IP WAY OF LIFE. The Baguio City Council has approved on third and final reading the creation of a Schools of Living Tradition (SLT) in the different educational institutions in the locality. The SLT will give students a first-hand experiential learning mode with the help of cultural experts from the indigenous peoples' groups that will provide factual and correct information about the history, chants, dances, and way of life of the IPs in the region. (PNA file photo by Liza T. Agoot)
BAGUIO CITY – The city council here has approved on third and final reading an ordinance seeking to provide an avenue for students in all public and private learning institutions to study the cultural practices of indigenous peoples (IPs) in the Cordillera Administrative Region.
Jordan Habbiling, city council information officer, in a press release on Monday, said the ordinance authored by Councilor Arthur Allad-iw aims to re-inculcate the indigenous cultural heritage in students of the different schools here by allowing the young people to learn the history, chants, dances, and way of life of the IPs in the region.
“The establishment of the Schools of Living Tradition (SLT) program shall provide an opportunity for students in public and private educational institutions in the city to experience first-hand the cultural heritage of the Cordilleran IPs by bringing them close to the IP community,” the statement said.
Habbiling said under the approved ordinance, students shall study cultural practices except for ritual-related activities, materials and instruments used during death rituals, and sickness and pandemics which are exclusively for the exercise of elders, bearers, and practitioners.
He said that the ordinance shall foremost hold tight and observe sensitivity towards the cultural practices covered by the SLT and those concerned shall always seek the advice of the elders, practitioners, and villagers considered to be knowledgeable or bearer of knowledge of the said practices.
“The ordinance emphasizes that the conduct of any activity under the SLT shall be consulted first to the elders, practitioners, or villagers to avoid misrepresentation or any other forms of negligence. Approval from the IP community shall be sought first by the students or their advisers in cases of sensitive cultural practices or those enumerated by law needing the consent of the concerned indigenous groups as mandated by Republic Act 8371 otherwise known as the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997 and other issuances on the matter by the concerned agency,” the release said.
The ordinance requires the creation of a committee in the schools to come up with, implement, and evaluate plans and programs under the SLT. Inter-school meetings or seminars may take place where learning institutions may share studies, researches, and practices that would further improve the SLT activities and programs in their respective schools.
Elders of indigenous groups may be tapped as resource speakers.
The ordinance passed during the last session of the city council has been transmitted to the City Mayor’s Office for signing. (PNA)
