Bacolod celebrates Indigenous Peoples at Dayaw Visayas Festival 2022
BACOLOD, Philippines — Seventy-five (75) indigenous peoples (IPs) from as far away as Palawan and Romblon and all over Visayas took their time to participate at this year's Dayaw Visayas Festival held in Bacolod from November 3 to 4.
It was a gathering that saw peoples from different ethnic groups come together to celebrate the annual National Indigenous Peoples Month held every October pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 1906, signed in 2009. The annual celebration is spearheaded by the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
"Staging Dayaw in Bacolod means bringing in the rich celebration of Filipino diversity, culture and heritage to the spaces in the city and will provide exposure to the Bacolodnons especially our students who will be made more aware of how much we have in our culture as Filipinos and Visayans," Tanya P. Lopez, Project Implementor of Dayaw Visayas Festival, said to Philstar.com.
Lopez is also a former secretary of the Committee on Dramatic Arts of the NCCA. She is currently the executive director of The Negros Museum, where the opening ceremony of Dayaw Visayas Festival was held.
Participants, including the Panay Bukidnon, Ati of Guimaras, Hiligaynon-Kinaray-a-Akeanon and Jama Mapun of Palawan, shared the challenges and how they coped during the pandemic in a "pulong-pulong" (gathering).
They were able to visit arts and cultural spaces in Bacolod City such as The Negros Museum, the Talarak Forest Park (which houses the highly endangered and endemic species in the Visayas such as the Visayan Warty Hog, the Talarak Hornbill, the Negros Bleeding Heart Pigeon, the Visayas Spotted Deer and the Rufous Headed Hornbill), the Provincial Capitol Lagoon and the Art District / Orange Project.
The highlight of the festival were the IPs' performances during the opening, which was a Babaylan ritual for blessing, and the closing ceremony at the Ayala Capitol Central in the city's busy district.
Bacolod and Negros Occidental first hosted Dayaw in the Visayas on November 10 to 11, 2014. It highlighted the indigenous groups of central Philippines, including the Ati, Panay Bukidnon, Waray, Abaknon, Hiligaynon and Cebuano.
Celebrating the IPs year-round
Apart from Dayaw, Bacolod and Negros have been celebrating the IPs since 2000 with IP Sunday, held every second Sunday of October.
"This is Catholic Church-initiated activities with the Commission on Indigenous Peoples of the Diocese of Kabankalan. SDM Community assists in the holding of IP Day. Since then, every year IP Day is celebrated in different places here in Negros," said Pablito Gonzales, the Visayas Chairperson for the Sub-Commission for Cultural Communities and Traditional Arts.
He also shared that since 2016, Negros has conducted a four-day BioCultural Diversity Walk on the mountains of Binalbaga, Himamaylan, Ilog and Candoni, which is held to commemorate the famous Peace Pack of three tribes in Negros (Kudlitan, Bat-aw and Tidlian).
Beyond the two-day festivities, Lopez said the Negros Museum has exhibitions that celebrate the IPs.
"Mal'am, Maaram, Maalam: Tribute to the SLT Cultural Masters Exhibit" will run in the Puppet Theater of The Negros Museum until November 21.
She said there are two notable exhibitions in Negros Museum.
"People and Places: A Cordillera Legacy. Photographs from Mountain Province, 1900 - 1925" is an exhibit by Ortigas Foundation Library composed of 110 vintage photographs that captured the beauty of the people and culture of the Cordilleras.
Curated by Jonathan Best, the exhibit is on view until January 2023.
The artworks of Rosendo "Roy" Aguilar are on view until January 2023 in the exhibit "Vista Negrense Retrospect + After Image."
Aguilar is a multi-awarded Negrense artist and a retired faculty member of over 34 years in the Fine Arts department of La Consolacion Bacolod. An artist, designer and craftsman, he has taught in the areas of Industrial Design, Life Sketching, Anatomy, Photography, Print Making and Advertising, among others.
"We would like to say that the celebration was successful especially that we are still having post pandemic jitters. With all of these activities, we would like to say that Dayaw Visayas is a success," Lopez said.
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