SADANGA, Mt. Province – At sunrise on Jan. 10, Pablo Lagayan and his relatives trooped to a sugarcane plantation in the village of Betwagan in Sadanga, Mt. Province, to start the day with the blessings of the anito (spirits).

They sought the spirits’ guidance as the Sadanga tribe produced fvayash (sugarcane wine) the whole day.

Betwagan, one of the eight sugar-producing villages of Sadanga, was the last community to perform the traditional winemaking last season. The village, which also produces rice, is a landlocked area that could be reached by hiking at least one hour through rough terrain, a river and mountain slopes.

The tribe considers the fvayash special – not the typical wine processed on just any day of the year or a beverage sold commercially. To them, it represents their culture and tradition, a sacred drink that unites tribes in rituals, festivities and even in times of chaos and search for spiritual enlightenment.

“The fact that we harvest sugarcane and make it into wine for only a day in a year makes this traditional practice more valuable to us,” Lagayan, 32, a farmer, said.

Agricultural cycle

Winemaking is tied to the agricultural cycle of the village, said Joan Agrong, the municipal agriculturist. “Locals harvest sugarcane in December or January because it is the only spare time they have to focus on this activity after harvesting rice,” she said.

Ernesto Gayyaman, a village councilor, said the elders of the ator (council of elders) would decide on the particular date of the harvest and sugarcane winemaking.

The ator would also decide when to send the urchang (signal) and announce to the village the actual harvest. The farmers must take a day off from work in the rice fields so they could help gather sugarcane stalks and process wine.

A boy is tasked with sending the signal at night by going around the village and shouting the day of the harvest. In Betwagan, the announcement came on Dec. 22 last year.

According to Lagayan, the farmers prepared and stocked pine logs to be used for the afyuwan (firing) as early as October, when the cold season begins.

On the day of the harvest, members of the clan trooped to a plantation owned by relatives and joined the harvest in the spirit of the ob-obfu (community cooperation).

The sugarcane stalks were placed in the dapilan (sugarcane stalk crusher) to squeeze out the juice. A carabao was fetched from the farms to help turn the dapilan’s arm. Others used a kuliglig (tractor).

“Everyone is involved in the processing of wine. While adults help in the crushing and in preparing cooking materials, children chase the carabao so it would not stop from moving the lever,” Gayyaman, a farmer from Fokong village, said.

Instrument of peace

The fvayash is an important part of community activities. “We give it to our visitors as presents. We drink it during weddings, birthdays and other festivities. We offer it to the anito in the sabusab (ritual for rice planting) so they will protect us from pestilence. We offer it during thanksgiving, after a bountiful harvest,” Gayyaman said.

Community members also consider the fvayash an important instrument of peace, when representatives of warring tribes sit down to settle the conflict.