If people needed an excuse on their leave form for last Friday, Aug. 22, 2025 – rather than admit they just wanted a five-day weekend – they could claim they were out celebrating the Unesco World Folklore Day.”
The annual event, first observed on Aug. 22, 2018, aims to celebrate the world’s intangible cultural heritage by putting the spotlight on the rich traditions of oral storytelling, music, dance, crafts and rituals that underline diverse cultural identities across the globe.
The claim would be highly unlikely though, because the day came and went for Cebu City with only the slight whimper of a two-day cultural dance workshop that closed on Aug. 20 and portrait sketching session at the Cebu City Museum. These are, at best, token events to celebrate Cebu City’s Arts Month.
The lack of City-sponsored events can track back to Mayor Nestor Archival and his failure to reconstitute the City Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission (Chac) on time. The commission is mandated to spearhead cultural and historical events and is on top of initiatives and activities that celebrate and promote the diversity and richness of Cebuano arts and culture.
To be fair, the mayor signed the memo that appointed people to the commission last Aug. 12. The Public Information Office announced it last Aug. 19. To date, however, the commission – now headed by Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña and co-chaired by the mayor’s niece, neophyte City Councilor Nyza Archival – has not yet convened. The other members include the vice mayor’s wife, former city councilor Margot Osmeña, and former Cebu Provincial Tourism Officer Joselito “Boboi” Costas, among others.
Last year, the celebration included musicales and plays featuring local artists and crew, school-based art events and roundtable discussions on Cebuano arts and culture, art fairs and cosplay events that shine the line on Cebu City’s local creative community, a tribute to local fashion designers and the recognition of five individuals – Celso Pepito, Dulce, Pilar Pilapil, Philip Rodriguez and Orlando Magno – as mga Sugbuanong Bahandi.
And the year before that, the City Government, thru Chac, held ballet presentations, theater productions, an on-site painting competition on Cebuano heritage, a logo-making contest, a Visayan pop music competition, a cosplay event that organizers dubbed “coskultura,” a 24-hour Bisaya film shoot and film showing tilt and the installation of Resil Mojares, Nicolas Pacaña, Jose “Kimsoy” Yap, Romulo Galicano, Fr. Rody Villanueva and Kenneth Cobonpue as Sugbuanong Bahandi.
The more cynical among us will question what the big deal is, or why not being able to hold a celebration this year would warrant comment. It is a big deal.
Celebrating our heritage and culture as Dakbayanong Sugbuanon anchors our sense of belonging. When we honor our traditions, highlight the tangible and intangible markers of our heritage and culture and recognize our folk arts, we reaffirm all that which has shaped our communities.
Our grandparents’ songs, dances and oral histories carry values and life lessons that risk fading away. When we honor our artists, both contemporary and folk, we remind each generation where we come from and encourage the young to continue the expression of our collective identity.
By spotlighting these practices in schools, community venues, and public exhibitions, we ensure that our young people inherit a living heritage – not just artifacts in a textbook. We ensure that social cohesion is nurtured and inter-generational barriers break down.
Celebrating Cebuano heritage is not a luxury — it’s a necessity. It empowers us to chart a future rooted in our values, creativity, and resilience. When we honor our past, we invest in a richer, more unified tomorrow.
The only consolation is that while City Hall was silent on the subject this month, the private sector and our community of artist were not.
The Tubo Cebu Arts Fair held a three-day Arts Sale at Ayala Center, an exhibit of selected works by Martino Abellana, renowned as the dean of Cebuano painters, back-to-back art exhibits featuring Pierre Famador and Darby Alcoseba, a film festival showing Binisya films and, from the 26th until month’s end, a guitar ensemble and more exhibits in different venues.
As an aside, the ordinance declaring August as the month to celebrate Cebu City’s arts, culture and history was written by Atty. Raymond Garcia during his term as vice mayor and Chac chairman, approved by the City Council and signed into law on Aug. 3, 2023, by then mayor Mike Rama.