SENATOR Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change and Committee on Cultural Communities, will be the guest of honor during the 49th Ifugao Foundation Day in the provincial capital Lagawe on June 18. 

Legarda’s committee will also hold a hearing in Lagawe to tackle issues involving nature and culture in the Cordillera. 

The senator has reiterated her call to protect the Ifugao Rice Terraces which faces deterioration because of unregulated urban development.

The terraces became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995 by the UNESCO. In 2001 UNESCO placed it on its list of endangered sites, but has since removed it following improvements in conservation.

Legarda said urban sprawl is threatening the world-renowned terraces once again. Multi-story structures and shanties made of cement walls and tin roofs are replacing traditional Ifugao houses, eroding the cultural and aesthetic value of the villages.

Among the events lined up for the weeklong festival are a cultural song and dance contest, ethnic sports and skills competition, an agro industrial tourism fair, a cultural parade and float contest, street dancing, and the search for Bugan ya Wigan di Gotad.(Maria Elena Catajan)