Rough Groove

PCIJ’s iReport Double Issue

Hot in the heels of Enterprise Magazine, PCIJ’s (Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism) latest issue on Sagada carried on of my photos that was uploaded in my flickr and photoblog Binary Silver. This is the facade of an Episcopalian church in Fedilisan, mute witness to its American colonial past.
The story, The Lost Boys of Sagada is interesting. Its not your usual Sagada travel story of beautiful mist covered mountains or caves or waterfalls but the other face of the famous backpacker’s and tourists’ haven. Despite its veneer of calm and as the seat of Episcopalian influence, it has its darker side, the lost boys or guides who despite their promising future are trapped in the spiral of drugs, sex and hopelessness primarily brought by the influx of tourism in the mountain enclave.

This is a must read.

The cover of the latest PCIJ iReport, left. The Sagada story is part of the Unusual Journeys series of articles on alternative travel stories.

The Sagada article. My photo is the one at the right.