In the quaint village of Bacsil-South in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, tourists can get first-hand experience in the extracting and processing of sugarcane juice, as well as enjoy its finished products in a new community-based tourism initiative.

The City Government of Laoag, through its tourism office, is pushing for the promotion of the panagdapil.

Panagdapil is the manual process of extracting juice from sugarcanes, using a traditional wooden or stone machine called the dadapilan, which is composed of two cylindrical parts used to press the sugarcane stalks until the juice is extracted.

The dadapilan machine is hooked on a carabao which pulls it clockwise, while sugarcane stalks are being inserted in the presser.

The extracted sugarcane juice is then collected in a pot at the bottom of the dadapilan machine.

Once extracted, the juice can be enjoyed as a refreshing drink by diluting it with water, calamansi, or lemon.

The juice can also be reduced into a thick and sweet syrup called “inkalti” which can be used as a dip for kakanin or sticky rice treats, boiled bananas and sweet potatoes.

Moreover, the juice can be turned into a variety of products like vinegar and basi, an alcoholic drink, molasses, sugar, and other snacks.

This is the first-hand experience the Laoag City Tourism office wishes to provide to locals and tourists when they visit Brgy. Bacsil-South. 

In Barangay Bacsil-South, there are about 15 farmers still manually extracting and processing their sugarcane crops through the dadapilan and about 40 families are locally-producing products made from sugarcane, especially vinegar and basi.

According to city tourism officer Angel Lao, they are spearheading the development and promotion of sugarcane products as community-based tourism goods of Laoag City.

Currently, the city government is promoting local vinegar, basi, and molasses as products from Bacsil-South in a wider market at the city’s tourism center and public markets for consumption.

“As of now, we still don’t have a fixed rate on the tour but the previous groups paid about P200 each. This includes the experience and the food that they will consume on the panagdapil experience,” Lao said.

Interested visitors can schedule a tour for the Panagdapil experience through the City Tourism Office. (JCR/MJTAB/EJFG, PIA Ilocos Norte)