Add source Login
‘People of the Rock’ in peril! Climate-driven rains devastate Tao’t Bato tribe in Palawan

‘People of the Rock’ in peril! Climate-driven rains devastate Tao’t Bato tribe in Palawan

"The Tao't Bato tribe of Palawan, known as the ‘People of the Rock,’ is facing a worsening food crisis as unseasonal and intense rainfall destroys crops and strips the forests of wild fruits that sustain their diet. Aerial footage from the Singnapan Valley in Mt Mantalingajan shows the vast green of the forest on a drizzling morning. Inside the caves where the tribe traditionally takes shelter during the wet season, families wait for the rain to ease. Others are seen fishing along rivers and hunting birds and bats to fill their daily meals. “We can’t do kaingin (swidden farming) when it’s raining because we can’t burn the woods,” explained Munia Ato, a Tao't Bato local. “If there’s good weather, we can do kaingin, and our cassava root crops would be bigger. But now we can’t, and our root crop production is small, and no rice harvest.” The Tao’t Bato, a subgroup of the larger Pala'wan people, have long adapted to the seasonal rhythms of the valley. In the dry months, they plant cassava and sweet potatoes in swidden farms, storing what they can for the long rainy season, when they retreat into caves that have sheltered their ancestors for generations. But the current rains have been relentless, disrupting this cycle. “Our lives now are very difficult because there are no harvests from fruit trees, not even a single durian,” said Tumihay Diklay, another community member. “We can’t create fire for our kaingin because wood is always wet, our rice and vegetable crops are submerged in water, and they won’t grow [...] We have almost nothing to eat.” Beyond the crops, the heavy downpours have also devastated the forests that provide supplementary food. Durian, a staple fruit and a source of income, has been wiped out this season, leaving the forest floor barren. The crisis underscores the vulnerability of indigenous communities in the Philippines to the mounting effects of climate change. While government support programmes exist, from seed distribution to financial relief, logistical and geographical barriers mean the Tao’t Bato often remain excluded. The tribe is facing mounting pressures from deforestation and land rights disputes. The practice of kaingin has been criticised as a driver of forest loss. For the Tao’t Bato, however, the immediate threat is survival. Their traditional knowledge of farming and forest management, systems that sustained them for centuries, is being tested by a changing climate that is harder to predict, and harder still to endure."