THE PHILIPPINES, FEBRUARY 8, 2012: The Ifugao Rice Terraces is one of the Philippines’ most popular landmarks, built largely by hand, with minimal equipment, by the Ifugao ancestors. Through the years, it has gained fame across the globe and declared as a National Cultural Treasure.
However, tourism and modernization and natural calamities has caused damages to this heritage and wonder, prompting several groups and organizations to come to arms and rehabilitate the of the cultural site.
Among those that acknowledged this need of restoring the Ifugao Rice Terraces to its previous grandeur is imaging and photography giant Canon, who tapped volunteer employees and photographers to travel to the site itself and kick-start the campaign.
“This is done in the spirit of bachang, the Ifugao culture of communal unity to achieve a purpose,” said advertising photographer John Chua, who is also a Canon brand ambassador. “Such a unique site deserves to be preserved for the enjoyment of future generations.”
“In line with our campaign ImageNation, we saw it as an opportunity to contribute in strengthening a community that is struggling to keep its culture and history intact,” added Canon vice president Bong Serevo. Through these efforts of raising awareness and coming to action, Serevo said that they “enjoin more Filipinos to appreciate what our beautiful country has to offer.”
The Canon volunteers also held sessions of Canon PhotoSkwela* last February 4 and 5 at the Immaculate Conception School. The workshops are aimed toward giving the locals the chance to learn photography and videography skills, which can help not only in preserving the wonder of the man-made rice terraces but also to provide an alternate source of income. Ifugaos have been traditionally farmers, but agriculture has suffered blows as the younger generation continues to exchange it for other lines of work.
Canon brand ambassadors John Chua, Jay Jallorina, Edwin Martinez, Ernie Sarmiento, Albert Garcia, and Per-Andre Hoffmann, and professors from the Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation George Cabig, Juan Rodriguez and Team OSS managing partner Jiggie Alejandrino conducted the two-day series of workshops.
Photo source: Wikipedia
