Sagada Turns Greener as Residents Go Back to Farming

Mountain Province’s Sagada became even greener after a number of residents decided to go back into farming.

For Sagada, the pandemic was a blessing in disguise. The tourism industry never fully recovered from the outbreak and thousands of tourists have avoided the place for years now. Sagada’s farmlands are now once again irrigated with thousands of water buffalo, goats and chicken. Rice terraces have also been rehabilitated which resulted in an increase in the grain yield. With a greener Sagada these farmers and their families can look forward to a more prosperous future.

“They returned to farming, growing rice and vegetables because the income from tourism activities was lost when the nationwide lockdown was enforced,” Sagada Mayor Felicito Dula said in Ilocano dialect in a phone interview on Friday.

With the need to put food on their table, the residents went back to the basics, gathered all their unused pots and planters, readied idle yards, and started planting again.

“There was no money but there was food to eat and the people survived,” he said.

And without the usual packs of tourists, Dula said Sagada went back to becoming a quiet and clean town. Undisturbed for over two years, the white crystals of the Balangagan Cave turned whiter. “We can see more bats in the caves and the garbage problem of Sagada became well-managed,” he said.

Nowadays, the Sagada people’s primary source of income is tourism, with more than 90 percent of the businesses directly or indirectly under the tourism industry.

Locals either become tour guides or get employed in hotels, inns, homestays, restaurants, and souvenir shops. Others have turned to coffee growing and roasting.

Better services

Now that the town has reopened to tourists and relaxed its travel restrictions, the mayor said visitors can expect improved facilities and services made possible with the help of the Department of Tourism and the local government.

“We will see better services adopting the standards of the industry which the tourists will surely notice when they come back,” Dula said.

Tourists can also look forward to the usual activities in town come October.

“We have the Octoberfest to start with and others that will run until the Etag festival in February,” the mayor said.

Source: https://bit.ly/3dst42L