National IP Month celebrates our cultural heritage

Published October 23, 2022, 12:05 AM

by Manila Bulletin

On Oct. 23-24, representatives of Indigenous Peoples (IP) communities will gather in a celebration called “Dayaw” to present with pride their rich cultural heritage through music, dance, and oral tradition performances, and to share stories on best practices in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage (ICH).
Leading the celebration is the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) through the Subcommission on Cultural Communities and Traditional Arts (SCCTA). The theme that will unite the celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Month is “Pagtataguyod ng pamayanang kultural para sa isang matatag na Pilipinas (Upholding cultural communities for a robust Philippines).”

Presidential Proclamation 1906, signed in 2009, declared October as the “National Indigenous Peoples Month” that mandates the “recognition and protection of the rights of Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICC). The gathering of cultural communities kicked off last Oct. 2 at the Rizal Park, with performances representing IP communities around the country. Today, Oct. 23, the Dayaw performance will be at the Rizal Park open air auditorium. On Oct. 24, the Dayaw forum will be held at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila.

The heart of the celebration will be the sharing of best practices on safeguarding ICH which are “measures aimed at ensuring the viability of the intangible cultural heritage” so that efforts in its preservation, promotion and transmission to the next generation will be initiated.

ICH includes “traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts.”

Its importance, according to UNESCO, “is not the cultural manifestation itself but rather the wealth of knowledge and skills that is transmitted through it from one generation to the next.”

The Philippines has a wealth of intangible cultural heritage, some familiar to many of us now but others still remains to be documented and disseminated so that it will continue to give us “a sense of identity and continuity, providing a link to our past, through the present, and into our future.”

The NCCA has been developing projects and programs and nominating ICH elements to the UNESCO Representative and Urgent Safeguarding Lists. In the UNESCO Representative List of Humanity are three ICH elements of IP in the Philippines. These are the Hudhud chants of the Ifugao province, the Darangen epic of the Maranao people of Lake Lanao Maranao, and the tugging rituals and games of the Tuwali tribe in Ifugao, the NCCA announced.

LPA likely to enter PAR, to be named 'Paeng'

 

By Arlie O. Calalo October 23, 2022 

THE Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) is closely monitoring a low pressure area (LPA) that may enter the country in 36 hours and escalate into a tropical depression.

Weather specialist Benison Estareja told The Manila Times that the LPA was last spotted 1,460 kilometers east of Mindanao.

Once it enters the country, the LPA will be named Paeng.

"Based on Pagasa's forecast track, this may approach the landmass and make landfall somewhere in Luzon or Eastern Visayas by Thursday," Estareja said.

The weather agency said the inter-tropical convergence zone is affecting Mindanao where cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms may prevail.

Meanwhile, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley and Cordillera Administrative Region will likely have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains due to the northeast monsoon.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms.

37 countries to participate in Eurovision 2023

The list of countries participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool. SCREENGRAB FROM YOUTUBE

By Aric John Sy Cua, Manila Times

The full participant list was revealed on the Contest's YouTube page on Thursday.

The countries participating in Liverpool are as follows: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and host country the United Kingdom.

Next year's contest will have the lowest number of participating countries since the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark, which also had 37 countries.

Going directly to the grand final are Germany, France, Spain, 2022 hosts Italy and 2023 hosts United Kingdom, as they comprise the "Big Five", which are the biggest financial contributors to the Contest. For next year's show, having won the 2022 contest, Ukraine will have the automatic qualification for the 2023 grand final.

"Of the 37 nations taking part, 31 will compete in two Semi-Finals with 10 successful acts from each Semi-Final joining 4 of the Big 5 (France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), hosts the United Kingdom and Ukraine in the Grand Final," a statement from the European Broadcasting Union read.

Not returning to next year's Contest are Bulgaria, Montenegro and North Macedonia. Russia and Belarus are both ineligible to participate because their broadcasters are currently suspended by the EBU.

Although Bulgaria's Eurovision Twitter handle said they have lost interest in the Contest, there are reports saying the withdrawal was due to financial reasons. They recently returned to Twitter after briefly deactivating to wish the participating countries going to Liverpool all the best.