After over a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Nayong Filipino Foundation (NPF) on Friday, Nov. 4, unveiled its first on-site exhibit since 2020 in Intramuros, Manila to celebrate its 50th founding anniversary.
Dubbed "(KA)LOOB(AN)," the exhibit at the IVC Teatro, Fort Santiago runs from Nov. 4–17, featuring NPF's rich collection of ethnographic artifacts from various ethnolinguistic groups, textiles, personal ornaments, ritual items, hunting and warfare, and domestic objects.
NPF Executive Director Gertie Duran-Batocabe led the unveiling of the program.
Present during the program were National Museum of the Philippines Director General Jeremy Barns, Intramuros Administration OIC Edgardo Baysic, Duty Free COO Vicente Angala, and National Parks Development Committee Executive Director Cecile Romero-Lorenzana.
The NPF is an attached agency to the Department of Tourism (DOT) and was founded fifty years ago by former President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr.
Its primary mandate is to promote, espouse, and initiate research and development projects in the social sciences, humanities, and other related fields.
Meanwhile, DOT Secretary Christina Gaecia-Frasco welcomed the revival of NPF's contribution to heralding the Philippines' rich culture and heritage: "We are now in the stage of lifting each other's hand. DOT through the right direction of our President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., we are going to overcome the scourge of the pandemic."