Terence's turn to do the daily choirs — squeezing saltwater out of burot (wild yam). The crop is one of the Tagbanwa's staple foods. They place the burot inside a sack and soak in the sea. Then, they squeeze all the saltwater out and sun dry the following day.
So he packed his bags, left his dog with a friend, and flew some 300 km to Palawan. He arrived on Coron Island on March 15, the same day Metro Manila’s lockdown started, for what was supposed to be a one month sojourn. But then the lockdown was extended. Twice. Now he has to stay there until the travel ban lifts on May 15, unless the quarantine is extended again.“When they announced the lockdown, I knew that Poblacion was not going to be the same. It's a community and all the shops will be closed, so that's when I decided, OK, I have to go somewhere.”
Locals use bamboo a lot, especially for building their houses and parts of their boats.
Kuya Robert is the main food provider in the family. He goes out to the sea every day after sunset to go spearfishing or collect sea cucumbers. He does not go home empty-handed.
A woman harvesting root crops.
Terence after catching some fish.
He checks in with his team back in Manila but if there’s nothing urgent, he usually just hangs out with the locals most of the day.“I don’t know if this lockdown is gonna be over but for sure, I will have really nice memories to go back to when I look at the photos and videos I took.”
One of Terence's work stations.
Young Tagbanwas love using their phones and goofing around.
View from the island.
Week-old piglets.
Lolo Undes loves to sing Tagbanwa songs.
Gilbert, the youngest member of the family, in his playground. He goes up the big rock and jumps to the sea.
Tatay Morilio, one of Terence's favourite drinking buddies.
