Benguet folk develop new art of marketing coffee

(This is a reprint)

By Maurice Malanes Northern Luzon Bureau

Posted date: July 08, 2007

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet--This province's Arabica trees are now heavy with green coffee beans. Growers say these beans will begin to turn red by September and ready to be harvested between October and February. These will later be marketed through a novel method, which has transformed Benguet Arabica trees into "live banks," if not a gold mine. During harvest, more than 200 Benguet coffee growers--all members of a new homegrown corporation--sort out coffee beans according to the age of the coffee trees. "This is because we market our Benguet coffee according to principles," says Rudy Guisdan, marketing officer of the Benguet Organic Coffee Arabica Enterprises Limited Inc. (Bocaeli). The corporation, formed in June 2005, is a cooperative of more than 200 backyard coffee growers who, with the help of local marketing experts, regularly meet to develop ways to market their products. "We have 'coffee of pride' (coffee beans from trees up to 49 years old), 'coffee of privilege' (beans from 50- to 75-year-old trees), and 'coffee of prestige' (75- to 99-year-old trees)," says Guisdan. "The most expensive is our 'coffee of honor,' which comes from 100-year-old or older trees," he adds. The prices vary according to age. A kilogram of ground coffee of pride sells at P300; coffee of privilege, P350; coffee of prestige, P400; and coffee of honor, P450. What's the philosophy or rationale behind the classification of Benguet Arabica coffee according to age? "It's definitely an honor to be sipping coffee from centennial coffee plants, which are the same organically grown plants that have been producing the beverage of our ancestors, and more and more clients are getting to appreciate this," says Guisdan. If coffee trees are 50 to 100 years old and even older but still bearing fruit, this means they have good genetic qualities. "They resist pests and the organic contents of the soil where they are planted have been maintained well," says Valentin Macanes, a Benguet State University (BSU) agroforestry professor helping coffee growers improve their production. Gerry Lab-oyan, president of the New Benguet Chamber of Commerce, a group that also helps promote local Arabica coffee, considers the century-old coffee trees of Benguet "prized heirlooms." These centennial plants, he says, can be the local folk's "live banks" because the plants, which belong to the Typica Arabica variety, are actually rare. Originally from Ethiopia, the Typica Arabica variety was brought to Benguet by Spanish colonizers who forced local folk to plant the coffee species along a trail. Typica Arabica was introduced in Sagada, Mt. Province by noted Cordillera photographer Eduardo Masferre, whose family in Spain maintained orchards. In the 1970s, the Bureau of Plant Industry and a private agricultural firm introduced to the Cordillera other Arabica varieties such as Bourbon Arabica, Moka and Granika, among others. There are 30 different Arabica species but Macanes says the most aromatic is the Typica Arabica, and it also has the lowest caffeine content. The advantage of Benguet and neighboring Mt. Province and Ifugao is their altitude considering that Arabica coffee thrives at 700 to 2,000 meters above sea level. To support Benguet coffee growers, Macanes, with the help of the BSU, has pledged to help establish a germplasm bank for Typica Arabica, especially from century-old mother plants, to ensure the continuous propagation and to help improve the production of this species. Maintaining and sustaining Benguet's decades-old and centennial coffee plants are the main reasons local growers are being encouraged to maintain the backyard coffee industry. A multinational food firm once attempted to contract local farmers for large-scale production. This did not work, however, because big-scale production required wide swaths of land for coffee plantation. "Although introduced, Arabica or what is now popularly called Benguet coffee has become part of local culture and has since been grown along with other backyard crops such as banana and other fruits. It is still best to maintain Benguet coffee this way," says Richard Abellon of the Office of Presidential Affairs in the Cordillera, which is helping local coffee growers in terms of research and promotion. "We do not encourage plantations because people have to deforest a mountain for these and mono-culture farming is not environmentally sound," he says. "We seek to help sustain the biodiversity and cultural integrity of Benguet and other coffee-producing towns in the Cordillera," he adds. Macanes says Costa Rica and Colombia, which are among the world's top coffee producers, rely on backyard producers. "Their only secret is that these small backyard producers are federated into cooperatives or local corporations," he says. To help improve the production of Arabica coffee in Benguet, Abellon's office is seeking to mobilize the expertise of the BSU and the Department of Agriculture to help coffee growers integrate appropriate technology with their "indigenous sociocultural practices" in producing Arabica. The market potential for coffee remains high, says Abellon, noting that coffee beans are still being imported because the country cannot meet local demand. "The production in Benguet and other Cordillera provinces is not even enough to meet the needs of Baguio City where coffee shops are multiplying," he says. The more than 200 members of Bocaeli produce a combined 10,000 kg of ready-to-roast coffee beans each year and their produce is always sold out, Guisdan says. Coffee growers who have maintained and preserved their decades and century-old trees are now appreciating what kind of gold mine they have, he says.

