Tuesday, May 06, 2008 Editorial: Celebrating recognition
ON MAY 7-9, this week, Matigsalog residents of Barangay Marilog will be holding a festivity of sorts as they celebrate their recognition as lumads of Davao City.
The Matigsalogs, literally meaning people of the river, say they have been residing in the forests of Marilog along the tributaries and riverbanks of what is now the Davao River since time immemorial, but their existence has not been officially recognized here, the leaders said.
Their gauge for lack of recognition was the fact that while the City Government has appointed deputy mayors for all Moro tribes and other indigenous tribes like the Manobo and the Atas, there was no Matigsalog deputy mayor, until last year that is. Thus, they were not even given the chance to show up in their costumes during the Kadayawan Festival, an opportunity given to most other tribes, including the migrant Moro tribes.
Now, they have marked May 9 as a holiday as that was the day last year when City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte flew in to induct their new deputy mayor Carlito Guinto, and officers of the Davao Matigsalogs.
Sun.Star has been visiting their datus and their areas the past weeks in a bid to help them get a handle of the longed-for recognition as original people of Davao City. In those visits bared the simple dream of the lumads, that would have been theirs for the taking had not poverty, the limited resources of government, and the greed of the more wealthy to prey on clueless people with limited education. Their dream: to be recognized as a distinct tribe.
Their unwritten past, the lack of public knowledge about their culture and norms, despite of being original residents of Davao River have deprived them of a sense of pride for their culture.
For some, it could sound petty. But for people long left in the fringes of our consciousness, for the same people who have in the past been duped of the land their forefathers have left them and left with so little land, so little education, and no recognition, there is not much pride that can be salvaged from there. And from loss of pride can come loss of another culture and sets of traditions as the younger generation will dispel their being part of an unrecognized people and be ashamed of their people's old ways.
How easy it is to lose precious traditions, cultures, and norms and yet we see the causes for such still prevailing in our society. Much like the Matigsalogs of Davao, had they not finally found a voice to tell us that they are here, and have been here way before any one of us has been. How many more cultures are we shedding along the way? We hope we can still account for all, and preserve and nurture them so that our city can take pride in being the home of people with distinct cultures all living in harmony with everybody.
