DUMAGUETE CITY – Education Secretary Leonor Briones has highlighted the need to preserve the country’s culture, saying that it should not be allowed to die.
“It is only in the Department of Education (DepEd) that every aspect of the country’s culture is preserved on a massive scale,” Briones said Tuesday as she graced the opening ceremony of the National Festival Of Talents (NFOT) in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental.
Briones, who hails from Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, said that it was only when she became secretary of Education that she realized the sway dance is performed differently in each region. In Negros Oriental, it is called “kuradang”.
She quoted statements made by a political scientist who described the political system and behavior of the country as very much similar to the dance “pandanggo ng ilaw” where the dancer has a glass on top of her head with a lighted candle and two other glasses also with lighted candles in each hand.
“Dancing the pandanggo requires balance and you have to dance gracefully because the audience is watching,” she pointed out.
According to Briones, politics is like dancing the “pandanggo ng ilaw” because “you have to dance with whoever you need to like the electorate, and you have to sway gracefully.”
She explained that the country’s culture, dances, songs, and poetry not only give people joy and beauty but reflect what is real, what is happening in the world outside and this is good for the children.
Briones further said education is not only about curriculum or computers, but it is also about culture and values which have to be passed on from generation to generation as these are reflections of real life.
Negros Oriental and many other provinces are very rich in legends, in songs and dances and even ethics, and she stressed that it is high time to relive the same.
The festival of talents is being staged to showcase what was taught when Sec. Briones was still a child -- the Filipino dances and songs in schools.
DepEd is the only major department of government where no event takes place without somebody offering a song or a dance number or poem, unlike in other institutions, she said.
“I’d like to think that if we are looking for an institution in government which has carried on and which has adjusted and accepted the change even in contemporary terms of our culture, of our dances, the way we look at things, it is in the Department of Education,” Briones said in her welcome message.
The holding of the NFOT is to celebrate the advocacy and commitment of DepEd and its royalty for the country’s culture, the various dances, literature, and poetry.
Negros Oriental Governor Roel Ragay Degamo gladly welcomed the event, which is being undertaken in Dumaguete back to back with the National Schools Press Conference, a competition of talents and skills in various arts and performances and an opportunity for the province to share its natural attractions and rich cultural heritage.
With over 10,000 visitors in Dumaguete and Negros Oriental as a result of these two events, Degamo told Sec. Briones PHP10 million was being added to the economy of the city if each participant spent an average of PHP 1,000 just for one week.
He told Briones the province would be more than willing to host these two events annually.
For his part, DepEd assistant regional director Dr. Salutiano Jimenez told participants NFOT is a plenum of the best of the best from different regions. He said one of the best things that a participant can achieve is to get a chance to hone his skills while competing with equally competent talents from 17 regions and also have the chance of visiting new places.
However, Jimenez pointed out, NFOT is not just about competition and places, it is about discovering new techniques that will add to their respective skills and to rediscover themselves more in dealing with other people in different situations.
He reminded the participants that NFOT is more of a festival than a competition. He told them to just perform because it is their passion, that they want to improve themselves.
“If you continually compete with others, you become bitter, but if you continuously compete with yourselves you become better,” Dr. Jimenez said. (PNA)
