BAGUIO CITY – The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) expects to receive more proposals to document indigenous health practices as it opens the 2021 competitiveness grants program.
Dr. Edwin Antonio, head of the national committee for Northern Luzon, in a virtual press conference on Wednesday, said they are anticipating an increase in proposals on health and healing practices of the indigenous peoples (IPs) and communities.
He said there is a need to document traditional healing practices especially now that the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic is plaguing the world.
Antonio said that in the past years only very few submitted proposals in relation to indigenous and traditional health or healing practices but this year might be different.
There were even years when there were no proposals from the said program categories.
Ferdinand Isleta, chief of the policy formulation and program division of the NCCA, said there are 19 sub-commissions and program focus where proposals can be aligned. One of them is the documentation of traditional healing practices.
He said that for 2021, there are four slots for proposals on documenting healing practices, each worth PHP100,000.
Isleta said that while there is a limit to the number of proposals that will be approved, the commission can divert savings from other program categories to accommodate a possible spike.
He also said that supplemental funds could be allotted for proposals that are worth funding like those related to indigenous health and health-related practices.
“We can give it a chance by funding it if it has merits,” Isleta said.
The NCCA annually accepts proposals for funding related architecture and allied arts, cinema, dance, dramatic arts, literary arts, music, and visual arts. Proposals that relate to cultural arts, cultural communities, and traditional arts as well as cultural dissemination and others can also be submitted.
“Tuloy ang pagdaloy ng kultura, tuloy ang pagdaloy ng buhay (life goes on and culture goes on),” said Antonio in inviting the public to submit their proposal until September 30, 2020. **By Liza Agoot , PNA
