SAN FABIAN, PANGASINAN – Christmas came early for NCIP-CAR employee, Miss Lilibeth Chapap of Mountain Province, who won first place in the NCIP Hymn writing contest conducted by the NCIP Central Office in celebration for IP month last October 2017.
It was during the NCIP-CAR office year ender assessment in San Fabian, Pangasinan when fellow officemates broke the news to Miss Chapap. This was after a long deliberation by the NCIP Commission En Banc as to which among the 8 entries, coming from different NCIP offices nationwide, won the NCIP hymn contest.
Surprised by the results, Chapap serenaded her fellow employees as the latter cheered her on. “I was not really expecting to win. I was not expecting anything. I was merely motivated during that time to compose something that reflects the mandates of the NCIP employees by mirroring their hardships in working for their advocacy for the Indigenous Peoples”, said Chapap before her fellow NCIP CAR employees.
NCIP Regional Director, Atty. Roland Calde, lauded Chapap at the same time challenging her fellow NCIP-CAR employees to also draw motivation from the community which they are servicing and to further immerse themselves to the IPs advocacies. “We hope to see fellow IPs singing and dancing the hymn that was composed by Chapap, especially the people whom Chapap extracted her inspiration from – the IP community of Bauko, Mtn. Province”, said Calde.
Chapap is known in the community of Bauko as a song composer where she writes songs in the local IP dialect depicting their daily lives, their daily chores, their work to their plights as IPs. She managed to record and compile her songs into an album. “This was my first time writing an English song because I was fond of writing songs in the local IP dialect”. Chapap is now considering writing more songs in the English language for a wider audience. But more importantly according to her, “to raise the awareness to the rest of the people on the stories of the IPs in the community”.
“This is indeed an early Christmas gift not only for me but the for the entire IP community particularly in the Cordillera”, Chapap added.
It can be recalled that the NCIP hymn was part of the Multilevel Arts Competition conducted by the NCIP Central Office in celebration of the IP month. The NCIP hymn contest was opened to all who were willing to join. However, it was only the entry of Chapap that reached the NCIP Regional Office which eventually represented the CAR in the national competition.
Also, among the victors in the national level, who happen to be Cordillerans are, Christina Lida of Baguio City National High School and Kristian Ivan Pacursa of Abra. They place 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the poster and photography contest. The results of the painting and photography contest were known in the early weeks of December.**
Rocky Ngalob
