Lokal Lab’s founders Analyn Dulpina, Mark Pintucan, Iris Aroa, and Kara Rosas. Photographed by Camille Robiou du Pont for the July/August 2025 Issue of Vogue Philippines
In Siargao, grassroots NGO Lokal Lab draws inspiration from island cultures for development.
At the northern tip of Mindanao is a teardrop-shaped island called Siargao, where legendary waves are said to be found. It’s home to sweeping emerald mangroves, deep blue waters, and the famed Cloud 9 break, a surf spot that was special enough to propel this quiet surf city into the spotlight in the 1980s.
Today, the little island is also home to a small, but dedicated group of Siargao natives and transplants called Lokal Lab, who are exploring how their island can navigate the tides and swells of a rapidly growing tourism economy.
“The surf culture is what made me fall in love with Siargao,” says Kara Rosas, one of the co-founders of Lokal Lab. “When you get on the boat and go down to the surf break, [you] see everyone greeting you good morning… And it’s just you all being connected by the water.”
Like Kara, droves of tourists come to surf and see the stunning beach views, but stay even longer because of the welcoming atmosphere and the tight knit community it has built. Iris Aroa, another Lokal Lab co-founder who grew up in Surigao del Sur, once swore that she wouldn’t return to the province after studying in Manila. But after a visit to Siargao in 2016, she changed her mind and decided to permanently return here. “When I first visited the island, I really felt like I was going back home,” Iris says. She relocated to northern Siargao with Mark Pintucan, another co-founder, whose move to the island was also his version of a homecoming after studying architecture and design in Switzerland and travelling across Southeast Asia.
The steady flow of people coming in because of the island’s charm has boosted commerce on the island throughout the years. However, tourism has also put stress on the daily lives of the native island inhabitants.
“Not all livelihoods directly interact with the tourists, but we are all affected by it,” Iris explains. “[For example,] a nanay [mother] living in like a small town, her experience of tourism is a lot more different than the surfer’s experience of what tourism brings. A lot of the people in Siargao are in that other side, just [trying to] live their lives there.”
After seeing the conditions of rapidly growing tourist destinations like Bali and Boracay, they resolved to avoid the same fate for their beloved island. Before Lokal Lab, the pair established the Lokal Snackbar in Burgos in 2017 with the goal of creating a sustainable tourism business model, one that prioritized local sourcing, respected and promoted the local way of life, and remained affordable for the community.
This is how they met Analyn Dulpina, a Siargaonon who grew up in San Isidro, who provides a strong perspective in their team as a homegrown local. In 2015, Analyn was a self-taught farmer who formed Bayatakan Farm, the island’s first women’s association of farmers that aims to address barangay Matin-ao’s need for sustainable livelihoods and access to fresh produce.
On the island, most people know Lokal Lab for its farming initiatives, which is something that Analyn particularly takes pride in. “[At] the very beginning I was just a struggling farmer learning how to plant!” she says. But now, she beams at the thought that she has proven to so many that there is a bright future in farming.
“When you go to a foraging class with Ate Analyn, she’ll just put random leaves and things in your mouth and you’ll go “oh! This is interesting,’” Kara says. Analyn is well known for helping a lot of the farmers by sharing her knowledge of the island in terms of food and regenerative farming practices. She also provides farm consultations for future residents and businesses moving to the island so that they can develop their own kitchen gardens to support their own needs, instead of importing goods into the island.
And while Lokal Lab’s farming initiatives have been the forefront of their work as an NGO, they recognize the value of the voices of the Siargao natives, so they also help champion their culture in many ways.
During the early years of Lokal Lab’s founding, the organization operated informally, actively organizing community projects such as cultural events, workshops, and livelihood support for farmers and artisans. Between 2020 and 2021, they established PASALO, a youth-led journalism club to amplify the storytellers of the island. At Lokal Lab, weavers and the artisans also have a platform to showcase their craft and the work that it takes to create their pieces.
At the undercurrent of their team’s efforts is a version of sustainability that’s defined by the communities that they work with. “It’s not just about food security,” Kara says. “It takes a whole community to work together to get to the vision that we want.”
Tourism in Siargao has steadily picked up and does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon. With this, the Lokal Lab continues to experiment with their projects, to strike the balance where they can use the tourism momentum for good.
“We know also [that] when we talk to the local community, they really do see the value that tourism brings. So for us as an organization, how do we harness this force that’s always going to be there?” Iris says. “And how do we ensure that it doesn’t extract too much that nothing is left anymore for the future generations? People visit Siargao because it’s beautiful. But if you destroy what makes it beautiful, whether that be the nature or the culture, then there’s nothing really to visit at the end of it.”
By PATRICIA VILLORIA. Photographs by CAMILLE ROBIOU DU PONT. Producer: Bianca Zaragoza.
