Adventures of Isabel

Breakdancers, rocking it for the camera on Dipolog beach.
I’m leaving again for the mountains early tomorrow morning. This time, I’ll be well and truly off the grid — 12 km hike in, no cellphone signal — so I’ll be out of touch for at least the next 2 days.
Geeky digression: the only Tagalog [...]

*[Slightly under-edited sneak preview of a much larger project]*
Barangay Miatan is located deep in the hills outside of Katipunan, Zamboanga del Norte. The entrance to the barangay can be reached only by foot or the most rugged of motor vehicles, a long trip along jaw-rattling dirt and gravel roads lined with paddies where farmers [...]

Barangay Miatan, Katipunan Municipality, Zamboanga del Norte.
(The picture I wish I had was me, wading through waist-deep water, holding my camera bag above my head. But, for obvious reasons, no such picture exists. I am playing with my lens cap in this one, though)
UPDATE: ha! how’s this for a diptych:
(14 years ago, Yellowstone [...]

I’m back in the city again (Dipolog) after visiting communities up in the mountains. I’m a bit worn out, especially after the trip down.I tagged along with people from 2 local NGOs working on implementing livelihood programs as part of the GRP-RPMM peace process. On the way back, we caught a ride down [...]

This is a quick-and-dirty little slideshow of Lorena Navarro, at Bankerohan Market in Davao City. She used to grow corn, but the price of fertilizer got too high, and her earnings were to low, so like many farmers, she had to leave the provinces and come to the city to look for work.
“It’s become [...]

– I wrote this on the 2nd, but couldn’t post until now –
A round-up of news from today’s local papers, just to give some context on what this place is like:

Rice prices up 10 pesos per kilo in the last week, hitting record highs of 50 pesos in some municipalities. Panic ensuing.
Writ of habeus [...]

Mountain Province, Luzon, Summer 2006
I finally have a confirmed ticket to and from the Philippines this summer. Philippine Airlines certainly made me sweat a bit (I didn’t know until this morning whether I had to be ready to leave on Sunday) but in the end, I got exactly the itinerary I wanted — [...]

While public attention is focused on peace negotiations between the Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Communist Party of the Philippines, a third, much quieter peace process has been underway in Mindanao. Since 2003, the Revolutionary Worker’s Party of Mindanao (Rebolusyonaryang Partido ng Manggagawa ng Mindanao - RPM-M) has [...]

Back in Manila. Exhuasted. But happy to be back.
Samal Island, near Davao City, Mindanao

The pictures below are from the 7th anniversary celebration of Davao food not bombs
Mindanaoan Dance Fire Dancer Art session for street kids