By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 12:34:00 07/31/2010 Filed Under: business, Lifestyle & Leisure, indigenous people, Consumer Issues, Beverages “BLENDING indigenous coffee with passion for service.” That’s what the AdvoCafé signage so unabashedly says. As in, who says coffee and advocacy can’t mix? Peasants and princes, intellectuals and poseurs, artists and con artists, peaceniks and anarchists, techies and technocrats, sinners and saints, the bourgeois and the great unwashed – they have coffee stories and a need to have a caffeine fix in varying degrees to make ..read more

What comes out of T’boli women’s slumber is an intricately weaved T’nalak cloth stirred by dreams. Dream weavers were women who enjoyed an elevated status as traditional T’nalak cloth weavers with skills passed from one generation to another. Boi Jenita Eko, a cultural worker and the founder of Lake Sebu Indigenous Women Weavers Association, Inc. (LASIWWAI), is from a family of well-known weavers and an advocate of many things: women, the environment, and Indigenous Peoples’ culture and heritage. True to the community’s given importance to dreams, Jenita’s grandfather Datu “Ma Amfan” or Batol ..read more

The Filipino kitchen is never without two things: vinegar, an integral part of Philippine cuisine both as dipping sauce and means of preservation; and coconut, a versatile drupe whose fronds, meat, and juice forms the foundation of our dishes. The Mandaya-Dibabawon tribe of Buclad Tribal Council from Asuncion, Davao del Norte marries two Philippine traditions to come up with Sukang Bagani,an organic, fermented coconut vinegar that reaches the internationally accepted standard of vinegar acidity of 4.5 ph. Sukang Bagani is representative of the Mandaya’s rich culture of courage, bravery, and ..read more

Local flavors are now easily accessible through the creativity and hardwork of the Mangyan tribes of Mindoro. The golden liquid of calamansi concentrate mixed into water will create a refreshing, sweet and acidic beverage. The saccharine and sour flavor of the guava can simply be spread on warm bread. The warmth and spice of ginger can be instantly made into a potent and healing drink. Complex flavors can now be seen in the pantries and table of an everyday Filipino family. Yet, it was not a straightforward journey from the tribal farmlands to the cosmopolitan homes. Finding a sustainable sou ..read more

Sunset and sunrise, cocktails, and parties come to mind when one thinks of Boracay Island. It is the place to see and be seen. The stars and elites line up its white beach, particularly in the summer season. Yet, it is not all glitz and glamour in the supposed island paradise. The Ati Tribe of Boracay has been cast in the shadow too long, often ignored as the beat of the party music grew louder. Now is the time for their voice to resonate over the noise. The Atis were the earliest inhabitants of the Boracay Island, yet they were only granted a very small portion of their ancestral domain in Ja ..read more

The picturesque image of a Filipino breakfast is the smell of sautéed garlic followed by the sound of ulam (or the viand) being seared, a waft of fresh pan de sal from the nearby bakery, and the warmth of fresh coffee at hand. For Datu Jimmy M. Taupan, the treasurer of the enterprise and farmer,coffee serves as a comfort for a day of harvest. Coffee being the primary harvest has driven his community to concentrate on coffee bean production. Datu Jimmy is part of the organization KIDAREPAI or Kitubod Datu Sapalao Reservation Program for Arumanen Incorporated, a people’s organization registered ..read more

For Ludivina Adimat, pushing for a Cacao Processing enterprise was a natural move from her responsibilities at home. Ludivina’s typical day meant waking up to cook breakfast, accomplishing daily chores at home, tending to their garden, and going to the farm as needed. After farming, just as day break approaches, she goes home to cook dinner for her family. Wednesdays and Fridays are reserved for washing clothes and tending to their garden at home; other days are meant for fulfilling her duty as a Barangay Health Worker (BHW) and her obligations as a Processor and Treasurer in the Cacao Enterpr ..read more

It is wonderful to wake up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the morning. Its warm, rich taste will prepare anyone for a full day ahead. Coffee is now inculcated in culture, from a stimulating drink during power meetings or a relaxing refreshment on slow afternoons at the café. Drinking coffee is now a part of everyday life, but, do you ever wonder where that delightful cup comes from? Your coffee drink may come from the harvest of Ricardo, a Mangyan coffee grower at Paitan, Naujan, Oriental Mindoro. Ricardo Guarde Lintawagin is one of the second batch of coffee growers trained under t ..read more

While ”coffeeshop culture” has already pervaded the Philippine metropolitan society, no thanks to foreign coffee shop franchises, a more relevant and meaningful type of ”culture” is being promoted by this local café. In this café, every cup of coffee, every slice of cake that the customer buys benefits the schooling of underprivileged children from several Indigenous Peoples (IP) communities. Called Advocafé, this unique coffee shop doesn’t just offer ordinary products but promotes the organic products of different IP groups in the Philippines, such as coffee that the Igorots grow in the Cord ..read more

MANILA, Philippines – All food establishments follow a certain recipe. In the case of the Advocafe Coffee Shop it is mostly water, coffee, tea and 100 percent love for the indigenous peoples (IP) in the Philippines. Six stores down from the corner of Quintos and Mabini streets in Manila is the 56-square meter coffee and pastry shop called Advocafe. Even from the outside, passersby and customers can already get an idea about the shop with a sign that says: “We serve for a cause. Your patronage of Advocafe will provide for education for indigenous children and youth!” 2004 Ramon Magsaysay Award ..read more