MAGUINDANAO — Authorities have sealed all entry and exit routes in Buluan town to ensure safety during the February 5-14 Inaul Festival showcasing ethnic Maguindanaon culture and arts.
Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu said Sunday he has invited President Rodrigo Duterte to witness even just one of more than 20 important events during the festival in Buluan, the capital town of the province.
This year’s Inaul Festival, the second since 2017, aims to promote the local inaul weaving industry.
READ: Inaul Festival to highlight traditional Maguindanaon textiles
The production of the colorful inaul fabric is a traditional Maguindanaon craft as old as the Mindanao sultanates already existing even before Ferdinand Magellan arrived in what is now the Visayas on March 16, 1521.
The colorful inaul is being promoted by the Maguindanao provincial government as “peace and unity fabric” owing to its being a common cultural icon among mainland Mindanao’s ethnic Maguindanao, Iranun and Maranaw communities.
The three southern groups have different dialects but are bound together by a common religion—Islam.
The provincial government has been helping since 2013 improve the local inaul industry through technical and marketing interventions.
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“Besides President Duterte and members of his family, we have also invited prominent members of the business communities in other regions and local and foreign dignitaries to join the festivities,” Mangudadatu said.
Provincial employees overseeing the Inaul Festival said Sunday they have lined up cultural shows and competitions such as the kagkuya sa awang (boat race) at the Buluan River, kagkuya na kalabaw (Carabao race), inaul weaving and sagayan war dance contests to cap off the 10-day event.
The Inaul Festival shall kickoff Monday with the launching of a trade fair showcasing indigenous products.
Entrepreneurs from more than 20 of the 36 municipal governments in Maguindanao are to participate in the activity.
“We are expecting the coming in of more investors after this Inaul Festival. This will help disprove notions that it is dangerous here in our province. It is not dangerous here,” Mangudadatu said.
He said he is grateful to the Police Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the Army's 6th Infantry Division for deploying hundreds of uniformed personnel in strategic spots around Buluan as part of the security preparations for the Inaul Festival.