CITY OF MALOLOS — The Provincial History, Arts, Culture and Tourism Office (PHACTO) through the local government of Bulacan has initiated a series of virtual documentary presentation dubbed Philippine Festival Series to promote the country’s diverse culture, starting in June via Facebook.
PHACTO Bulacan coordinated with different provinces in the country to preserve and promote cultural diversity through documentary videos as the country transitions into the new normal adapting to the effects and restrictions brought by the Covid-19 pandemic
Various Philippine festivals of provinces participated in the virtual Philippine festival series to share their rich history and culture, among which are Sinukwan, Panagbenga, Dinagyang, MassKara, Kadayawan, Bangus, T’nalak, Inaul, Meguyaya, Buyogan, Pasalamat, and Megayon festivals.
The Sinukwan Kapampangan (SiKap) led by its artistic director Peter De Vera joined the project to represent Pampanga and released its first video on July 24 highlighting the history of the Sinukwan Festival, forming its inception from the strength, resiliency, and solidarity of the Kapampangan.
In addition to the Sinukwan Festival video presentation, SiKap will launch its second video on August 12 with PHACTO Bulacan with its Holy Week presentation dubbed “Panata at Panalangin” which will focus on Pampanga’s Holy Week traditions.
“Meron akong mga bagong i-introduce dito. Dahil alam ko napapanahon din sa sitwasyon ngayon, meron kaming konting part na nilagay para maging akma sa sitwasyon ngayon,” said De Vera.
De Vera noted that in order to continue promoting Kapampangan culture to younger generations, SiKap will adapt the same idea to showcase and relive the colorful arts and culture of Pampanga which is currently being planned and arranged.
According to De Vera, the plan is to present different online documentary series and bring virtual presentations to be used for online class as an adaptive measure for students to continue learning the Kapampangan heritage.
“Kunwari sa P.E., papaano natin i-incorporate yung projects and activities? What we are trying to do now is an experiment. I would like to use maybe mascots, colorful presentations, or maybe like a talk show na parang nanonood sila ng TV,” said De Vera.
“The concept is to prepare resources for the production that will, hopefully, be also presentable and a little entertaining para sa mga manonood kaya we want to apply the different elements of production like the set, background as this is somehow a promotion of what our culture is and pass it on to younger generations,” he added.
De Vera also mentioned other schools can also partner with them for collaborations to produce videos for online learning to demonstrate different types of arts such as music and dance through educational entertainment ensuring the preservation of the Kapampangan heritage for the next generation.
“If other schools are interested, we can also collaborate with them, we can partner with them and help them lalo na ngayon,” he said.
“Parang it is not that easy how students can interpret the arts, especially the dances through modules na parang webinar na mayroong digital background lang. They won’t be able to appreciate it and at the same time they won’t be able to do it because of the restrictions of having these modules in online classes,” said De Vera.
