BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP-CAR) recently announced that the precious gong will be going around the region through the Unity Gong Relay, one of the major activities lined up for the annual celebration of the foundation of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) on July 8-14, 2017.
Lawyer Roland P. Calde, NCIP-CAR regional director, said the 30th CAR founding anniversary activities will kick off with the launching program at the Benguet Provincial Capitol at around 9 a.m. of July 8, 2017.
The NCIP-CAR is the lead agency in the celebration of this year’s CAR founding anniversary while Benguet is the lead local government in the conduct of the activities lined up for the said celebration.
Participants of the Unity Gong Relay will then motor to Bontoc, Mountain Province in the afternoon of July 8 where they will spend the night in the province’s capital town in preparation for the program on July 9.
After Mountain Province, the Unity Gong Relay participants will then motor to Bangued, Abra in the afternoon of July 9 where they will spend the night in the said town in time for the program organized by the provincial government and the NCIP provincial office on July 10.
The delegations will then proceed to Luna, Apayao shortly before lunch of July 10 to prepare for the Gong Relay program in Luna town on July 11.
According to Calde, the Unity Gong Relay participants will then go to Tabuk City, Kalinga shortly before lunch on July 11 for the program hosted by the provincial government on the morning of July 12.
The gong will then be brought to Lagawe, Ifugao by Kalinga provincial officials on the afternoon of July 12 with a program scheduled on July 13.
The Unity Gong Relay delegations will then leave Lagawe, Ifugao in the afternoon of July 13 bound for Baguio City where a program will be held at the City Hall on July 14 after which the city officials will bring back the gong to Benguet in the afternoon of July 14.
Calde explained the gong symbolises commonalities among the various indigenous peoples in the region it being a common instrument played in the performance of rituals, dances, among other activities of the tribes.
He claimed the regional and provincial offices of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) have been tasked by the lead agency and local government to coordinate with the different local governments the conduct of the Unity Gong Relay to make sure there will be active participation of the people in the places where they will converge on the scheduled dates.
Calde appealed to the public to support the Unity Gong Relay activities in their own provinces to make sure that they will be provided information regarding the region’s renewed quest for regional autonomy which is now gaining headway in the national level.
By HENT
