text | Carla Ocampo
photography | Lester Valle
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(This is the ullalim, the story, behind the fatok etched today on my forearm, and Lester’s. I have tried my best to recall everything clearly by memory, as I had no chance to write things down during the blur that was: these were days we were working as audio-visual artisans under the direction of young filmmaker Lauren Sevilla Faustino, shooting a persona-driven documentary on the woman called Fang-od, the last of the Kalinga “mambabatok” elders.)
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From Quezon City, we got to Tabuk after about twelve hours, delayed by road repairs and engine failure.
Near the prominent Puraw nga Nuang (White Carabao) landmark at the city center, a pick-up truck was already waiting for us; courtesy of Ma’am Claribel Camarao, a Tabuk elder and teacher, whom Direk Lauren met during a project with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
It is Marco’s first time in Kalinga, and the ascent to Buscalan would be his first real trek up the Cordilleras. He began rolling his 60D as our truck cruised along the spanking new Canao Bridge in the outskirts of Barangay Bulanao. From there, he was to record several interesting snippets of our road trip to Tinglayan, as directed by Lauren, but more because he found everything so new. Read the rest of this entry »
Watchasay? :D