep. During the following years of visit around 2-3 years interval, when local tourists started pouring in into the town, I saw the effects of exploitation particularly on nature.
My fear before became worse when upon my recent visit, I saw cigarette butts and used match sticks all over the entrance of the cave including candy wrappers, tissue paper and some sorts were somehow irresponsibly scattered around. The bats and guano were gone. Only few bats greeted us when we entered their haven. Names and other signs were written on the walls, some with charcoal. The water inside became dull when it used to be crystal clear. The most shocking sight was when a shop intended for business was built just opposite the steps going down the entrance. It offered washrooms and other basic needs after getting tired. My heart broke when I realized how greedy and opportunistic human beings become given a chance. The cave that Mother Nature gave to enjoy became a means of livelihood. I don't want though to entertain arguments that it's only the owner's way of having a livelihood! ---- My! I know the status of the name in town who owns the lot.
For six years past I had no chances to roam the stretch of the town whenever I went home for short visits, not until this recent one. I was stunned to see several souvenir shops mostly selling woven materials all over the town. I knew only of one weaving center in Sagada that monopolized the business for long, long years before I was born. I myself guarantee that their woven materials are of high quality prompting the owner to stick to a price that is not easily availed.
Today, several woven designs are all throughout the town. I bought one small item from one shop. It's cheaper than the usual price of the original weaving center. I can compare the difference. Next I bought another small woven item from the original weaving center. The material they are using now is not as durable as what they used years before.
To name some that I saw in these shops were: home made wine from: mulberry, mountain blue berry, bignay and rice wine; artificially made-antique old man's cane, arrow and shield ("kalasag") that our forefathers used during tribal wars; war axes; woven rattan tribal caps; postcards with several sceneries including postcards of pinetrees; T-shirts with imprinted SAGADA or any figure depicting the cultures of the townspeople.
Sagada is now busy stripping herself and busy selling all her limbs.
I know of one foreign tourist who got attracted to the town and opted to stay in the place for the rest of his life. He stripped the town of it's clothing and sold it in dollars abroad. How did he do it? He made video CD's by capturing all corners of the town that he found attractive; he was a painter, so he made several beautiful paintings; he was a potter, so he made several items made of Sagada clay --- all of these fetched him a good man's gain! I doubt if all the Sagadians know about this and if it's proper in their culture --- where is Shangrilaism?
Development and keeping abreast with the current trends in life is not bad. Certain aspects though need not to be sacrificed!
As we walked through the town, I was awed by the big and newly built western-styled houses and commercial buildings! Everytime I see new one, I asked myself if how and where did the owner acquire sums of money to build a mansion-like house. I know that to build a fully furnished big 3 to 4 storey commercial building would cost about a million or more of Philippine currency.
Since almost all the tourists who visit Sagada are foreigners, they always demand for internet cafes and it is so! All the inns and resthouses have internet connections. The resthouse where I checked in my friends had two units fully operating a 24 hour internet connection! Wow! Nothing is hidden now a days...!
I am also a romanticist as compared to a classicist. How I wished that the rice terraces and the once dense pine trees along the road to my home would stay as is. It's just a wish however because, mansion-type houses rapidly pop-up along the way in exchange of what I dreamed of to be. My companions always reiterated that people in my hometown are not classified as poor as what I had introduced to them. Well, I can't argue anymore because I myself cannot personally also assess how did these fine buildings were built in just a span of around 5 years.
I would just wish and keep on wishing TO REALITY that the sacredness of my dear Shangrila will remain even if life goes high tech as they say....!!!!!!
