ILOILO CITY -- The University of the Philippines Visayas (UP Visayas) played a key role in the book Dunâ, Kinaíya Kag Paranúbliùn: A Cultural Inventory of the Province of Antique.
The book is a collaborative effort of the Department of Education (DepEd–Antique), the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the provincial government of Antique, UP Visayas, and Senator Loren Legarda, who pushed the Cultural Mapping of Antique (CMA) when she was the provincial congresswoman.
UP Visayas Chancellor Clement Camposano said the book is essential for unity and convergence while the cultural mapping which is essential as well in promoting both the tangible and the intangible cultural heritage was done by UP Visayas.
Anna Razel Ramirez, UP Visayas overall coordinator for the CMA, said the book is the byproduct of a collaborative effort in training teachers while getting inputs from various experts.
Felisa Beriong, DepEd Antique-schools division superintendent, said that the 90 elementary and high school teachers must be recognized for working beyond their teaching load to conduct cultural mapping in the 18 towns.
The CMA project also had UP Visayas Professor Emeritus Dr. Alicia Magos as chief consultant, Prof. Martin Genodepa as consultant for arts and crafts, and photographer Ramon Ramirez as part of the field documentation team.
Prof. Frances Anthea Redison, director of UP Visayas’ Center for West Visayan Studies (CWVS), said the book is significant as a research material and is readily available to all scholars and researchers.
The book was originally launched in Antique late last month and UP Visayas received 21 volumes of the book last Dec. 9.
“Let us all be proud of the treasures that we have and I hope that this would not remain only in the pages of this book, but actually practiced, preserved, and hopefully not vanish,” said Legarda in a video message.