This month, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), through its Subcommission on Cultural Communities and Traditional Arts (SCCTA), celebrates the National Indigenous Peoples (IP) Month pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 1906 signed in 2009 wherein the constitution mandates the “recognition and protection of the rights of Indigenous Cultural Communities.
Serving as anchor to this month-long shindig is Dayaw, which according to its Deputy Festival Director Nestor Horfilla is “a celebration of the many victories of the cultural communities who have prevailed in the preservation and propagation of their respective cultural heritage, which includes chants, dances, songs, languages, food, and many stories, despite all the challenges and threats they face.”
“Dayaw is not just a reminder, or a reintroduction of everyone to the rich culture, beauty and bounty of IPs, it let us all see and realize the importance of understanding, preserving and continuing them because they are valuable to our soul as a nation. These IPs and all cultural communities are bearers of knowledge, traditions that must not be erased or forgotten. We are no longer celebrating Dayaw for awareness and appreciation, we are doing it because it is imperative that we not only safeguard, but value and cultivate what makes us uniquely Filipino,” adds Horfilla.
Dayaw’s theme this year is “Katutubong Filipino: Atin ang Tagumpay!” which highlights the ways in which Philippine Indigenous Peoples firmly manifest their optimistic views and practices or their strategies of prevailing in the midst of adversities.
The virtual celebration this year will be the coming together of more than a hundred representatives from various Indigenous groups which will be gathered at their communities.
What happens in these virtual gatherings are cultural performances, timely discourses notably on the shared cultural values embodied in their responses to the current crisis, which entails the widest dissemination of the Indigenous Peoples’ artistic and cultural ways of living, presenting, and celebrating their diverse cultural heritage, traditional art, and knowledge, and recognizes and appreciates their efforts to safeguard intangible cultural heritage.
Special events shall be pursued including the promotion of Anyo: Assistance for Filipino Artisans virtual exhibit and the Video Documentation on Intangible Cultural Heritage, the virtual launch of the Schools of Living Traditions E-learning Resources, and the virtual launch of the book El Folk-Lore Filipino and English Translations.
The event shall culminate with recorded performances of various art forms such as dancing, epic singing, or poetry writing. The launch of the book El Folk-Lore Filipino and English Translations will also be the NCCA’s contribution to the celebration of the YFPCA highlighting the voice long forgotten, both in our national and world history: that our ancestors had a significant contribution to the achievement of science and humanity.
This 2021 IP month celebration, in coordination with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), Year of the Filipino Pre-Colonial Ancestors (YFPCA) is also celebrated pursuant to Proclamation No. 1128, s. 2021 declaring 2021 as the YFPCA.
The SCCTA is led by Comm. Abubacar Datumanong, head of the Southern Cultural Communities, and Dr. Edwin Antonio and Mr. Pablito Gonzales, the committee heads of the Northern and Central Cultural Communities respectively with each committee consisting of 15 clusters of cultural communities.
Pagpapasinaya sa Tagumpay: The Dayaw Opening Ceremony on Oct. 9; Dayaw sa Sebangan: The Southern Cultural Communities on Oct. 17; Dayaw Sito Lubbon Na Unnot: The Northern Cultural Communities on Oct. 24; Dayaw sa Butnga: The Central Cultural Communities on Oct. 30; and Pinagtagumpayan: The Dayaw Closing Ceremony on Oct. 31, and will be aired over social media platforms and television.
For more details on this event, contact SCCTA through [email protected] or visit NCCA Facebook page. Log on to www.ncca.gov.ph
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