LA TRINIDAD Benguet – Continue to showcase the rich culture of the Cordillera in every celebration as culture is what defines the people in this region.
National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Executive Director Rico Pableo Jr. stressed this in his keynote message during the Cordillera Day celebration at the Benguet Sports Complex last July 15, here.
Pableo described that watching the dance performances during the Cordillera Day celebration more than convinced him of the richness of the culture in the region that must be continuously and eagerly celebrated for the spirit of Cordillera culture to continue to live on.
Celebration or promotion of culture and the arts as an instrument for progress and development is part of the agenda of the present administration under the Philippine Development Plan, he added.
In the promotion of Cordillera culture towards development, Pableo shared two important Filipino virtues that the government is also pushing – “Malasakit or being socially responsible and “Malikhain” or being creative.
Culture and arts must bear the character of “Malasakit” or be sensitive and socially responsible as any development must be for the good of everyone while “malikhain” is for Cordillera, as one people, to showcase creativity and innovation in making a difference for the region, he stressed.
Meantime, Pableo also expressed the NCCA’s support to the region’s pursuit of regional autonomy as attaining an autonomous status will not only strengthen Cordillera’s identity as a region but also the identity of Cordillera culture and arts.
The 1987 Constitution provides for the establishment of autonomous region in Cordillera and the Muslim Mindanao.
For the Cordillera Day celebration, contingents from the CAR provinces of Abra, Apayao, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province and host Benguet came together for the parade and program to show their unity towards the attainment of regional development and autonomy. (JDP/CCD and R. Garcia/ PIA CAR/ UC Intern
