BAGUIO CITY — The Department of Tourism in the Cordillera Autonomous Region (DOT-CAR) is pushing for the so-called “creative economy” in the Cordilleras.
The concept is to boost the economy and the people’s livelihood through activities relating to the arts.
“For us to sustain the creative economy of the Cordillera, DOT will develop activities that will involve other provinces that will make tourists appreciate the creative talent and skills of the region’s people,” DOT- CAR Chief Tourism Officer Jovy Ganongan said on Thursday, describing the people of the Cordillera as “talented and skilled”.
In the last quarter of 2017, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) tagged Baguio City, along with 64 other cities in 44 countries, as “Creative City”.
This made the city part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for its distinguished crafts and folk arts.
Ganongan said Baguio is recognized as a melting pot of cultures, with the diversity of indigenous ethnolinguistic groups enriching the socio-cultural scene. Most of the city’s residents now are from the other provinces of the Cordillera.
Baguio as a melting pot has become the center of business and commerce, as well as education, in the entire Northern Luzon.
Ganongan said the designation is not an award but a recognition for the city’s inherent creativity. The same creative talent, she said, is innate in the people in the region’s other provinces as well. Ifugao, for example, has very creative woodcarvers. The other provinces like Mountain Province, Abra, Kalinga, Apayao, and Benguet, meanwhile, are known for their loom and hand weaving, metal crafts, basketry, and other creative arts.
These are on top of the region’s locals’ skills in stone and rock terracing, she said.
Ganongan explained that out of seven categories for UNESCO’s creative cities, Baguio’s designation falls under crafts and folk arts. This, she said, can be seen in the region’s products, which are purely inspired by the locals’ culture and environment.
The DOT official said Baguio’s creative cities title can be promoted elsewhere in the region, on which the department intends to focus, also to boost the locals’ livelihood. **Pamela Mariz Geminiano/ PNA
