BACOLOD, Philippines — Seventy-five (75) indigenous peoples (IPs) from as far away as Palawan and Romblon and all over Visayas took their time to participate at this year's Dayaw Visayas Festival held in Bacolod from November 3 to 4.
It was a gathering that saw peoples from different ethnic groups come together to celebrate the annual National Indigenous Peoples Month held every October pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 1906, signed in 2009. The annual celebration is spearheaded by the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
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"Staging Dayaw in Bacolod means bringing in the rich celebration of Filipino diversity, culture and heritage to the spaces in the city and will provide exposure to the Bacolodnons especially our students who will be made more aware of how much we have in our culture as Filipinos and Visayans," Tanya P. Lopez, Project Implementor of Dayaw Visayas Festival, said to Philstar.com.
Lopez is also a former secretary of the Committee on Dramatic Arts of the NCCA. She is currently the executive director of The Negros Museum, where the opening ceremony of Dayaw Visayas Festival was held.
Participants, including the Panay Bukidnon, Ati of Guimaras, Hiligaynon-Kinaray-a-Akeanon and Jama Mapun of Palawan, shared the challenges and how they coped during the pandemic in a "pulong-pulong" (gathering).
They were able to visit arts and cultural spaces in Bacolod City such as The Negros Museum, the Talarak Forest Park (which houses the highly endangered and endemic species in the Visayas such as the Visayan Warty Hog, the Talarak Hornbill, the Negros Bleeding Heart Pigeon, the Visayas Spotted Deer and the Rufous Headed Hornbill), the Provincial Capitol Lagoon and the Art District / Orange Project.
The highlight of the festival were the IPs' performances during the opening, which was a Babaylan ritual for blessing, and the closing ceremony at the Ayala Capitol Central in the city's busy district.
Bacolod and Negros Occidental first hosted Dayaw in the Visayas on November 10 to 11, 2014. It highlighted the indigenous groups of central Philippines, including the Ati, Panay Bukidnon, Waray, Abaknon, Hiligaynon and Cebuano.