Meeting a ‘Magkakabud, a River Guide, and more On the Road
“One of the great things about travel is that you find out how many good, kind people there are,” Edith Wharton once wrote. The first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, for The Age of Innocence, Wharton’s words remain true today. Travel not only reveals kindness in strangers; it also uncovers the outstanding stories people carry, tales of struggle, of creativity, and of quiet contributions to their communities that deserve to be told.
Like many travelers, I began by focusing on the sights, the landmarks, the landscapes, the postcard views. But over time, as I met more people along the road, my attention shifted. I found myself drawn to the ordinary men and women whose lives, struggles, and small achievements revealed far more about a place’s Instagrammable spots ever could.
With that in mind, this new series will be devoted to the stories of people I meet along the road. Ordinary individuals whose lives offer fascinating insights. The aim is to share not only how people in far-away places survive, but also how, in always overlooked ways, they contribute to their communities and even preserve their heritage.
Bernardo: a Magkakabud in Camarines Norte
On a random stretch of beach in Paracale, Camarines Norte, we met Mang Bernardo, one of the town’s remaining Magkakabud, solo gold panners who practice a centuries-old form of small-scale sand mining. On a good day, he told us, he might collect a single gram of gold enough to sell for about a thousand pesos.
The method he uses, known as gold panning, dates back to ancient times. With little more than sluices (an apparatus where flowing water traps gold), and shallow pans, practitioners sift black sand for particles of gold no larger than a grain of dust. Spending most of his days on the shallow parts of the beach, mang Bernardo has grown accustomed to being told away. Some resort owners, he said, drive the few remaining magkakabud like him away. “We don’t even do this on their property,” he told us in Tagalog. “We do it on the beach, during low tide.”
To outsiders, his trade may appear extractive, even harmful to the shoreline. Yet Bernardo remains protective of his environment. Pointing to a stretch of sea, he spoke of fish and corals he hopes to rally his neighbors to protect. “That part over there,” he said, “should be declared a marine sanctuary.” He mines to survive, but he also watches over the waters that sustain him. “I inherited this job from my father, and he from his father,” he said.
Gloria: Keeping alive the legacy of Ilocos Norte’s empanada
In Batac, no visit feels complete without a stop at the row of empanada stalls lining the street in front of the church. Among them, the oldest still in operation is Glory’s Empanada, founded by Gloria Aduana Cocson, now 82, who began making empanadas at just 15 years old.
Over decades, Cocson refined her recipe until it became the town’s most popular offering, a benchmark of Ilocano street food. Her story, however, is not only about culinary craft. Left to raise seven children on her own, she relied on her empanada business to support her family, eventually transforming her small stall into a local institution. Today, “Lola Gloria,” as she is known, is recognized as one of Ilocos Norte’s most respected culinary figures.
Buenvenido: From dynamite fisherman to river guide in Capiz
In the wheels of the tourism industry, it is often the overlooked figures who keep moving the circular economy it produces. Among them is Buenvenido Dela Cruz Jr., a 71-year-old river guide in Roxas City, Capiz. For more than 17 years, Dela Cruz has been a Department of Tourism–accredited guide along the Cadimahan River, where visitors drift through mangrove-lined waters on lunch cruises.
His current life stands in complete contrast to his past. A fisherman since the age of 16, he once roamed as far as Palawan and Masbate, chasing bigger catches and, by his own admission, resorting at times to illegal methods such as dynamite fishing. “Fishing was all I ever knew,” he has said. But by his mid-50s, his body could no longer endure the punishing work. When the local government began developing Cadimahan River as an eco-tourism site in 2008, he grabbed the chance to begin a new chapter.
Maria Todi: cultural bearer in Lake Sebu
Maria “Oyog” Todi, a T’boli cultural ambassador and indigenous artist, founded the Lake Sebu School of Living Traditions in the 1990s with a singular purpose: to preserve her people’s heritage. “When our culture dies, our existence dies,” she has said.
Perched on a hill overlooking Lake Sebu, the school was built in the style of a traditional T’boli longhouse. Known locally as the SLT, it functions both as an informal cultural center and as a homestay. Visitors can stay overnight and learn directly from Todi about T’nalak weaving, T’boli music, and traditional dances.
Alfie: Embodying community-based tourism
On the still waters of the Sabang Mangrove Forest, guide Alfie Tejada greets visitors with easy confidence. Only in his 30s, he has spent 13 years leading tours through this 47-hectare preserve just beyond Palawan’s world-famous Underground River.
Tejada describes the role of mangroves in protecting coastlines and sustaining biodiversity. Palawan, he notes, accounts for nearly one-fifth of the country’s mangrove cover. He points out various flora and fauna as the boat glides along, from fruit-bearing mangroves to the kingfishers and herons overhead.
Jose: a dollmaker with a story in Roxas City
In Roxas City in Capiz, Jose Arcenas is rewriting tradition through his brand, Lamumu. The dolls, hand-crocheted by single mothers, students, and even inmates, are far from ordinary toys. Each one is mythology in miniature figures drawn from Hinilawod, the epic of the Panay-Bukidnon.
Jessie: from stroke survivor to skilled artisan
Along the abandoned rails of Lopez, Quezon, Mang Jessie Abatayo turns discarded coconut shells into intricate miniature designs. A stroke survivor for more than a decade, Abatayo began experimenting during the pandemic lockdowns.
In turning scraps into items of beauty, he has shown his neighbors that re-invention, like art, often takes root in the most ordinary materials.
