Loren reaches out to millennials

MANILA, Philippines – Baby boomers may have laid the foundation of what we are today. But no doubt about it. Millennials are now ruling the world.

They flood social media with posts that go viral, set trends and move people to action. Their hashtags are retweeted; their Instagram posts followed and shared many times over.

That’s why Sen. Loren Legarda is reaching out to them to find out how tomorrow’s leaders want their messages framed; their hashtags crafted.

She knows millennials make up a big chunk of the population, that they can push her advocacies on indigenous people and local culture to stratospheric heights.

She also knows that millennials hardly know their roots.

“You want to know where you come from, where your lolo  (grandfather) comes from. You need to know your family tree,” she told a 31-year-old writer.

And she’s proud to tell others his age they have a lot of reasons to celebrate their roots.

The Ilocanos have their abel cloth. Manobos create intricate beadwork. The Bagobos’ colorful woven fabrics are a sight to see. Panay Bukidnons take pride in their panubok embroidery.

Loren started her crusade for indigenous people years back, when she helped them get a leg up in life.  She interceded for an Ifugao mother and child when their ancestral land came in danger of confiscation. Loren helped women weavers in Banawe come up with their own federation or support group. She also helped another indigenous group put up a small business.

On television, the medium she feels most at home in, Loren tied up with the NCCA (National Commission for Culture and the Arts) in producing the documentary series Dayaw (which returns for its second season on ANC starting Nov. 3, 6 p.m.).  The series is a guide to all things indigenous.

The first episode, for instance, focuses on food preservation, Pinoy-style. Dayaw will take viewers to the North, where salt-making is an honored tradition. The South’s halal dishes will also be featured.  

Episode Two will focus on the Ivatan home, the Ifugao bale (house), the T’boli long house, the traditional bahay kubo and the sturdy bahay na bato of our ancestors.   

The second season comes at a time when indigenous groups leave their homes and flock to Manila to beg for food and money in the streets.

“They’re more visible during the ‘ber months’ when they roam the streets,” observes Loren.

It’s heartbreaking to see Aeta children risking their lives on the crowded, polluted streets of Manila and stretching their tiny arms to beg for food.

 “One-fifth of the 100 million indigenous people in the country are children who have difficulty in getting education and basic health care,” laments Loren.

These deprived children would rather find food than study their elders’ weaving techniques or intricate beadwork. Worst, they may be forced to sell these precious heirlooms in exchange for food and education.

Loren is counting on young people to help the indigenous youth while they still can.

Her daily Instagram and Twitter posts end with #ipootd  (indigenous people outfit of the day).

The three-term senator wants to create a YouTube channel dedicated to Dayaw, plus Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts for the show.

Loren wants to develop more digital platforms for her art and culture advocacies together with the NCCA.

She wants to talk to millennials and study how crusades like hers can appeal to them.

“If we don’t document weaving, if we don’t document the Mumbaki (an Ifugao who recites prayers), how will our children and grandchildren know what and who these are?”

Loren is not alone in seeing the richness and beauty of Filipino art and crafts. She recalls how Queen Sofia of Spain described Filipino designers “the best of the best.”

Patis Tesoro already met with the likes of Salvatorre Ferragamo, Valentino and Giorgio Armani regarding the famous pina cloth.

Dayaw is Loren’s way of making more Ferragamos, Valentinos and Armanis look at things Filipino. More than that, it’s her way of planting the seeds of local pride where it should stay — in the hearts and minds of Filipinos — especially the young.