Warm bodies and cold nights in the Cordillera

(Note: I'm reprinting this because it chronicles long-time practices by which we in the boondocks cope with the freezing Siberian wind.)

Reprint

Warm bodies and cold nights in the Cordillera

Source: Inquirer Author: Maurice Malanes

Date: 2000-02-08

CORDILLERA'S nights are no longer as chilly as in the past weeks. But lowlanders are wondering how Igorot upland folk, particularly those at the peaks of Cordillera's mountain ranges, are keeping their bodies warm during the cold nights.

Eskimos can sleep the icy nights away by sleeping naked side by side with the rest of the family under a leather-with-fur blanket inside their igloo.

Igorot folk also share blankets during cold nights, a practice that Benguet's Kankanaey folk call bindayang.

Unlike the Eskimos, however, the Kankanaeys do not undress but would rather put on more clothes before lying under the blankets.

Under the bindayang, two family members of the same gender (brother-brother or sister-sister), would double up or combine their blankets and embrace each other, sharing body warmth as the chilly Siberian winds creep into their grass-thatched home.

This practice of sharing body warmth, called sak-kob, is usually done by children or unmarried siblings.

Of course, a man and his wife also practice sak-kob. They are joined in by the youngest un-weaned child. What a couple does beyond sak-kob is another story.

Kankanaey children also keep their bodies warm by wrapping themselves with jute or nylon sacks, aside from a blanket or two that they share through the bindayang. A sack can be big enough to accommodate two small children.

One-room affair

The typical Benguet Kankanaey home with grass roof and wood or reed walls is a one-room hut where family members dine, share stories and riddles, and sleep. The floor, which is either made of wood or reeds, is raised three to four feet above the ground.

At bedtime, the floor is swept of dirt and a big mat is spread. During cold nights, the mat is reinforced with old blankets or carton boxes. Up to this day, many upland folk are too poor to buy foams or mattresses.

Helping give heat to the homes of many Igorot folk is their kitchen stove called dapeng or dapengan, which is also set up inside the single-room house.

To build the foot-high dapeng, soil is placed in one corner of the house where three hard stones called dakilan are placed.

Each side of the rectangular or square dapeng is protected with thick lumber or round wood to keep the soil and ashes from spilling into the floor.

Like a double-burner gas range, two sets of dakilan can be put up to allow the family to build two fires and to accommodate two pots.

Today, some homes would rather have only two stones, on top of which two parallel iron or steel bars are placed. This new dakilan has space for three or four pots.

At early dawn, usually at the second crow of the rooster, the mother or father builds a fire from dry firewood and start cooking ange or pigs' food, which consists usually of sweet potato, yam, banana stalks and camote vines.

The fire helps heat the house when it gets chilly at dawn. Some children are up by then and gather around the fire to fix the firewood and keep their cold-numbed fingers and toes warm.

Kitchen fire

Keeping warm around the kitchen fire is called anido by Benguet Kankanaey folk.

Usually, an early morning guest during the cold season is invited for anido and for a cup of hot coffee or mountain tea.

To help heat the house the whole night, some families keep pieces of hard wood burning through a technique called lub-on.

A portion of the unburnt wood is buried in ashes to slow down the burning. For safety, the wood must be short enough not to exceed the dapeng's edge.

The dapeng stove has other uses. Three to four feet above it is a suspended shelf or rack made of reeds or bamboo called su-u-an, where rice and other grains are dried.

In fact, the whole ceiling of the house is a su-u-an, where unhusked rice and other grains are stored. Because of the smoke from the kitchen fire, the stored grains are free of beetles or bokbok.

