BONTOC, Mountain Province – The intent of Executive Order No. 28, series 2025 of Governor Bonifacio C. Lacwasan declaring July 30 of every year as “Timicheg Day” is gaining adherents.
The Mountain Province State University, in collaboration with the Department of Migrant Workers, Office of Workers Welfare Administration, and the provincial government, conducted the forum on “From Timicheg to date: protecting the indigenous peoples from illegal recruitment and human trafficking” at the Gov. Leonard Mayaen Sports Complex on August 4, 2025.
In a message read by Atty. Dexter Lingbanan, MPSU President Edgar Cue declared that “illegal recruitment and human trafficking are no longer distant issues” as he acknowledged “that new threats have emerged – silent and cunning – that now endanger the hopes of the youth, the dreams of our families, and the trust within our communities”.
Incidentally, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan lent support to Executive Order No. 28 when it passed Resolution No.2025-334 expressing full support of the SP in the declaration of July 30 every year as ‘Timicheg Day”.
Resolution No. 2025-334 resolved further “that all local government units, educational institutions, and provincial offices concerned are encouraged to participate in the observance of Timicheg Day, promote historical awareness of colonial expositions, and integrate trafficking prevention education in their respective programs and curricula”.
Cheryl Daytec-Yangot, Regional Director of DMW in the region, in the Forum Session “From Timicheg to Date: Protecting Indigenous Peoples from Illegal Recruitment and Human Trafficking”, reminded the audience in the forum that history has justified that Mountain Province has been spared of colonial influences and exploitations in the past.
She exhorted the audience to resist the exploitative trafficking in persons in the different communities of the province. “We should not allow ourselves, our kins to be subjected to exploitations.
She also asked the relatives and heirs of the expositions with Timicheg to come forward and tell their narratives. There are reported relatives of those companions of Timicheg in Bontoc and elsewhere to further boost the documentation of the exploitations done.
Those in attendance in the forum included students, some former OFWs, and personnel of the provincial offices and other agencies as RD Cheryl invited them earlier during the flag raising program.**Roger Sacyaten
