Sagada’s sacred space under siege
An important communal space in Sagada, Mountain Province, that has existed for generations is currently being built over, attracting the alarmed attention of heritage advocates who are calling for an immediate stop to the project.
Dap-ay Bilig in Barangay Demang has witnessed countless communal rituals, celebrations, and other important social activities in Sagada, only to be desecrated by the construction of a province-initiated multipurpose hall.
A dap-ay, also called ato, is a ceremonial circular space of the Northern Kankanaey and Bontoc ethnolinguistic groups of the Cordilleras. It is ringed by seats made from stone slabs and has a fire pit at the center.
It is where religious, social, and even political activities are held, including the thanksgiving ritual, begnas.
A dap-ay is one of the tangible links to the Austronesian roots of the Cordillerans and most Filipinos, as similar structures are also found in neighboring Taiwan.
Manja Bayang, resident and advocate for the preservation and safeguarding of Sagada’s culture, said the Dap-ay Bilig is described as the center of all dap-ays in town as it is the foremost dap-ay in Sagada.
Bayang, who grew up beside the Dap-ay Bilig, said that it is “more than a structure, it breathes the soul of our people, it carries the echoes of our lineage.”
Cultural erasure
She said that building over it “is not a mere construction but an act of cultural erasure, an attempt to sever the roots that bind us to our past.
“It is a desecration of our ili, our community, and a violation of the sacred bond with our ancestors,” she said. “We cannot allow our heritage to be buried, our traditions to be silenced.”
Despite tall rocks having been removed from the dap-ay and gatherings diminishing, Bayang said that the structure is their link to their past, their heritage.
“It is here, in this sacred circle, that our people learned the profound values of inayan—respect for all things—and ob-obbo—the spirit of weaving our lives together, of sharing one breath, one purpose,” she said.
“Our elders, their wisdom resonating from these very stones, instilled in us the importance of ili, our community, and the sacred connection to our ancestors, and to our environment,” she added.
According to Bayang, the vertical rocks represent the victorious warriors of the community.
She calls on those involved in the project to stop it and instead rebuild together as one community guided by the values of their ancestors. Restoring the dap-ay is tantamount to restoring the dignity of its sacredness, she said.
“Let Dap-ay Bilig live, not as a relic of the past, but as a vibrant center of wisdom, culture, and unity,” she said. “Let us be the generation that breathes new life into the Dap-ay, ensuring that our children and grandchildren inherit not just the stones, but the enduring spirit of our people, the values of inayan and ob-obbo that define us,” she added.
Protected
A source told Lifestyle that some other dap-ays in town are being encroached upon by houses or inns.
The town’s sacred tree called patpatayan also has no buffer zone, making possible encroachments a risk.
All of Sagada’s dap-ays are actually protected by the local government through Municipal Resolution No. 03-2020 as these sites are important in the “history, life, works, and culture of the community.”
In the said resolution, all heritage sites and structures in town, including the dap-ays, are to be protected from defacement, vandalization, damage, or destruction.
If a site is damaged, the resolution notes that the offender may be required by the local government to restore it at his own expense.
Apart from the dap-ays, included in the 2020 resolution are the structures inside the Mission Compound, all cogon houses called inatep, all 50-year-old agamang or rice granaries, all of Sagada’s rice terraces, and all other structures which are historically and culturally significant.
Lifestyle reached out to the municipal government for comment on the dap-ay issue but it has yet to respond or release a statement on the matter.
