DAVAO CITY – The tribal village here that features the city’s 11 tribes inside the Magsaysay Park has continued to awe locals and foreign visitors.
City Tourism Chief Generose Tecson said that for the month of January alone, close to 10,000 foreign and domestic tourists visited the tribal village, which has become an attraction since it was introduced as one of the highlights during the Kadayawan sa Dabaw in August last year.
The tribal village was re-opened weeks after the Kadayawan and since then, it has become a popular attraction.
Tecson said the latest visitors were the 250 Filipino-Canadian tourists who were amazed to see the 11 tribes and their handicrafts were sold out. She said whenever there are foreign visitors they would request to bring them to the tribal village.
“It only shows that people are interested to know more about our culture as well as the customs and tradition of our tribes,” she said.
The tribal village features 11 houses representing each of the 11 tribes of Davao City namely Ata, Klata, Ubo-Manuvo, Matigsalog, Tagabawa, Maguindanaoan, Kagan, Iranun, Tausug, Sama and Maranao.
The tribes also hold cultural performances on weekends. Tecson said the city tourism wanted to capacitate the tribes so they could do more things.
“I will request the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA) to conduct lectures and also teach them so they could create performing groups,’ she added.
“Once they are organized we can tap them to perform during events and other activities,” she said. Tecson said the city also wants to help them in their livelihood particularly in upgrading their capabilities on handicraft. (Digna D. Banzon/PNA)
