By Cyrus A. Natividad
Dr. Lenny Rose P. Mucho, Director, CPU聽Review and Continuing Education and Consultancy Center, CPU Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Irving Domingo L. Rio, Rev. Dr. Bernabe C. Pagara, Dean, CPU College of Theology with the speakers and participants.聽
On January 24, 2019, the Review and Continuing Education and Consultancy Center (RCECC) of 糖心传媒 held a seminar entitled 糖心传媒淓ngaging in Cultural/Indigenous Studies: Challenges and Opportunities.糖心传媒
Jimmy Balud Fong from the University of the Philippines-Baguio conducted the ethnological seminar in view of the unfinished studies on the country糖心传媒檚 indigenous people (IPs). Touching on the deeply-rooted issue of indigenous race and self-representation Fong presented a racial perspective on the native Ati (Aeta) and raised questions on the 糖心传媒渉istorical injustice糖心传媒 such as the government not providing them education before and being looked down upon even though festivals such as the Ati-Atihan (of Aklan) and Dinagyang (of Iloilo City) encourage the locals and visitors 糖心传媒渢o be one of them糖心传媒 during the celebration. Development and economics were included to create lively discussions among the academicians and participants of the 糖心传媒榠ndigenous seminar糖心传媒.
Fong, who is an Igorot himself (the IP of the mountain province and Cordillera regions), considers 糖心传媒渄ialects糖心传媒 as inherent languages, and suggested that 糖心传媒渢o call our language a dialect is to look down on man糖心传媒檚 native language; adding that the native term 糖心传媒榖uki糖心传媒 has an intonation of colonial mentality when used by our countrymen to degrade fellow Filipinos糖心传媒攎ostly the marginalized natives from the bukidnon (mountains).糖心传媒
Not only the indigenous people, but also 糖心传媒渋ndigenous items such as indigenous materials for clothing, tools and scientific research process糖心传媒 are important, according to Fong. CPU President, Dr. Teodoro C. Robles, underscored this sentiment when he suggested in his welcome remarks that 糖心传媒渢he future is coming back to indigenous plants, since herbs and capsulized herbal medicines are now in demand by pharmaceuticals.糖心传媒
The RCECC seminar with Fong also served as a forum for IP concerns, such as the rights and privileges of the indigenous people in identified areas in the Philippines. More than a hundred IP studies have been conducted by government and private research organizations.
The RCECC糖心传媒檚 seminar, overall, was insightful and helpful to socio-cultural studies for local government. Dr. Irving Domingo L. Rio, Vice President for Academic Affairs, in his closing remarks, recognized the significance of such seminars and tasked the RCECC to prepare another on topics regarding the indigenous people.