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by Johanna M. Sampan Reporter
For its closing festivities, the
Heritage Month showcased the city of Dumaguete in Negros Oriental.
The event is the project of the Filipino Heritage Festival Inc.,
National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCCA) and Philippine
Airlines.
The province of Negros Oriental
is situated at the Central Visayas island and consists of six cities
namely Canlaon, Bais, Bayawan, Tanjay, Guihulngan and Dumaguete
City, its capital.
Aside from its charm and beauty,
Dumaguete City is also known for the historical sites, one of them
is the Silliman University that was founded in August 29, 1901 by
Protestant missionaries of the Presbyterian Church, making it one of
the oldest American-established universities in Asia. The
institution was named after Dr. Horace Brinsmade Silliman, a retired
businessman and philanthropist from Cohoes, New York. The
university’s Silliman Hall now houses an ethno-anthro museum for
exhibition of artifacts and archaeological discoveries some of them
dating 2000 years old.
During the closing ceremony at
Sidlakang Negros Tourism Village, each of the 25 towns exhibited
their own handicrafts and indigenous food. Among the event’s
distinguished guests were Gov. Emilio Macias of Negros; Armita
Rufino of Filipino Heritage Festival Inc.; Ana Maria Harper,
director of Filipino Heritage Festival Inc. and Intramuros
administrator; and Araceli Salas, Filipino Heritage Festival finance
officer.
Rufino, in a welcome speech,
states, “It is indeed an honor for us that the closing ceremonies
of the Heritage Month is being held here in the historic city of
Dumaguete. Since its inception in 2003, the Filipino Heritage
Festival has visited various provinces to advocate promotion and
preservation of Filipino heritage. It has always been our belief
that a country without an idea of who and what they are as people
can never truly become a proud nation.”
She stresses that they strive to
conceptualize projects that bring out the soul of the Filipino
people, adding, “We always make it a point to hold most of our
activities in ancestral houses and places with historical value to
underline the significance of the tangible heritage in our
consciousness in the years to come. We hope that we would be able to
one by one re-introduce the values, history and culture of the
Filipinos.”
During the three-day closing
program, a set of activities and programs were presented such as the
Handuwaran (Recollection) photo exhibit, Leon Kilat and his
anting-anting theater play performed by the College of Performing
Arts of Silliman University, street parades, musical numbers and
Santacruzan.
Also located in Negros Oriental
is the 25-hectare Balanan Lake in Sandulot, Siaton. A 6.8-magnitude
strong earthquake in 1925 shook the town of Siaton, which caused a
landslide from the Sandulot Mountain. Stones and rocks from the
mountain created a natural dam in the river below. The created
reservoir was later to be known as the Balanan Lake.
“Don’t tell anyone of this
beautiful little place because we wanted to preserve Balanan
Lake,” Macias quips. With creative management and support from
such groups as the Filipino Heritage Festival Inc., the governor
hopes to make Negros Oriental a new tourists destination.
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