WATCHING the dances during the Indonesia Day 2026 celebration at SM City Davao Annex made me reflect on how political boundaries fade away when culture is placed at the fore.
The performers wore traditional attire that could pass for Yakan, Maguindanao, or Maranao, except for their more elaborate headdresses. But the similarities are there.
This brought back memories of our art immersion trip to Balut Island in the Municipality of Sarangani, Davao Occidental, and their “juntra” dance.
In our talks with the locals, they were proud to show off the juntra, which, to them, is distinctly their town, nowhere else.
No gathering is successful unless everyone performs the juntra, the mayor’s wife told us. Juntra, or Jontra, is a line dance that residents say was brought over from Indonesia. It is not a staged dance, but rather a participatory one.
The tradition is that a couple starts the merriment, then, one by one, other revelers join in, swaying and stomping to the music as the couple leads. It has become the residents’ expression of unity and celebration, with clear ties to the various cultures in that small group of islands near the Indonesian border, which helps explain why Indonesians are prevalent there.
This dance on the island and the performers on Indonesia Day bring us back to shared historical connections with the Sangihe and Talaud Islands of Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Sangir/Sangil people are recognized as an indigenous cultural community of the Philippines. It is one of the recognized tribes of Mindanao. But the Sangil emerge from a bicultural identity because of their historical ties with Sulawesi.
The Sangil have roots in what is now Indonesia, but the Sangil communities that settled in southeastern Mindanao have developed their own cultural identity within the Philippine setting.
Thus, a recent study distinguished between Sangir, referring to people maintaining a more transnational or bicultural connection, and Sangil, referring to the settled Philippine communities.
This makes Juntra even more interesting as it can be looked at as a cultural practice carried across the maritime boundary and subsequently made part of Sangil life in the Philippines, and a dance for unity and connection among the people of various cultural identities in the whole Sarangani Municipality, of which Balut Island is part.
Digging deeper into Juntra, you can see how culture blends seamlessly as people gather in unity. And here, we appreciate what Indonesia banners: Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity).
Having known this, the Indonesian Day celebration took on a deeper meaning and an invitation to look deeper into our shared roots, as we understand how culture blends and harmonizes people even as politics divides.
The celebration was led by Indonesian Consul General Agus Trenggono and was attended by local officials and the diplomatic corps in Davao. SAE