Sustaining Indigenous Knowledge and Traditions: A Qualitative study on the Pangasi Wine Crafting of the Subanen Community in Zamboanga Sibugay, Philippines

This study aimed to explore the pangasi wine making of the Subanen community of Malagandis, Titay, Zamboanga Sibugay in order to sustain and preserve indigenous educational knowledge and tradition. Utilizing a semi-ethnographic approach, it used in-depth-interview, FGD, documentations, and participant observations involving eleven Subanen people as participants. Data were recorded, analyzed and interpreted using descriptive-narrative method.Findings revealed that the cultural history of pangasi emerged from the pre-modern and pre-colonial times, a tradition handed over by their ancestors. During occasions, they offer wine to their visitors by fermenting rice using local ingredients such as upland rice that they produced from their farm. When upland rice was scarce, they experimented alternative ingredients such as cassava resulting to their two current variations of pangasi wine; rice-based and cassava-based. The ingredients in making pangasi wine includes rice, cassava tubers, rice hulls, and tapay. The making procedure follows from cooking the ingredients towards mixing with essential elements that starts the fermentation process.Within 15 days of fermentation, no wine was extracted from both substrates. After 45 days, the cassava exhibited wine while the riced-based has none. After two months, cassava -based increased pH and alcohol content while the rice-based already produced but with a lower Ph and alcohol content.The rice-based wine produced a slightly sweet, mildly spicy, and slightly bitter taste indicating low alcohol while the cassava-based showed a sour taste with higher alcohol content. As to color, the rice-based showed a dark topaz hue while the cassava-based displayed a lighter orange shade.