An indigenous people’s group from Northern Luzon makes a dramatic entrance at the Bulacan capitol compound. Photo by Dino Balabo
MALOLOS CITY—About 500 indigenous peoples (IPs) representing at least 47 tribal groups gathered here starting Monday for the 2012 Dayaw Festival which opened yesterday morning.
They joined a parade on the main thoroughfare of this city showing their colorful attires and other crafts.
Some even gamely showed some steps and moved from their tribal dances which were applauded by hundreds of Bulakenyos that lined the streets to the provincial Capitol here.
However, one group is missing in the long line of IPs that joined the parade.
They are the Dumagat tribesmen of Sierra Madre mountains in the City of San Jose Del Monte and the towns of Norzagaray and Donya Remedios Trindad in eastern Bulacan.
As an IP group, historians said that Dumagats are the first Bulakenyos inhabiting the vastness of this province long before our Malay ancestors came.
As host IP group, journalists here said that the Dumagats of Bulacan should be in the welcome party, but even there, they were conspicuously absent.
This led Punto! to inquire with the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the main organizer of the three-day festival here.
Commissioner Felipe De Leon’s first response was “I didn’t know they are not here” referring to the Dumagats and added that “they should be here.”
He then rebounded with an alibi pointing to Joseph Cristobal, the festival director and former Provincial Tourism Officer of Bulacan.
De Leon said that he trusted Cristobal’s expertise since he came from Bulacan and added that they will try to invite the Dumagats in the two remaining days of the festival.
For his part, Cristobal pointed his fingers to a certain Osie Alfonso, the coordinator of the IP cluster for Central Luzon.
He said that in last year’s Dayaw festival, the Dumagats of Bulacan were among the participants.
He said that this year, Alfonso may have limited the participants from Central Luzon and skipped the Dumagats from the list.
He added that financial constraints could be factor noting that they have to prepare honorarium to every participating IP along with full accommodation in local hotels.
But journalists here complained that shortage of fund could have been shouldered by the host local government units.
They added that if the Dumagats’ participation would abuse the 10-person limit for every group participating, the organizers in the province led by Cristobal should have included the local tribesmen in the welcoming committee.
They added that the non-inclusion of the Dumagats in the festival is a great disservice to the IP communities and a clear example on the lack of understanding of the history and culture of the Bulakenyos.
