BONTOC, Mountain Province – A civic parade and cultural performances marked the launching of Mountain Province golden anniversary and 13th Lang-ay Festival celebration which was held at the Provincial Plaza recently.
The program started with an ecumenical prayer by the representatives of Bontoc Ecumenical Group while elders performed the traditional opening rite, “tekwab” and pig offering to Kabunyan, the God almighty.
Vice-Governor Francis O. Tauli performed the “Sikmat” which signified the act of securing all that is good and positive (good vibes, luck etc.) so that it shall stay with the people thereby ensuring prosperity and blessings for all. It literally means clutching or holding on to something tightly to prevent it from getting snatched or nabbed.
In his message, Governor Bonifacio C. Lacwasan, Jr. commended the organizers of the event and urged the people to remember the insight of the 50th founding year of the province.
Since the launching of the two biggest events in the province also coincides with the culminating activity of Indigenous People’s (IP) month, Mountain Province’s very own son, Atty. Roland P. Calde, National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) – CAR regional director was invited as guest speaker.
Speaking before the crowd, Atty. Calde said that the launching of the Lang-ay festival is a promotion of our culture as it speaks of our cultural integrity as people of Mountain Province.
“We as one people should work together towards peace and progress in our place,” he said.
The guest speaker reminded us to sustain and strengthen our good practices because aside from our native attires and dances, these practices are our trademark which speaks of the people of Mountain Province.
“Also we must not forget to teach these good practices to our children because this is one of our duties as member of a community,” he said.He further emphasized the importance of education in building one’s self, one’s family, community and our province.
Meanwhile, the solidarity dance kindled the interest of the crowd including the provincial officials and guests to dance when all the different cultural performers simultaneously beat their gongs. This depicted the uniqueness, oneness and solidarity of the people.
On the same activity, the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) rekindled the partnership between the provincial government and the private sector through the Lang-ay Festival Organization Inc. for the conduct of the two big events. It can be recalled that Gov. Lacwasan has earlier invited the Lang-ay Festival Organization to spearhead the preparations of Lang-ay2017 in tandem with the provincial government.
With the theme “Mountain Province at 50: Reminiscing and Fostering Our Cultural Integrity” the two big events were formally launched following the unveiling of the different activities.
The celebration is slated on April 3-9 2017, with the 7th intended solely for the celebration of the founding anniversary of the Province.
According to Roger Sacyaten, Head Secretariat of the 50th Foundation Anniversary and Lang-ay Cultural Festival, Lang-ay is a tool for the celebration of the Mountain Province Day and since it is the province’s golden anniversary, visitors expect some innovations on the presentations and activities.
He also informed that the Lang-ay organization is in the process of looking for additional activities to be inserted that are not done in the previous celebration. In relation to this, the Lang-ay secretariat is now accepting proposals for such activities.
“This is to let the other sectors participate by giving innovative ideas in the staging of Lang-ay,” Sacyaten said.
The bared activities for the 2017 celebrations include street dancing as the kick-off activity on the 3rd of April and on the same day is the launching of Agro-Trade Fair. Indigenous sports are scheduled on April 4-7, the Cultural exposition is on April 6-7 while the Igorot showdown and ethnic fashion show is scheduled on April 7. The street dancing and cultural presentation is scheduled in the morning of April 8 while the Lang-ay by the street will be held in the afternoon of the same date.
Moreover, the indigenous games are scheduled on the 8th of April and according to the organizers, newly included games comprise indigenous cook fest with safeng challenge, inet-etaan and fagfagto id wanga. In the evening of the same day is the gangsa night and closing program shall include the awarding ceremonies.
By Erwin Batnag