Drought ravages famed Philippine rice terraces

A state of calamity was this week declared for the Banaue area that is home to many of the ancient stone-walled paddies and one of the Southeast Asian nation's most popular tourist destinations, the officials said.

“The tourists still come here, but all they see are parched fields and forest fires and leave disappointed,” Abriol Chuliba, chief aide to the Banaue mayor, told AFP in a telephone interview.

The rice terraces, a United Nations World Heritage site and known locally as the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” were built between 2,000 and 6,000 years ago using huge rocks for each step and a complex trickle-down irrigation system.

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