The su-u-an just above the kitchen stove is used to heat palay (unhusked rice) or pagey, which must be immediately dried so that it can be pounded for the next meal.

The traditional Benguet and other Igorot houses may be small and simple, but they serve many purposes, such as for dining, cooking, sleeping and stocking food for the lean months.

But while it may be foggy and chilly outside, no baby would cry and die from the cold inside an Igorot village home.

Noong Simple Pa ang Buhay

(Note: I got this in the mail. I can relate with most of the experiences in the story. Maari kong dagdagan dahil lumaki ako sa rural setting kung saan mayaman din sa mga karanasan. Nguni't kailangan ko pang sulatin. Sana'y masulat ko na rin sa susunod. -Mau)


Original Message-----
From: Edna Pax <ednapax@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thu, 15 Nov 2007 9:45 pm
Subject: Simple ang Buhay NOON!

November 15, 2007 Dearest Margerry and Daniel, Good morning. Kindly print this email and give it to Lola Susie. She laughed very much when I read it on the phone. She asked for a copy. ******************************

******************** Si Nanay ay nasa bahay pag-uwi namin galing sa paaralan; Walang mga bakod at gate ang magkakapit-bahay, kung meron, gumamela lang; 10 sentimos o diyes lang ang baon: singko sa umaga, singko sa hapon; Merong free ang mga patpat ng ice drop: buko man o munggo. Mataas ang paggalang sa mga guro at ang tawag sa kanila ay Maestro/a: Di binibili ang tubig, pwedeng maki-inom sa di mo kakilala.

Malaking bagay na ang pumunta sa ilog para mag-picnic, o kaya sa tumana; Grabe na ang kaso pag napatawag ka sa principal's office o kaya malaking kahihiyan kapag bagsak ka sa exams; Simple lang ang pangarap: makatapos, makapag-asawa, mapagtapos ang mga anak... Pwedeng iwan ang sasakyan at ibilin sa hindi mo kakilala; wala namang lock ang mga jeep na Willy's noon. Mayroon kaming mga laruan na gawa namin at hindi binili: trak-trakan (gawa sa rosebowl ang katawan at darigold na maliit ang mga gulong, "sketeng" (scooter) na bearing na maingay ang mga gulong at de-sinkong pako para sa preno; patining na pinitpit na tansan lang na may 2 butas sa gitna para suotan ng sinulid (pwede pang makipag-lagutan) ; sumpak, pilatok, boca-boca, borador, atbp. Di nakikialam ang mga matanda sa mga laro ng mga bata: kasi laro nga iyon.

Maraming usong laro at maraming kasali: laste, gagamba, turumpo, tatsing ng lata, pera namin ay kaha ng Philip Morris, Malboro, Champion (kahon-kahon yon!) May dagta ang dulo ng tinting na hawak mo para makahuli tutubi, nandadakma ka ng palakang tetot, pero ingat ka sa palakang saging dahil sa kulugo; Butas na ang sakong ng Spartan mong tsinelas - suot mo pa rin; Namumugalgal ang pundiya ng kansolsilyo mo kasi nakasalampak ka sa lupa. Sa modernong buhay at sa lahat ng kasaganaan sa high technology.. . di ba minsan nangarap ka na rin... mas masaya noong araw! Sana pwedeng maibalik... Takot tayo ngayon sa buhay. Kasi maraming napapatay, nakikidnap, maraming addict at masasamang loob... Noon takot lang tayo sa ating mga magulang at mga lolo at lola. Pero ngayon, alam na natin na mahal pala nila tayo kayat ayaw tayong mapahamak o mapariwara.. . Na una silang nasasaktan pag pinapalo nila tayo...

Balik tayo sa nakaraan kahit saglit... Bago magkaroon ng internet, computer, at cellphone. Noong wala pang mga drugs at malls. Bago pa nauso ang counter strike at mga game boys. Tayo noon... Doon ... Tinutukoy ko ang harang taga o tumbang preso kapag maliwanag ang buwan; Ang pagtatakip mo ng mata pero nakasilip sa pagitan ng mga daliri pag nanonood ka ng nakakatakot sa "Mga Aninong Gumagalaw" Unahan tayong sumagot sa Multiplication Table na kabisado natin, kasi wala namang calculator. Pag-akyat natin sa mga puno; pagkakabit ng kulambo, lundagan sa kama ; Pagtikwas o pagtitimba sa poso; pingga ang pang-igib ng lalake at may dikin naman ang ulo ng babae; Inaasbaran ng mga suberbiyo; Nginig na tayo pag lumabas na ang yantok-mindoro o buntot-page. Nai-sako ka rin ba? O kaya naglagay ka ba ng karton sa pwet para hindi masakit ang tsinelas o sinturon?

