A Bagodo woman is in traditional clothing at work at the Bagobo Cultural Village in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. — BW/MMPADILLO

THE BAGOBO Cultural Village in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur has been granted an initial P150,000 funding by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) for its development as a School of Living Tradition (SLT). The budget will be used for the renovation of the Balay Kalimudan in the village, which will be used as the SLT center. “Previously, SLT was just a training but now it is an enhanced SLT for five years. The community will make an SLT master plan wherein every art form will have a curriculum. It is like a non-formal education,” Julius R. Paner, Sta. Cruz senior tourism operations officer, told Businessworld. Under the proposal prepared by the Bagobo-Tagabawa indigenous people (IP), the three traditional practices that will be taught are dressmaking, musical instrument playing, and dance. Mr. Paner said one of the main challenges in implementing the program is finding young members of the IP community who will participate, noting that many of them no longer even speak their dialect. He said they have approached the Tibolo High School principal to assist them in identifying potential participants. An initial 15 enrollees for the dressmaking program are targeted when the SLT opens this month. — Maya M. Padillo

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