Baguio City, Philippines - The province of Apayao and the Regional Development Council (RDC) - Committee for the Indigenous Peoples Concerns (CIPC) will host the 36th Cordillera Month celebration this coming July.
With this year's theme, "Celebrating One Resilient, Diverse, and Inclusive (CORDI) Journey Towards Autonomy", this year's celebration hopes to revive the festive nature of the event as experienced before the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to RDC Vice Chair and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) CAR Regional Director Susan Sumbeling, the RDC has approved the Work and Financial Plan of the said event during their first quarter meeting last March 9.
This year's supposed host Abra will not be able to do it as they are still recovering from the ordeals brought by the earthquake that hit the said province last year. RDC Chair and Apayao Gov. Elias C. Bulut, Jr. offered to take charge of the hosting. Apayao last hosted the event in the 2015.
"RDC Chairman and Apayao Gov. Elias C. Bulut, Jr. has accepted and was very much willing to host this year's celebration," Sumbeling stated.
Among the activities approved for the celebration include the traditional Unity Gong Relay, webinar series on indigenous knowledge, systems, and practices, media forums, Information and Education Campaigns (EIC), and Cordillera Day programs.
The RDC also approved the long-awaited Search for the Mr. and Miss Cordillera Youth Autonomy Ambassadors or "Timek ti Agtutubo ti Cordillera para iti Autonomiya" which was first introduced as Dayag ti Cordillera when the Apayao hosted in 2015.
Meanwhile, Bulut stated that the hosting of Cordillera Month is a way to promote the province, its people, its rich culture and traditions as well as its unique eco-tourism destinations. Bulut sees this event as one of the ways to revive the province's tourism industry recovery efforts after the pandemic.
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