Overseas Cordillerans traveled through Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, and Benguet from October 17 to 20, 2026, on a government-organized homecoming caravan that reconnected them with their heritage and spotlighted tourism as a livelihood for highland communities.
The Discover More to Love Homecoming Caravan, organized by the Department of Tourism, brought balikbayans, tourism stakeholders, and media partners across four provinces in four days, starting with a festival on Baguio's Session Road and ending at a flower farm in Atok. According to Rappler's report on the caravan, the journey gave returning Cordillerans a personal encounter with traditions they had only known from a distance.
A festival opening on Session Road
The trip opened on October 17 with the fifth Cordillera Festival of Festivals, where more than 500 performers from the region's six provinces and two cities filled Session Road with gongs, traditional clothing, and dance. The presentations ranged from the thanksgiving traditions of Apayao's Say-am and Benguet's Bindiyan to cultural numbers from Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Abra, Baguio, and Tabuk City.
The performances introduced visitors to the region's varied communities, but the following days took them beyond the staged shows and into the villages where those traditions still live.
Rice terraces and the young guides of Kiangan
On October 18, the caravan reached the Nagacadan Rice Terraces in Kiangan, Ifugao, one of the five terrace clusters inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras. The fields were in their post-harvest period, a quieter sight than the green expanses of travel advertisements, but community guides explained the agricultural cycle, irrigation systems, heirloom rice, and the labor the terraces demand.
Among the guides was Johntrey 'Dandan' Dinamling, a young resident who had paused his schooling to help his family farm and was trying his hand at tourism work. His story reflects the hard choices young people in farming communities face: the terraces need hands and traditional knowledge, while families still need income. Tourism offers one more source of earnings when visitors hire local guides, buy community products, and take time to learn from residents.
The group also saw traditional Ifugao houses, weaving, and local food, including binakle, a rice cake wrapped in banana leaves. At one traditional house, visitors and guides sang the Tuwali folk song 'Itetem ta humgopak,' which means 'Put the ladder down so I can enter.'
The families who keep Kalinga culture alive
From Ifugao the caravan moved to Tabuk City and then to Lubuagan, Kalinga, where participants watched artisans at Mabilong Weavers Village create traditional Kalinga textiles, patterns that carry cultural meaning in every thread.
At Awichon Cultural Village, established by the late National Living Treasure Alonzo Saclag and his wife Rebecca, the visitors saw traditional houses, beadmaking, and weaving. Saclag, recognized in 2000 for his contributions to Kalinga performing arts, spent his life promoting his people's culture, and his wife continues that work.
'Ginawa namin para makita ninyo (We did it for you to see),' Rebecca Saclag told the visitors, explaining that the family recreated traditional houses so younger generations could see architecture now rare as families build modern homes. She also showed wild fruit trees she planted during the COVID-19 pandemic, when vitamin C-rich fruits were hard to find.
Later that day the group reached Bontoc, Mountain Province, where the Bontoc Museum presented traditional houses, rice granaries, and the ato, historically a gathering place for elders and community affairs. By evening they arrived at Mount Data Hotel in Bauko.
'DOT, if your target was our hearts'
It was there that Izadee Nabunat, 27, representing a Philippine Cordillera organization based in Sydney, stood before fellow travelers and struggled for words.
'Being a Cordilleran who grew up overseas, there has always been curiosity within me in regards to our culture and history,' she said.
'DOT, if your target was our hearts, I can confirm you've captured ours completely,' she told the tourism officials.
She said the group felt at home in every city and barangay across the provinces, and she spoke of responsible tourism and of helping promote the Cordillera to overseas communities. When a guide asked participants to name their favorite moment of the journey, they could not answer. 'Simply there was no way to choose a single moment,' Nabunat said.
Atok's flower farm shows tourism's two faces
The final stop on October 20 was Northern Blossom Flower Farm in Atok, Benguet, a practical lesson in what growing visitor numbers mean for a community. Owner Mellany Ganayan said the farm once had about seven workers and now employs more than 30, with seasonal jobs for student guides. Atok had about 11 lodging establishments and homestays in 2023; the count is now around 47.
'We were known as a stopover before,' Ganayan said, recalling Atok's old role as a pass-through on the way to Bontoc or Sagada. 'But now we're not just a stopover. We are a destination.'
The growth has a cost. Warmer daytime temperatures and dry periods have raised irrigation needs, and tourists add to water consumption. Ganayan offered a plain calculation: if 1,000 visitors each used three liters per toilet flush, that is 3,000 liters; two flushes each would require 6,000. For a farm whose main business is still growing flowers, that is a lot of water. The farm is studying additional water tanks, water-saving toilets, and reusing wastewater for irrigation, and it closes on Sundays so workers and the community can attend church and rest.
The farm grows more than 30 flower varieties, including hydrangeas, carnations, snapdragons, and calla lilies, with the main blooming season running from December to June. The caravan arrived before the peak, and the next blooms were still weeks away.
What the homecoming means for the region
For the balikbayans, the journey ended with new memories and more questions about their heritage. For the communities, it showed both the promise and the burden of tourism: more jobs and homestays on one side, more pressure on water and everyday life on the other. Turning the enthusiasm of returning Cordillerans into lasting benefits will depend on how communities are supported as tourism grows.
FAQ
What was the Discover More to Love Homecoming Caravan?
It was a four-day Department of Tourism-organized journey from October 17 to 20, 2026, that brought overseas Cordillerans, tourism stakeholders, and media through Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, and Benguet.
Which Cordillera sites did the caravan visit?
The route included the fifth Cordillera Festival of Festivals in Baguio, the UNESCO-listed Nagacadan Rice Terraces in Kiangan, Mabilong Weavers Village and Awichon Cultural Village in Kalinga, the Bontoc Museum, Mount Data Hotel in Bauko, and Northern Blossom Flower Farm in Atok.
Who can visit Northern Blossom Flower Farm in Atok?
The farm is open to visitors, though it closes on Sundays. Its main blooming season generally runs from December to June, when its more than 30 flower varieties are at their peak.