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Saturday, January 29, 2005
Calinog group gets government support in preserving culture
THE National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) which works directly both in mainstreaming Filipino ethnic groups while enhancing the salient features of their culture believes that indigenous peoples (IPs) should be given all the opportunity to develop and preserve their own way of life.
NCIP Regional Director Alfonso Catolin said the recent visit of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the communities of the IPs in Barangays Garangan, Masaroy and Agcalaga (GMA) in Calinog, Iloilo showed the government's full recognition of the rights of the IPs to preserve their culture anchored on their own geographical and social environment.
The Philippine Information Agency reported that Arroyo distributed the Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles (CADT) to the IP communities of the Bukidnons, giving them the distinction of being the first to receive such in Panay area.
Catolin said that President Arroyo's act was in appreciation of the IPs role in development. More than that, he added, is the fact that by giving them the titles, they are also being given a greater challenge to develop their culture, forming a deeper bonding with the environment that nurtures them.
He said the Panay Bukidnon Indigenous communities, which were the recipients of the CADT, have fully participated in the process of delineation of their ancestral domains, which began in June 2004 after their application.
GMA-Calinog is the community of origin of Federico Caballero, who was one of the three recipients of the 2001 Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan Award (Gamaba), and his brother, Romulo Caballero, recipient of the 2004 Search for Outstanding Indigenous Leaders (Soil) Award for Culture.
The Caballero brothers are the only known living persons who are able to recite from memory the just recently discovered original, unabridged version of the Hinilawod epic in Ligbok, an archaic form of Kinaray-a, the true indigenous dialect of Panay Bukidnons which when reduced into writing, turned out to consist of a marvelously astounding twelve-encyclopedic volumes.
Catolin explained that the Ilonggos or any group in the country should not judge or label the Bukidnons as "awkward, uneducated or uncivilized" as "Bukidnon" is a matter of geographical location, not necessarily a characteristic that describes a people, because there are actually many "Bukidnons" now who are in the mainstream of the modern society.
The National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the UPV Balay Turun-an or School for the Living Tradition in Barangay Garangan have been networking together to make the IP communities become part of the Filipino society, highlighting what is true and beautiful in their culture.
(January 29, 2005 issue)
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