A NEW SELECTION OF IMAGES FROM MY ONGOING PROJECT ABOUT THE TAGBANUA TRIBE OF PALAWAN’S WEST COAST. 

“When we came to this place, we first learned the names of everything – the mountains, the trees, the natural medicines. All these came from our Babalyan […] each family needs a Babalyan.” BOLONDONG, 2007.

This is the story of one family through four generations.

It is part of my long-term project to visually record the culture of the Tagbanua tribe living on Palawan’s remote west coast.

Tagbanua people have a unique worldview based on intricate relationships with their ancestors and with spirits residing in nature. The Babalyan are their spirit mediums and natural healers who play a defining role in family life.

In 1900 Palawan was ninety percent forest; since then forest cover has been roughly halved. Commercial fishers exploit the sea leaving few spoils for locals using small paddleboats. In modern day Palawan the Tagbanua way of life, intricately connected to the forest and the sea, has been interrupted. Yet somehow – in this family at least – it still endures.

See the full image series. 

When my four-year-old daughter saw this photo she asked me, “Mum, what happened to all the trees?” What could I tell her? Travelling the length of northern Palawan yesterday, from San Fernando to Puerto Princesa City, we saw huge swathes of land where people were cutting and burning trees – the first step in the process for the annual planting of upland rice. It’s been illegal for years but most turn a blind eye as growing “kaingin” rice is a traditional practice that sustains many people throughout Palawan. The land is especially dry at the moment, we are feeling the effects of the strongest El Niño on record, and thousands of households are suffering from severe water shortage. The huge black scars left by these fires across Palawan’s hillsides, are now imprinted on my mind.

Tuna fishermen return home tired and disheartened after a whole week at sea. 

One of their wives told me, “[…] the water is too warm because of the El Niño, the currents are strong and the fish are staying down in the deeper, colder waters. They caught very little – enough to cover just half of what they spent on fuel, ice and food for the trip.” Although dispirited they were soon buoyed up by friends and family who celebrated their safe return. 

According the weather authorities, the El Niño is expected to gradually weaken during the coming months but at present it remains the strongest on record.