Bahay kubo (Tagalog)
Nipa hut (English)
Balay nga payag (Cebuano, Bisaya)
It is a house remarkable for its simplicity: one room resting on stilts and covered by a steep roof, a house of wood, bamboo and thatch.
However it looks, fragile or sturdy, proud or unassuming, the one-room steep-roofed house-on-stilts is a splendid shelter against the tropical sun and a hardy survivor of high winds, torrential rains and earthquakes. It works well on mountains as well as on sea and plain… and in most of the archipelago.
— “Folk Architecture” by Rodrigo D. Perez III
The “bahay kubo” is the original Filipino cottage.
The house on stilts, built with bamboo and nipa, is the chosen design of a shelter program for homeless families in Pilar town, Camotes Islands, one of 11 northern Cebu towns devastated by supertyphoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan).
The Balik Cebu Committee is launching tonight, in the annual welcome party for balikbayans at the Ayala Terraces, a campaign to channel donations toward raising hope and rebuilding lives of homeless typhoon survivors.
For P35,000 a donor can provide enough materials for a 15-meter “bahay kubo”.
Called BalikBalay, the program was inspired by the goodwill of balikbayans who sent initial cash donations to the Cebu City Tourism Commission to be used for typhoon relief. With this, relief goods were distributed in north Cebu, but volunteers wanted to do more.
“We decided to answer the call for aid for survivors and to help them rebuild their lives, but we wanted to give more than a wooden shack with a tin roof,” said Tetta Baad, tourism commissioner and chair of the Balik Cebu Committee.
Balik Cebu mounts the annual welcome party for balikbayan visitors during the Sinulog celebration. For the past 12 years, Cebu Holdings Inc. has sponsored the memorable dinner with native cuisine, a live band, Sinulog dancers and the special appearance of Miss Cebu pageant winners in their first official engagement.
Why a nipa hut?
It’s simple to build with materials that are eco-friendly, abundant and inexpensive. Residents can assemble it themselves or with the help of neighbors in the spirit of “bayanihan”.
The design has been around since pre-Spanish times. It’s well suited for the tropical heat and risk of flooding with the structure raised on stilts. It has survived earthquakes with its system of posts allowing it to sway with the ground tremors. If it collapses, it won’t be as life threatening as a solid wall of concrete falling. In a typhoon, even if the roof is blown away, it is easy to replace.
Properly built, it can last 12 to 15 years before it needs major repair, according to Cebuana architect and heritage champion Melva Java in the book Cebu, More than an Island published by the Ayala Foundation.
The “bahay kubo” can even be lifted and carried by neighbors to a safe place in the face of imminent danger and a call for evacuation.
The target is to raise funds for 100 houses in barangay Esperanza, Pilar town.
The town in Camotes islands, northeast Cebu, within sight of Ormoc city, Leyte, has received little attention from relief groups because of its remote location and lack of a regular ferry service. (A Navy boat brought one batch of relief goods from the provincial government.)
So far the Ayala group’s CHI president Francis Monera has pledged funding for 10 houses. The Department of Tourism Central Visayas and Miss Cebu Charities pledged one house each.
Balik Cebu members pledge one house.
BalikBalay provides the materials while the beneficiary provides sweat capital with labor to put up the “payag”. Donations will be turned over in clusters of 10 houses.
“We turned to our rich cultural traditions for answers and found the bahay kubo or in Visayan, balay nga payag,” said Baad
BalikBalay, in a sense, is a return to our cultural roots. It also connotes a return home for homeless survivors of the typhoon.— Donations shall be deposited in an exclusive bank account set up for this purpose by the Cebu City Tourism Foundation.
Drop cash contributions at BalikBalay donation box in Ayala Center
Period: January 2014 to January 2015.
Visit our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/BalikBalay or email CCTC Commissioner, Tetta Baad at tettabbaad@gmail.com and CCTC Executive Director Cinbeh Orellano at info@cebucitytourism.com.