By Mel Madera/PNA
MALAYBALAY CITY — A tribal leader who represents the Indigenous Peoples (IP) in the Provincial Board has called for a “low-cost” Kaamulan Festival, Bukidnon’s major cultural event that celebrates the province’s tribal heritage.
Datu Laglagengan Richard Macas, the Indigenous People’s Mandatory Representative (IPMR) to the Provincial Board, issued the call on Tuesday as he asked the provincial government to review the allocation for this year’s festival.
Macas said more municipalities are being dissuaded from participating in the festival as it is getting “expensive” to join each year.
Celebrated from March 23 to April 23, Kaamulan started in 1977 and focuses on celebrating the heritage and traditions of the province’s tribal communities. “Kaamulan” is from the tribal word “amul” which means “to gather”.
Macas, however, lamented that local government units that want to participate must spend millions from their own coffers.
For instance, Provincial Board Member Oliver Owen Garcia noted that Valencia City has allocated some PHP7 million just to participate in the street dancing, float parade, and other ground competitions.
Macas recalled that even the tribes have been discouraged from joining in ethnic dances and other tribal activities because of the prohibitive cost.
The trend, he said, threatens to diminish the significance of the festival among the province’s IP communities.
“Sometimes, only the government employees participate in the ethnic dances because it’s costly for the tribes,” he said.
To encourage more participation, Macas proposed that the provincial government increase the prizes for the competitions and offer subsidies for municipal participants.
Responding on Macas’ proposal, Governor Jose Ma. Zubiri Jr. said he will ask the provincial budget officer to look into the possibility of allocating additional funding to increase the prizes and to subsidize participating local government units as well.
Zubiri recommended that participating LGUs be given PHP300,000 and PHP500,000 for third class towns.
This year’s participating LGUs are the towns of Talakag, Damulog, Kadingilan, Kitaotao, Maramag, Cabanglasan, Manolo Fortich, Malitbog, Baungon, and Sumilao and the cities of Malaybalay and Valencia.
The seven tribes in the province are Higaonon, Bukidnon, Talaandig, Matigsalug, Manobo, Umayamnon, and Tigwahanon.
