Gov. Lacwasan signing Executive Order 28 declaring July 30 every year as “Timicheg Day . “
BONTOC, Mountain Province – The provincial government, in its support to the World Day against trafficking, declared July 30 every year as ‘Timicheg day against trafficking in persons” in the province.
The United Nations General Assembly has designated July 30 of every year as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons to raise awareness of the plight of the victims and to promote and protect their rights.
The province localizes the commemoration through the memory of a local man named “Timicheg” who was a victim of trafficking.
Timicheg (one name) was one of the “Bontoc Igorots” who were brought to Belgium and exhibited in a fabricated “Bontoc Village” at the Ghent International Exposition. They were made to showcase their tribal life for the entertainment of foreign audiences, a condition that clearly fall in today’s definition of human trafficking.
Atty. Cheryl Daytec, the OIC Regional Director of the Department of Migrant Workers, urged on Monday, July 21, 2025, the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to pass a resolution declaring July 30 every year as “Timicheg Day against trafficking in persons” to memorialize the injustice not just for Timicheg but the Igorots.
But the honorable members of the august body opted to wait for the Executive Oder to be issued by the provincial governor.
Later in the afternoon, Governor Bonifacio C. Lacwasan, Jr. issued Executive Order No. 28, series 2025, “declaring every July 30 as Timicheg Day Against Trafficking in Persons” in the province, enjoining educational institutions to incorporate the 1904 St. Louis, 1909 Seattle, and 1913 Ghent expositions into local history instruction, and to integrate awareness of human trafficking and illegal recruitment in school programs”.
Lacwasan stated that his Executive Order, effective immediately, shall be regarded as an act of historical rectification. He specified that “the memory of Timicheg and the other Igorots who were trafficked and exploited during the expositions should not be relegated to silence”.
A search for the family of Timicheg and his other companions in the Ghent exposition in 1913 is ongoing. Information gathered that certain families in Bontoc have narratives to tell.
It was known from Daytec that a tunnel in Belgium is named after Timicheg. The “Timicheg Tunnel”, as referred to, is still being used at present, she said.
The global movement against trafficking in persons is localized through the Executive Order declaring July 30 as Timicheg day and is seen as the first in the country to mark the injustice done to the Igorots in history.**Roger Sacyaten
