National Festival of Talents Briones: DepEd preserves country's culture

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — Education Secretary Leonor Briones has highlighted the need to preserve the country’s culture, saying that it should not be allowed to die.

“It is only in the Department of Education (DepEd) that every aspect of the country’s culture is preserved on a massive scale,” Briones said Tuesday in her speech during the opening ceremony of the National Festival Of Talents (NFOT) in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental.

Briones, who hails from Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, said that it was only when she became DepEd secretary that she realized the sway dance is performed differently in each region. In Negros Oriental, it is called “kuradang.”

She quoted statements made by a political scientist who described the political system and behavior of the country as very much similar to the dance “pandanggo ng ilaw” where the dancer has a glass on top of her head with a lighted candle and two other glasses also with lighted candles in each hand.

“Dancing the pandanggo requires balance and you have to dance gracefully because the audience is watching,” she said, and that politics is like dancing the “pandanggo ng ilaw” because “you have to dance with whoever you need to like the electorate, and you have to sway gracefully.”

Briones explained that the country’s culture, dances, songs, and poetry not only give people joy and beauty but reflect what is real, what is happening in the world outside and this is good for the children.

Education is not only about curriculum or computers, but it is also about culture and values that must be passed on from generation to generation, as these are reflections of real life, she said.

Negros Oriental and many other provinces are very rich in legends, in songs and dances and even ethics, and Briones said that it is high time to relive the same.

The festival of talents is being staged to showcase what was taught when Briones was still a child---the Filipino dances and songs in schools.

DepEd is the only government institution that "carried on, adjusted and accepted the change of our culture, and of our dances," Briones told the crowd in the festival.

The holding of the NFOT is to celebrate the advocacy and commitment of DepEd and its royalty for the country’s culture, the various dances, literature, and poetry.

Negros Oriental Governor Roel Ragay Degamo welcomed the event, which is being undertaken in Dumaguete back to back with the National Schools Press Conference, a  competition of talents and skills in various arts and performances and an opportunity for the province to share its natural attractions and rich cultural heritage.

DepEd-7 assistant regional director Salustiano Jimenez told participants that NFOT is a plenum of the best of the best from different regions. He said one of the best things that a participant can achieve is to get a chance to hone his skills while competing with equally competent talents from 17 regions.