Iligan allocates P5 million annually for IP cultural preservation

ILIGAN CITY — The Iligan City government has allocated P5 million starting next year to support Indigenous Peoples’ culture and traditions.

City Ordinance No. 26-7875 allocated the money to the Kaamulan Ta Bayug Iligan City Festival as a permanent platform for celebrating and preserving the cultural heritage of the city’s Indigenous communities.

Bae Marecil Timbangan, a traditional female leader in Sitio Limunsudan, Barangay Rogongon, said the funding offers an opportunity to revive customs and practices that are gradually becoming unfamiliar to the youth.

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“We are very happy that the Iligan local government has allocated funding for Indigenous Peoples,” Timbangan said in Cebuano.

She said the funding would support not only the IP festival but also other activities significant to IP communities, including the annual observance of Indigenous Peoples’ Month.

Timbangan noted that cultural celebrations are important opportunities to introduce younger generations to traditions, customs, practices, and histories that older community members continue to preserve but fear may eventually disappear.

Among these traditions are the Dugso oh Lagudas, an indigenous dance performed during the Kaamulan oh pagpangampo (dance festival), the Paniib, or learning the prayer rituals of the Babaylans, or the indigenous spiritual leaders, and the indigenous languages, dances, and genealogies which are part of the heritage the community elders want to pass on to the younger generation.

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“We want the children to continue these traditions. We are afraid that if they do not learn that these practices still exist and are being observed, they may eventually disappear completely,” she said.

“With the importance the local government is giving Indigenous Peoples through funding for our activities, we can gradually begin restoring our customs,” Timbangan added.

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The annual allocation is intended to ensure that cultural preservation efforts continue beyond a single festival, giving Indigenous communities more opportunities to practice, teach and sustain their traditions.

Mayor Frederick Siao said the city’s development must benefit all sectors, particularly Indigenous communities, while protecting their rights and cultural heritage.

Progress should be inclusive, he said.

READ: Marcos honors indigenous peoples as ‘invaluable guardians’ of heritage

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The initiative also supports Iligan’s broader cultural ambitions, including its bid to join the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Creative Cities initiative./coa