The pictures of the rice terraces today has changed just like the new Igorot generation because of technology.

The rice terraces are considered wealth to the Igorots. Though these pieces of land are only narrow strips that look just like the steps on a staircase; these terraces cannot be bargained for. TheIgorots value these rice terraces too much. It is not the measurement of the land that they treasure too much but the emotional values that go with the rice terraces. It was sweat and blood that their forefathers had invested before the rice terraces were carved in those mountains.

To the igorots, the rice terraces have become an indispensable part of their life. These rice terraces have stood up harsh times and remained one of the most important legacies that the Igorot ancestors had handed down to the new generation , yet the new generation has forgotten the importance that these rice terraces had provided for the Igorots. In their quest for an easier and more convenient way of life, the modern Igorot is not anymore interested to toil the land in order to earn a living. According to a young Igorot generation, the young people are looking forward not for a hard way of life just like the stereotype Igorot but they are embracing the modern world where life is more comfortable and fun.

The modern generations of Igorots are now far different from what the igorots used to be. As the technology advanced so did the life of the Igorots that has changed tremendously to a modern lifestyle. The Igorots have now diversified in the different parts of the world and many of them are working executive jobs. Due to their high regard and love for education, the lifestyle of the new generation of Igorots has drastically shifted from the primitive lifestyle to the modern lifestyle. Although Igorots are often misinterpreted, misjudged and discriminated, the fact remains that most of the Igorots are educated and in fact several of them are highly educated. It is not a wonder then if you see Igorots working as executives in beautifully decorated and air-conditioned offices all over the world. The wrong notion of people that Igorots walk barefoot and wear no clothes is history itself.

In recent years, the rice terraces built in the mountain provinces in the Philippines has greatly decreased due to the Igorots’ drastic change of lifestyle. The new generations do not anymore work in the fields and farms. Most of them are in school taking up degrees of all types. The farm works are left for the older people to take care of while the young men and women are in the cities studying and working.

It is sad but time has changed and very few of the young generations want to toil the soil. What is worse, the rice terraces that used to be the igorots priorities are now forgotten. Perhaps because the rice terraces are not anymore yielding and they have turned them instead to vegetable gardens. As the lifestyle is changing, the Igorots are becoming modernized and the rice terraces are not anymore their way of life.

The only consolation is that the rice terraces; no matter what happens and no matter where the Igorots go in this part of the world; these treasures will stay carved on the mountains for the next generations to inherit. Although building the rice terraces is becoming just a history to the new generations, this legacy is something that cannot be forgotten. There will come a time when the young people will see the importance of these rice terraces and perhaps they will build themselves a modern type of rice terraces.