Koronadal City—The Provincial Government of South Cotabato laid down its plan in the next three years as the Local Arts Council conducted a Local Development Planning Workshop to ensure that local cultural heritage and arts are protected.
Indira Cagaanan, Arts, Culture, Tourism, and Museum Promotions Unit Officer-In-Charge, said members of the council were invited to present priorities for the more efficient promotion and conservation of cultural heritage.
“The government believes that enhancing the social fabric of our country is to promote the Filipino culture and values,” Cagaanan said.
The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) provided technical assistance to South Cotabato.
The council, however, stressed on revitalizing the museums and Schools of Living Traditions as a cultural resource center and series of product development for local products as a strategy to increase the value-added chain of demand.
“We wanted to increase the traffic in museums, libraries, and other cultural sites. That is why we made various activities that would draw more students and tourists in these cultural spaces,” she said.
Meanwhile, Cagaanan is pushing for the inventory of Tnalak designs in South Cotabato. She also emphasized the importance of recognizing the living Tnalak dreamweavers and Tnalak weavers.
“Not all tnalak weavers are dreamweavers. We need to account the Tnalak designs, and perhaps, there are new designs,” Carlo Ebeo, former NCCA commissioner, said during the planning workshop.
“Some of our traditional chanters and artists are old. We need to act faster for we might wake up one day, they are all gone. And we haven’t done anything to record and document them,” he said.
The culture sector also works to foster an understanding of every culture, the council members agreed.
