Boac, Marinduque, Philippines — The MIMAROPA Regional Development Council (RDC) Special Committee on Culture had convened its 1st semestral meeting on Thursday, May 23, 2024 at Governor’s Hall, Provincial Capitol, Boac, Marinduque with Provincial Administrator Mike Velasco, Department of Trade and Industry Regional Director Rudy Mariposque and Marinduque State University President Dr. Dodie Zulueta.
In lieu of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Executive Director Dr. Eric Zerrudo, NCCA Project Management Head Corine Olazo served as SCC Chairperson with the help of the SCC secretariat head Jesuben Angel Bongolan. There were at least four agenda and a couple of other matters.
A report about Palawan Culture and Arts Summit was discussed. Then, the “Passing the Kalutang Legacy” was elaborated by Assoc. Prof. Celeste Romulo from Philippine Women’s University. Much of the reaction and engagement ensued from the engaging discussion on knowledge transfer and cultural enrichment in Marinduque province by the discussant from PWU who hailed from Boac, Marinduque.
Additionally, the Provincial Tourism and Cultural Officer, Rino Labay laid out the premise of the Moryonan, Tubong, Kalutang Triennale and ICH Trifecta Marinduque with continuing the UNESCO nomination for moryonan in the representative list of intangible cultural heritage. Likewise, since there had been an earlier engagement with Tubong at the National Museum – Marinduque-Romblon area there had been a suggestion to revitalize and document the other forms or variants of tubong in the province. Moreover, Kalutang as Assoc. Prof. Romulo zeroed in, its culture bearer and practitioners Tirso Serdeña deserved another round of nomination to Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan.
After the said agendum, the SCC secretariat gleamed over the private sector representations of culture and arts organization in the region. Dr. Randy Nobleza, who presented about Marinduque Creative Island Innovation a semestral ago spotlighted the relevant networks such as the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Kaisa sa Sining, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) Sentro ng WIka at Kultura and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) Local Historical Committees Network among others. He also glossed over the NCCA Philippine Cultural Education Program offering of Graduate Diploma in Cultural Education (GDCE) in Marinduque for the region, there is also a network of National Association of Cultural Educators and Scholars (NACES).
The SCC Chair also highlighted the Philippine Development Plan on Culture and the Arts for 2024-29 and the NCCA 2025 Call for Proposals on Competitive Grants. The SCC meeting also paved way for the DTI Regional rebranding strategy of MIMAROPA Naturally with Obra Mimaropa by DTI Regional Director Mariposque. The Provincial Tourism and Cultural Office Consultant Director, Danny Mandia, also commented on the translation and use of Kultura for Culture which was mentioned by Marian Pastor Roces during the Palawan Arts Summit.
Beforehand, the SCC participants were welcomed by traditional tubong in the provincial capitol. As mentioned by Marinduque Governor Presby Velasco, represented by PA Mike, Marinduque is culture-rich from the welcoming gesture of tubong, the musicality of kalutang and religious gesture of Moryonan.
(Randy T. Nobleza/Sentro ng Wika at Kultura/Island Innovation Academic Council representative)
