Traditions and cultures of members of indigenous communities will take the spotlight in the programs of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) this October in time with the celebration of the National Indigenous Peoples (IP) Month.
The NCCA, through its Subcommission on Cultural Communities and Traditional Arts (SCCTA) will lead the month-long celebration dubbed as "Dayaw" with the theme "Katutubong Filipino: Atin ang Tagumpay!"
Project Director Nestor T. Horfilla said this year's Dayaw—meaning "to present with pride" or "to show one's best with pride and dignity coupled with excitement"—will highlight the ways in which IPs firmly manifest their optimistic views and practices or their "strategies of prevailing" amid crisis.
"Dayaw 2021 will emphasize their thrust but is also cognizant of the current and differing situations that affect them and their sustainment f their cultures," Horfilla said during the recent virtual presser on the celebration of IP month.
Horfilla said Dayaw will be held in a virtual format for the second time since the beginning of the pandemic last year.
Though online, the Commission expects to gather more than a hundred representatives from various Indigenous groups at their communities to conduct cultural performances, and discussions on cultural values amid the current crisis.
According to the NCCA, this entails the widest dissemination of the IP's artistic and cultural ways of living, presenting, and celebrating their diverse cultural heritage, traditional art, and knowledge, and recognizes and appreciates their efforts to safeguard intangible cultural heritage.
These activities will be aired over social media platforms and will be presented into five episodes—Pagpapasinaya sa Tagumpay: The Dayaw Opening Ceremony on October 9; Dayaw sa Sebangan: The Southern Cultural Communities on October 17; Dayaw Sito Lubbon Na Unnot: The Northern Cultural Communities on October 24; Dayaw sa Butnga: The Central Cultural Communities on October 30; and Pinagtagumpayan: The Dayaw Closing Ceremony on October 31.
The National IP Month is being celebrated pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 1906 signed in 2009 which mandates the "recognition and protection of the rights of Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples."
This year's IP month is also being observed during the Year of the Filipino Pre-Colonial Ancestors (YFPCA) in line with Proclamation No. 1128, s. 2021 declaring 2021 as the YFPCA.
With this, special events will be held including the promotion of Anyo: Assistance for Filipino Artisans virtual exhibit and the Video Documentation on Intangible Cultural Heritage, and the virtual launching of the Schools of Living Traditions E-learning Resources, and the El Folk-Lore Filipino and English Translations book.
The launch of the book El Folk-Lore Filipino and English Translations will be NCCA’s contribution to the celebration of the YFPCA to "highlight the voice long forgotten, both in our national and world history that our ancestors had a significant contribution in the achievement of science and humanity."
The SCCTA is led by Commissioner Abubacar Datumanong who is also the head of the Southern Cultural Communities, and Northern and Central Cultural Communities head Edwin Antonio and Pablito Gonzales.