BAGUIO CITY — As the Philippines faces new economic setbacks in 2026 driven by recent typhoons and global instability, the indigenous farmers of the Cordillera region are once again turning to ancestral traditions of mutual aid to support vulnerable communities across the country.

Known by various local terms such as binnadang, alluyon and innabuyog, the culture of community cooperation has seen highland farmers donate hundreds of metric tons of vegetables to areas struggling with food scarcity.

These efforts are being coordinated through a collaborative network involving the Department of Agriculture, local government units, the police and local cooperatives.

The practice of sending highland produce to the lowlands in times of distress has a long history in the region. Following the 1990 earthquake and the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, farmers from Benguet and Baguio City organized “Oplan Sayote,” transporting tons of cabbage, potatoes and chayote to evacuation centers in Central Luzon despite their own damaged infrastructure.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Cordillera farmers faced lockdowns and oversupply. Rather than letting perishable goods waste away, they donated unsold produce to local government units for distribution to locked-down villages in the National Capital Region.

The League of Associations at the La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Post frequently spearheads these modern donation drives. Even small-scale farmers, who often grapple with rising fuel costs and crop damage from frost, contribute portions of their harvests as a perceived moral obligation.