GRACEFUL MOVES Skilled Tausug dancers showcase their skills during the Pangalay competition, an activity under Zamboanga City's Summer Verano Festival (Zamboanga City LGU photo)

Recently a lawmaker friend called to consult me about the cultural mapping of her district. All I could say was, “It’s about time.” This is something our LGUs should have been doing much, much earlier.

Then I was heartened about the bicameral’s passage of the cultural mapping bill being pushed by Senator Loren Legarda.

To me, culture is what really makes a country or a destination different and distinct. Not so much the physical terrain or the scenery because mountains, beaches, forests, rivers, buildings, and all seem to look the same from one country to the other.

WHAT A HIKE Traversing the mountainous towns through the Datu-Paglas-Colombio-Matanao Road (DPWH/Manila Bulletin)

You may think that focusing on culture is a frivolous idea. On the contrary, it can prove to be economically rewarding.

The World Tourism Organization tells us that cultural tourism accounts for 37 percent of global tourism, and furthermore affirms that it will continue to grow 15 percent each year.

In other words, nowadays, a country’s culture is a major driver not only of its tourism sector but also its economy as a whole. For one thing, it brings income to community-based artists, craftsmen, cultural workers, and even local entrepreneurs.

NATURALLY BEAUTIFUL According to the DENR, Palale Cave contains delicate and fragile geological formations, threatened species, and archeological and paleontological values (Photo DENR)

As defined by tourism experts, cultural tourism is traveling to experience the places, artifacts, and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present.

To me, stories of people and places should be our way of cultural tourism. Why? Let’s face it, we have don’t have awe-inspiring heritage assets that will command the interest of tourists like the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, the Borobudur temple in Indonesia, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Parthenon in Greece, the Aztec and Mayan pyramids in South America, or the Roman Colosseum and St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and so on.

But first, we need to look for the cultural assets that we have in our own localities, which will appeal to tourists, domestic as well as foreign. This to me is what cultural mapping is all about.

SAFE AND HEALTHY Stringent health and safety measures in place ensure that Boracay can remain Covid-free

It starts with each LGU. Each town or city has its own unique cultural assets, which can be developed such as historical sites, modern urban districts, “ethnic pockets” of town, fairs or festivals, theme parks, natural ecosystems, and so on. We also have the small simple folkloric stories of our people and our places that if packaged properly by local communities can draw tourists and travelers who are culture seekers.

It could also be a piece of history like the origin of the town or city or the name or the native heroes, or a unique indigenous cuisine. Or whatever.With a well done cultural map, an LGU will now have a guide as to where to invest its resources, such as supporting heritage preservation, art education, artists’ welfare, sustainable art-making practices, and local creative economies. Local people must get involved and encouraged to value the pieces of local culture in their midst.

SMILES HERE Merrymaking Calle Real contingents of various barangays in Iloilo City present their dance during the Dinagyang Festival 2023 celebration at the Freedom Grandstand (Photo Juan Carlo de Vela)

This is why our LGUs and our local communities must support the passage of the cultural mapping bill into law. But even without it, it’s a good idea to take the initiative in undertaking your own cultural mapping activity now.

Get everyone involved—folk artists and craftsmen, oral tradition practitioners, memory keepers, local historians, descendants of prominent old families, teachers, architects, cooks of local cuisines, tillers of the land, writers, poets, artists, and any local resident with an inherent sense of culture and history.

Gather them, consult them, mobilize them, and, most important, evoke in them a sense of pride and ownership for the cultural mapping activity. After all, everyone stands to get rewarded, economically and emotionally, when outside visitors start coming.

Beyond that, as Senator Legarda says: “...more than the cultural demonstration of our heritage, the wealth of knowledge that has been passed on from one generation to another to the next is much more significant and valuable as this knowledge would be the proof of our uniqueness and what will define us as a human race.”

One can take a traveler’s mind out of a place but one can never take that place out of his mind. Once it is well-told and experienced by the visiting traveler, a culture will stay in his mind forever. Such visitor will be the most effective promotional brochure any LGU can ever have.
Uncover the treasures in your LGU.  Put your distinct place on the cultural map!