1ST
IP CULTURAL FESTIVAL
Notre Dame University, Cotabato City
29 October 2014
Background:
(Deliver in Filipino)
Fiyo Teresang!
(Greet VIPs: Atty Benny Bacani-IAG, Miriam Fischer-KAS,
Yvonne Brynner-GIZ, Datu Antonio Kinoc-MILF, Col Dickson Hermoso-6ID, Comm Froilyn
Mendoza-BTC, Titay Bleyen Santos Unsad-TJG, Atty Rasol Mitmug-DES-ARMM, Lt Col
Arthur Biyo-1MBde)
The idea of having an IP Cultural Festival came only in the last year
of IPDEV operations. Meaning, it was not
part of the original project design; but an offshoot of so many small
activities that highlighted the indigenous skills, systems and practices of the
IPs in Mainland ARMM.
It would be nice to talk of the Cultural Festival by talking first about
the IP Communications Group or IPComm for short. The IPComm is a small group of
representatives from the Teduray, Lambangian, Dulangan Manobo and Higaonon who serve
as messengers of crucial information to their respective communities.
The IPComm was a communication strategy that was built on the
constraints of conducting the conventional media campaigns using radio,
television, print and the internet which normally entails substantial
expense. This realization came when
IPDEV supported a Tribal Solidarity March to Mt Firis in October 2012, where
the first major Kanduli (Prayer
Ritual) was held on their Sacred Place after armed men who occupied it since
the year 2000 have already left.
Invitations were circulated through email, radio announcements and text
messages; knowing fully well that many of the 80-IPDEV covered barangays do not
have access to radio and cellular phones.
When at least seven hundred people – men, women, children, babies -- came to join the Kanduli in a place where most non-IPs find difficult to climb, this lighted a bulb in our minds that there must be an indigenous way of spreading messages across the ancestral domains.
The Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) had just been signed that
time and the translation that reached the IP communities was for them to vacate
their lands because non-IPs are reclaiming it for themselves; that IPs could no
longer raise pigs as it is not allowed under the Bangsamoro; that leaders down
to the barangay level should all be Bangsamoro, among other misleading messages
that clearly are not in the agreement.
What if tables were turned around?
If others are not listening to what the IPs are saying, then maybe can
the IPs can listen to what everybody else is saying and relay that to the
community?
Thus the IPComm Group was born. It did not have a proper name at first; but the objective was clear. There are important messages and information that the community needs to know as objectively and as timely as possible without being tied up to whether they have radio and cellphones or not.
IPComm members have had earlier para-legal training on the different
legal framework for Indigenous Peoples i.e. UNDRIP, IPRA, MMA 241, DILG MC on
IPMR, FPIC among others.
The unwritten rule was to share the message to one’s immediate circle
of influence: And this is no other than
the family – spouses, children, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties,
grandparents. Being so eloquent in sharing
information to PTAs, sanggunians, associations, organizations that one is affiliated with can only be
effective if members of the family also know what one is talking about,
especially if the issue at hand is self-determination and assertion. This is building on what the IP communities
already have: themselves.
Communicating the issues affecting the IPs cannot be solely the
burden of the few who are working on the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT). The rest have to continue rebuilding the
forests, reviving the soil, reclaiming the land and redeeming cultural pride.
The IPComm Group thought that showcasing this work can start small with
a cultural festival; one that they can call their own even without the presence
of IPDEV and other external movers.
After thorough examination, there was a realization that there hasn’t
been one like this in recent history, where indigenous knowledge, systems and
practices of four tribes are showcased in one occasion in Cotabato City or even Maguindanao.
So they tasked it upon themselves to organize, mobilize, and finally
have the very 1st-Ever IP Cultural Festival conducted. The four IP tribes Teduray, Lambangian,
Dulangan Manobo & Higaonon are represented in seven (7) clusters, bringing
with them treasures of their domains like houses, household and farm
implements, ways of preparing food, hunting, games, conflict settlements,
chanting, clothing, musical instruments, farm products, and more.
You will notice that the chairs [here in the gym] are arranged in a
circular manner. This is a glimpse of an
IP community, where people are gathered, but nobody is seated higher than the
rest. Life goes on altogether –
merrymaking, settling conflict, exchanging goods. On the sides are the elders, observing and
waiting to be consulted with their gifts of wisdom and providing guidance.
Whether the same content will be repeated in a year or two, only time
– which is a friend of Indigenous Wisdom – will tell.
We thank all the generous hearts and kindred spirits that made this
festival possible: to Fr Charlie Inzon OMI NDU President for providing such a
spacious venue; to Gov Hataman for the prizes for the Best Paratech and Best
Farm Lot awardees; to DSWD AsecO Rahima Alba and Datu Abdullah Sangki Mayor
Miriam Mangudadatu for more prizes; to Upi Mayor Ramon Piang for Rayray Band;
to South Upi Mayor Abdullah Campong and Wao Mayor Balicao for the dumptrucks.
Documenting this occasion in photos and
videos are dynamic Teduray young men Ricky Batitao and Frederic Lorenzo who
were trained by no less than iWatch Producer Fr Ponpon Vasquez OMI; and our
very own IPDEV in-house walking library of indigenous knowledge Thata Cornelio
Martin.
So while we are here, let’s have an eye for mystery for whatever unique
thing we see. Each tribe has his own
language, calling for example one household item entirely different names. Each house has its own design, using distinct
construction materials. Each tribe has
its own stories of suffering and joy, of lessons and dreams. Let us listen with our hearts.
May this 1st-Ever IP Cultural Festival be an enriching
experience to all of us.
Meuyag!
Aveen Acuña-Gulo
Project Manager, IPDEV
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