Greetings from Bantayan island, Visayan Sea, Philippines!
DEARESTS : May spirits of wind & water, high & deep, hold us in tender shiftings like the tides.
This 💌 newsletter contains links to our islayoga video, tindahan (webstore) of shell jewelry & sticker zines, embodied meditation videos & updates on local heritage & environmental movements…
I feel so blessed to return *home* on the island where ancestors planted roots. I arrived here on the Aquarius New Moon 2/2/2022 & now updating this month’s whirlwind for the Pisces New Moon 3/2/2022. Floating in the dance of migrant diaspora return 🌀
One of the biggest heart bloomings of this lunar cycle is learning to freedive with Island Divers Bantayan, which offers FREE freediving for Bantayanon locals every Saturday. Freediving is going at depths below 5m+ without the use of oxygen tanks, using an equalizing technique which is locally termed ‘pasiyok.’ Read about reclaiming my family’s freediving heritage on Roots En Route blog.
Announcing the launch our first Islayoga video!
Islayoga links together one's breath, body, mind & spirit to the elements of earth, ocean, sun, sky & cosmos beyond. This 45-minute Islayoga class focuses on our Roots, grounding through our feet for the start of Pisces season. The video will be up for free for 2 weeks & then available for subscribers. Go check it out on YouTube!
Shell Jewelry now up on our TINDAHAN (webstore)
So excited to finally share these one-of-a-kind earrings! Handmade & sourced from harvested shells found in the low-tide shorelines of Bantayan island, Visayan Sea, Philippines, the hook is hyperallergenic, made of 14k gold & tied tightly with fishing net using traditional fisherfolk methods. Proceeds of purchase go back to the shell handcrafter's family & support ongoing environmental arts projects on the island. Shipping everywhere on Turtle Island (United States & Canada). Limited supply!
Print PDF Zine + Stickers of Bantayan’s sea life
Sea life on the island is not only an abundant source of food for locals, but also a treasure of cultural relationships & ecological knowledge. TAGA DAGAT (from the sea) is a printable sticker & booklet PDF that shows the diverse, unique sea life of Bantayan island. Illustrated by Charvin Orbeta & written by April Villacampa, proceeds from this purchase go back to the local artists & cultural workers.
Check out & shop the TINDAHAN (webstore) to help us support the thriving creative & living ecologies of Bantayan island <3
PADULONG (on the way), movement meditation video
In the past month, we updated our website’s movement meditation video offerings. Excited to share that the full 12-minute video of PADULONG (on the way) will be part of ECO/SYSTEMs exhibition at Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia (March 5-July 31). Go check it out if you’re in town!
Amidst all of these activities, in the past 2 weeks, several developments have been happening on the island…
Hundreds of years ago, the Spanish built a coral limestone fort (‘Kota’) on the shorelines of Santa Fe, Bantayan island. The name ‘Bantayan’ is derived from the word ‘bantay’ (to watch over) and means ‘watchtower,’ precisely because of it strategic location in the middle of the Visayan Sea to watch for intruders.
This weekend marked the first official clean-up of the Santa Fe Kota, spearheaded by Kota Beach Resort, in collaboration with property owners Church of Santa Fe, in order to make it a publicly accessible landmark. What an honor to have been present on this day reclaiming our Bantayanon island heritage!
Current influences by outside politicians & business developers threaten to put this architectural wonder at risk of erasure. It is a wakeup call that we must protect our natural and cultural heritage NOW before it is too late. Be on the ‘lookout’ for upcoming movements to preserve this heritage site.
Bantayan Wilderness Forum to Rewrite House Bill 4951
Alongside this development, there is a movement of environmentalists organizing to rewrite House Bill 4951.
In 2019, the Philippines House of Representatives approved House Bill 4951, removing Bantayan Island in Cebu from the Wilderness Protected Zone category. The current draft of House Bill 4951, which is still in pause, proposes to reduce Bantayan’s wilderness area down to LESS THAN 5% from the previously protected zone.
We still have time to rewrite the House Bill. We need more local community to be involved in learning about the proposed Management Plan, assessing its potential impact on our communities & ecologies, to support a new draft. Please sign our petition, as we gather more local support.
Arrivals, returns, cycles, circles, movements… what a full lunar turn of events!
Just as I arrive, so too do I begin to detether. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be beginning my travels throughout the Visayan Islands, for the next new moon lunar cycle, returning to Bantayan in April. I’m still trying to find the best way to share my travel adventures, embodied meditations & ecological wonderings, as I aim a better praxis of digital relations beyond social media channels. Stay tuned to a Patreon in the heartworks…
Wishing for everyone’s continued attunement to the spirits of wind, water, rock & sun as the planet & its forces of power continue to overwrite histories of displacement… may we ground in all driftings with feet planted in the dance of our roots.
<3