BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya —The regional director of the Department of Education in Cagayan Valley recently challenged indigenous peoples in the province to put their cultural practices and customs to proper use to promote understanding, appreciation, respect, and peace among residents here.
“While we should teach various cultures as a way of life in schools, we challenge our teachers to become instruments to correct these customs, which are no longer appropriate, and put them in proper place,” said Dr. Estela Carinio, DepEd regional director for Cagayan Valley.
She said the authenticity of cultural and traditional practices should be guided by proper teaching in schools since not all cultural knowledge can be taught without the IPs performing their sacred rituals.
“This will require huge expenses of those who would want to actually practice their own customary traditions. These expenses should instead be used for other educational requirements of the children,” Carinio said.
Among the expensive cultural practices of the tribes are the “Ngilin” of the Ibalois and other tribes, which requires the butchering of pigs from courtship to marriage, including settlement of misunderstandings and personal grudges between and among the tribal folk.