Bontoc, Mountain Province – In its effort to sustain the promotion, development, and conservation of the Bontoc culture, traditions, and arts, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) approved the three project proposals of the municipality for implementation this year.
With this, the NCCA represented by Executive Director Oscar Casaysay and the proponents inked a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) during the Grantees Orientation and MOA Signing on May 9, 2023, at the Mayor’s Conference Hall of the Bontoc Municipal Capitol.
First is the Documentation of Maligcong Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Department of Education (DepEd) Schools Division of Mountain Province with an approved fund of P150,000. The DepEd –Mountain Province is represented by Schools Division Superintended Benilda Daytaca.
Second, the Barangay Local Government Unit (BLGU) of Maligcong represented by Punong Barangay John Lac-ayen will receive funding from the NCAA amounting to P150, 000 for its approved project proposal on Training on Heritage and Cultural Tourism.
Third is the Profiling and Documentation of Bontoc Cultural Practitioners with an approved budget of P150, 000. The Bontoc LGU is represented by Bontoc Mayor Jerome “Chagsen” Tudlong, Jr.
Mayor Tudlong in his message extended his gratitude to the NCCA for its continuous support to the municipality adding that the approved projects to be implemented are of importance in the preservation of Bontoc’s cultural heritage and tradition. He added that the outputs will serve as additional reference materials readily available to the public.
Likewise, the mayor is optimistic that the two project proposals to be implemented in Barangay Maligcong would be of great help in achieving the UNESCO-Greece Melina Mercouri International Prize for the Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes.
On the part of the Bontoc LGU, the Municipal Tourism Office provided technical assistance to the proponent-grantees during the preparation of their respective project proposals.
The other grantees are Tadian LGU for its approved project proposal on Local History Writing Workshop; Honeylette Kimmayong on Profile Assessment of the Ayangan Culture Bearers of Lagawe, Ifugao; and Barangay Poblacion, Hungduan for its project proposal on Revitalizing the Art of Gong Beating and Dancing of the Tuwali Ethnolinguistic Group of Hungduan in Ifugao.** Alpine L. Killa-Malwagay, Bontoc LGU
