BENGUET’S capital town of La Trinidad paid tribute to the contribution of the indigenous peoples during a two-day celebration.
The celebration was recently institutionalized in an ordinance crafted by the municipal council which designated October as IP Month in a bid to preserve the culture and traditions of the indigenous peoples in the locality.
Benguet is home to the Ibaloy-Benguet ethnolinguistic group and part of the melting pot for several groups from the region.
On Saturday, Benguet Governor Crescencio Pacalso who served as the guest speaker said with the approval of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) pushed for the celebration of IP month and upholding IP rights.
“Since we claim that 90 percent are IPs in Benguet, we must all participate. Let us remind our young, children, that they are IPs,” Pacalso said.
Pacalso said since majority of the population of the province are IPs, the youth should be reminded of their culture and identity. He also mentioned the continuing presence of School of Living Traditions (SLT), a non-formal demonstration of cultural practices in Benguet with a cultural master teaching student the traditional art or craft.
With the theme “Convergence of IPs Empowerment towards comfortable life,” several cultural presentation, open forum and information education campaign were conducted on IPRA.
Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) Pendon Thompson said part of the celebration is retracing the history of the municipality through a storytelling session with the elders and leaders.
“We need to gain ideas on the history of La Trinidad. There are some lapses on the history of La Trinidad and if possible, we can have the facts to be documented,” Thompson added.