BAGUIO CITY – The city government and the Cordillera office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-CAR) are now bracing up for the hosting of the 29th Cordillera month which will be held in the city from July 9-15, 2016.
The week-long celebration of the creation of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) will kick off with the start of the famous Gong Relay at the city hall grounds on July 9, 2016.
The symbolic gong initially travel to Lagawe, Ifugao where the participants will spend the night in the capital town followed by the turnover of the gong to Ifugao officials on July 10. The gong will then travel to Tabuk City where the participants will again spend the night in preparation for its turnover to Kalinga officials on July 11. On the same day, the gong will travel to Luna, Apayao and subsequently turned over to Apayao officials.
After staying overnight in Luna, the gong will travel to Bangued, Abra where the same will be turned over by Apayao officials to Abra officials.
On July 13, the gong will travel to Mount Data, Bauko, Mountain Province via Cervantes, Ilocos Sur where the same will be turned over to Mountain Province officials in simple rites.
On July 14, the gong will travel from Bauko, Mountain Province passing through the Provincial Capitol in La Trinidad where the same will be turned over to Benguet officials before it will be brought to Baguio city in time for the main program prepared for the CAR foundation day on July 15, 2016.
Janet Armas, DSWD-CAR regional director, said that during the stops of the Gong Relay, there will be multi-sectoral gatherings with the beneficiaries of the government’s conditional cash transfer in the provinces where representatives from the parents will be asked to talk about the renewed quest for regional autonomy and the importance of self-governance to the overall development of the region.
At the same time, participants of the Gong Relay will also be joining in tree planting activities in the different provinces to continue preserving and protecting the region’s forests from denudation and to empower the people in the said areas to support efforts for the preservation and protection of the environment.
The CAR foundation day main program will be held on July 15, 2016 at the Baguio Convention Center which will be followed by a civic-military parade around the city’s main roads.
Possible guests during the CAR foundation day program are retired Supreme Court (SC) Adolfo Azcuna, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Commissioner Alex Brillantes and Constitutional Convention Member Dr. Pons Bennagen.
The technical working group for the Cordillera month celebration composed of representatives from the different regional line agencies and the city government will continue ironing out the details of the various activities that will be done during the celebration to give recognition to the creation of the CAR as a special administrative region.
By Dexter A. See
