Preserving our cultural heritage

In a recent meeting of the National Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), one topic that dominated the discussion was the seeming apathy and lack of concern of the government and the public in general about the deteriorating state of the various places around the country showcasing how the Filipinos live at a given time, their customs, arts and conveniences. Those present lamented the absence of a comprehensive program in preserving or restoring those places rich in historical and cultural value handed on to us by our ancestors like the Banawe Rice Terraces, the cobbled streets and Spanish houses in Vigan and Intramuros, baroque Churches, the Cagsawa ruins in Bicol and various other socially inherited artifacts. These cultural sites seem to be bearing the brunt of the onslaughts of modernization such that sooner than later they will be buried into oblivion, forgotten because they are no longer visible and eventually even unheard of.

Equally becoming irrelevant to the present generation are the other important repositories of our culture, our folk songs and folk dances. These artifacts of our behavior in the past would have given us a clear and distinct portrait of the true Filipino. The haunting strains of the kundiman used to float on the air waves of our radio stations until pop music took over. There was a hotel which featured kundiman festival, but that had also become passe’.

Folk dance, which could be the finest form and most popular way of depicting our culture, is also slowly going down the road to extinction. One of the prime supporters of our folk dances is Far Eastern University. In 1957, FEU organized a folk dance group which was invited to perform in the Brussels world fair. The group produced a repertoire of folk dances and some songs depicting the customs and practices of the inhabitants from the Ilocos, Ifugao,Tagalog, Bicol, Visayas and Muslim regions. They aptly dubbed the show as "Portrait of the Filipino". While the Brussels trip fizzled out, the group was invited to perform in "Theatre des Nations" in Paris, France in 1959.They set the distinction of being one of Philippine dance groups to perform in Europe and the first to win in two international competitions – the Caceres and the Balearic folk dance competitions – held in Spain.

That ushered in a wave of interest in our folk dances with several other groups being organized performing here and abroad and attaining awards of distinction. The world discovered and took notice of the Philippines once again. FEU gamely tried to sustain that interest by maintaining the dance group with Mrs. Josefina Sampedro-Sison, who happens to be my wife, as the dance directress (Now you know why I am writing this piece). The group once again performed at the "Expo ’70" in Osaka, Japan. After that, somewhere along the way, the interest in our folk dances waned, typical of the Filipino ningas cogon mentality. The alumni of the group however took this waning interest as a challenge. They wanted to preserve and restore not only the interest in, but also the originality of Filipino folk dances as a legacy to future generations. In 1992, the FEU Alumni Dance Group was organized, with Jess Soriano, now a highly successful entertaiment impressario, as President. In 1995, the alumni group, composed of other successful talent promoters, had its first presentation entitled Balik Indak ’95 atbp.

Today, November 22, 2002, at 6 p.m. at the FEU Auditorium in Manila, the Alumni group will once more attempt to revive that interest in our folk dances in a "Night of Dance" upon invitation of FEU Chair of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Lourdes R. Montinola. This is part of the 75th Anniversary Celebration of the University. Among those who are going to perform is who else but my wife Josie, a grandmother of ten hyper active boys, offsprings of her loving sons and daughters-in-law. Other participants of the show are the past and present members of the Group and cheer dancers. It will be under the technical direction of another alumnus, Mr. Robert Tongco.

But I am really writing this piece more because of the raging debate on why Filipinos are perennial losers and lagging behind our Asian neighbors in almost all facets of life. Have we ever come to think that this is basically due to our kanya-kanya or crab mentality? A mentality caused by the absence of a true and clear portrait of a Filipino that will spur us to move forward as one nation? A lack of clear portrait because we have devalued if not completely discarded our precious culture?

Our Constitution says that "the State shall conserve, promote, and popularize the nation’s historical and cultural heritage and resources, as well as artistic creations" (Section 15, Article XIV). For a start we could actualize this mandate by enacting laws or ordinances requiring the airing of our folk songs and the showing of our folk dances in regular radio and TV programs.

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