PH
The hagabi is a massive wooden bench associated with the highest level of traditional social status among the Tuwali Ifugao. It is carved from a single tree trunk and historically required considerable resources to produce and transport.
The process of cutting the tree, shaping the log, bringing it to the owner's house, blessing it, and finishing it was accompanied by social and religious rites.
Sponsoring a hagabi was therefore not simply a furniture-making project—it demonstrated wealth, prestige, and standing within the community.
The ritual was traditionally restricted to people who had reached a particularly high social position. The bench itself became a visible symbol of that status.
© NCCA — TALAPAMANA