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The Living Traditions of Kalinga: DOT Pushes for Culture, Heritage Preservation

Highlighting the Department of Tourism’s push to promote merging tourist destinations, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco expressed the agency’s full support for the growth of tourism in Kalinga, citing its strong potential to create jobs and livelihood opportunities for local communities.

The statement was made during the tourism chief’s attendance at the 31st Bodong Festival, part of the province’s founding anniversary celebration.

In her keynote address, Secretary Frasco emphasized the importance of “guided growth,” ensuring that tourism development benefits communities while protecting their culture and environment.

Accessibility must improve. Skills must be further strengthened, and infrastructure must support, not overwhelm, our communities. This is why the Department of Tourism fully supports our national government programs to provide connectivity and accessibility to Kalinga Province as well as to improve connectivity to heritage villages and natural sites, and strengthen the capacities of tourism workers through the Filipino Brand of Service Excellence,” she said.

As of January 31, 2026, the DOT trained 741 tourism workers under the FBSE and 212 for Tourism Industry Skills Program (TISP), which covers programs on the Tourist-Oriented Police for Community Order and Protection (TOPCOP), Community Tour Guiding, Tourism Awareness, and Capacity-Building Seminars.

The DOT has also been supporting the Slow Food Pasil, one of the municipalities of Kalinga. With its participation in the slow food events in Turin, Italy, and in Bacolod City, Negros Oriental, Michelin-starred chef Chele Gonzalez is now sourcing heirloom rice from Pasil for its rice menu. The town of Pasil is also a recipient of DOT’s Best Tourism Village award.

At present, the Province of Kalinga is reachable via long-distance bus rides from Manila. In terms of air connectivity, visitors may take the Manila-Tuguegarao via Cagayan or Manila-Cauayan via Isabela air route, and a few hours of land travel to the province.

To improve tourist convenience, the local chief executives have, in fact, requested the DOT to establish Tourist Rest Areas in the towns of Balbalan, Rizal, Tinglayan, and the capital, Tabuk City.

To note, Tabuk City has also clinched the prestigious Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Clean Tourist City Award twice in a row under the ASEAN Tourism Standards Awards.

The tourism chief then emphasized that the DOT is committed to tourism that protects heritage, strengthens communities, and delivers real economic impact to its people.

The DOT Secretary herself witnessed how the people of Kalinga preserve their culture through the Bodong Festival where she was the guest of honor. The subtribes of the province across municipalities gather for cultural performances to showcase their traditions such as “Salip” or matrimonial rites, and “Gabbok” or first-born dedication ceremony depicting ancestral songs, dances, and rituals rooted in the province’s enduring cultural heritage.

During the Grand Cultural Finale, she joined the local officials to a unity dance which is a powerful tribute to Kalinga’s identity, resilience, and visitation for the future.

Protecting heritage while enjoying tourism

According to Kalinga Governor James Edduba, their communities understand that culture is an important part of their identity. “Our traditions must not diminish. Instead, they must evolve with dignity, be preserved with pride, and be passed on with a purpose to the next generation. Progress should never mean forgetting who we are. True development happens when growth is uncovered in identity,” he said.

The message of the Secretary was also echoed by Rep. Caroline Agyao of the Lone District of Kalinga, where she emphasized during the opening ceremony that tourism must be done right: “Secretary, your presence here today is a recognition that Kalinga has something the world is searching for authenticity. In an era of mass tourism and homogenized experiences, travelers no longer want just a beach and a buffet. They want a story. They want a soul. They want to stand on the rice terraces cared for by ancestors, hear the echo of the chant of our elders, and meet the woman whose plant has kept an art alive for decades, siya po si Apo Whang Od. We have all of this, but we also have a responsibility. We have to tell our story on our own terms.” She added, “Tourism, if done carelessly, can become a predator dressed as a gift. It can reduce our sacred rituals to scheduled performances. It can turn our elders into photographs.

Based on statistics, domestic tourism is a key driver of tourism for Kalinga Province. In 2025, the DOT-Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) recorded 331,447 same-day visitors in the province, of which 329,856 were local tourists.

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