Pamimili ng bato sa bigas; tinda-tindahan na puro dahon naman; bahay-bahayan na puro kahon; naglako ka ba ng ice-candy o pandesal noong araw? Karera sa takbuhan hanggang maubos ang hininga; pagtawa hanggang sumakit ang tiyan; Meron pa bang himbabao, kulitis at pongapong? O kaya ang lukaok, susuwi at espada? Susmaryosep ang nadidinig mo pag nagpapaligo ng bata... Estigo santo kapag nagmamano. Mapagod sa kakalaro, minsan mapalo; matakot sa "berdugo" at sa "kapre"; Tuwang-tuwa kami pag tinalo ang tinale ni itay kasi may tinola! Yung crush mo? Pag recess: mamimili ka sa garapon ng tinapay -alembong, taeng-kabayo o biscocho? Pwede ring ang sukli ay kending Vicks (meron pang libreng singsing) o kaya nougat o karamel; Kung gusto mo naman - pakumbo o kaya kariba, mas masaya kung inuyat; Puriko ang mantika, at mauling na ang mukha at ubos na ang hininga mo sa ihip kasi mahirap magpa-rikit ng apoy. Madami pa...

Masarap ang kamatis na piniga sa kamay at lumabas sa pagitan ng daliri para sa sawsawan; ang palutong pag isawsaw sa sukang may siling labuyo; ang duhat kapag inalog sa asin; ang isa-sang isubo ang daliri kasi puno na ng kanin... Halo-halo: yelo, asukal at gatas lang ang sahog; Sakang ang lakad mo at naka-saya ka kasi bagong tuli ka; o naghahanap ka ng chalk kasi tinagusan ang palda mo sa eskwelahan. Lipstick mo ay papel de hapon; Labaha ang gamit para sa white-side-wall na gupit; Naglululon ka ng banig pagkagising; matigas na amirol ang mga punda at kumot; madumi ang manggas ng damit mo kasi doon ka nagpapahid ng sipon, di ba? Pwede rin sa laylayan... May mga program kapag Lunes sa paaralan; May pakiling kang dala kung Biyernes kasi magi-isis ka ng desk. Di ba masaya? Naalala mo pa ba? Wala nang sasaya at gaganda pa sa panahon na yon... Masaya noon at masaya pa rin tayo ngayon habang ina-alaala iyon...

Di ba noon...Ang mga desisyon ay ginagawa sa awit na "sino ba sa dalawang ito? Ito ba o ito?" Pag ayaw ang resulta di ulitin: "sino ba sa dalawang ito? Ito ba o ito?"... Awit muna: Penpen de Serapen, de kutsilyo, de almasen. How how the carabao batuten... Presidente ng klase ay ang pinakamagaling, hindi ang pinaka-mayaman; Masaya na tayo basta sama-sama kahit hati-hati sa kokonti; Nauubos ang oras natin sa pagku-kwentuhan, may oras tayo sa isat-isa; Naaasar ka kapag marami kang sunog sa sungka; kapag buro ka sa pitik-bulag o matagal ka ng taya sa holen. Yung matatandang kapatid ang pinaka-ayaw natin pero sila ang tinatawag natin pag napapa-trouble tayo.

Di natutulog si Inay, nagbabantay pag may trangkaso tayo; meron tayong skyflakes at Royal sa tabi at pahihigupin ng mainit na Royco. Kung naaalaala mo ito... nabuhay ka na sa KAPAYAPAAN! Pustahan tayo nakangiti ka pa rin! Kung naka-relate ka sa lahat ng nabanggit sa itaas, ibig sabihin lang niyan ay.......... ... MATANDA ka na! he he he... pero kung hindi ka maka-relate, padala mo na lang sa akala mo ay kapanahunan nya ito para maalala din niya at mangiti rin siya.