‘Gabii sa Kabilin’ bags an Anvil Award
Cebu City , March 04 (PIA) – The ‘Gabii sa Kabilin’ or Night of Heritage 2010 bagged an Anvil award of Merit for public relations program—sustained basis: arts and culture and heritage tourism.
The award was given to an NGO in Cebu, Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) for its efforts in helping develop local heritage appreciation with a cultural event that has grown into one of the biggest in Cebu , the ‘Gabii sa Kabilin’.
The ‘Gabii sa Kabilin’ is the only museum and cultural event of its kind in the Philippines that is held every last Friday of May with the aim of raising the awareness about Cebu ’s rich culture and heritage.
Patterned after Germany’s and Europe’s ‘Long Night of the Museums’, the nighttime heritage tour features museums and heritage sites in Cebu City that open their doors to the public beyond the conventional hours, specifically from 6 p.m. to 12 midnight.
Visitors only need to purchase a P100-ticket to gain access to all the participating museums and see all the presentations as well as P50 for the bus and tartanilla (horse-drawn rig) rides to and from the museum and cultural sites.
The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) in collaboration with the Visayas Associations of Museums and Galleries, Inc. (VAMGI) started organizing the ‘Gabii sa Kabilin’ in May 2007 to mark the International Museum Month and the National Heritage Month celebrations in May.
In 2009, about 729 visitors were registered. The number more than doubled to 1,800 participants in 2010, recording a 125-percent increase in ticket sales.
According to RAFI communications officer Haidee Palapar, from four participating museums in 2007, the ‘Gabii sa Kabilin’ features nine museums—Casa Gorordo Museum, Cathedral Museum of Cebu, Basilica del Sto. Niño Museum, Fort San Pedro, Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House, Museo Sugbo, 1730 Jesuit House, University of Southern Philippines Foundation-Rizal Museum, and Sacred Heart Parish Alternative Gallery—in 2010.
In last year’s ‘Gabii sa Kabilin’, nine barangays in Cebu City—Santo Niño, Tinago, San Roque, Tejero, T. Padilla, Cogon Ramos, Pari-an, Zapatera, and Day-as deployed their tanods to secure the routes as well as volunteers to man information desks and drive designated buses back and forth selected venues, Palapar said.
In a press release RAFI’s executive director for Culture & Heritage unit Dr. Jocelyn Gerra said, the award is a challenge for the people running the museums to improve their programs in order to attract more and sustain the interest of the public on culture and heritage.
“We hope our exposure through the Anvil Awards will encourage organizations in and outside Cebu to replicate the ‘Gabii sa Kabilin’ in their respective areas and tweak the program according to their needs,” Gerra added.
For Msgr. Carlito Pono, president of the Visayas Association of Museums and Galleries, Inc. (VAMGI) the award is a wake-up call for the Cebu community to appreciate the role of museums in community development.
“Museums are not just repositories of things but they are constant reminders of who we are and the kind of community we want to be. Gabii sa Kabilin is a statement of Cebuano culture, appreciation, and preservation,” he added.
The ‘Gabii sa Kabilin’ would not have been possible if not because of the collaboration of various museums and galleries in Cebu and in other provinces in the Visayas, institutions, business and private sectors.
Other partners included the Cebu Provincial Government; Cebu City Government; Cebu City Police Office; Cebu City Traffic Operations Management; AboitizLand; Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa; and City Savings Bank.
Officials from the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation and the Visayas Association of Museums and Galleries received the recognition during the 46th Anvil Awards’ “Gabi ng Parangal” on Feb. 18 at EDSA Shangri-La Hotel, Mandaluyong City .
The Anvil Awards is given yearly by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines in recognition of outstanding public relations programs and tools designed and implemented in the past year. (PIA-7 Minerva BC Newman with reports from RAFI-Nancy R. Cudis)
Badjao’s meeting school for the first time
By: Aileen P. Lariba
Cebu City, March 3 (PIA) -- Known in history books as “Sea Gypsies” or commonly known nowadays as Badjao, this proud minority’s dignity seems to have faded in time.
History tells us that the seas use to be their comfort zone, a place of safety and livelihood but the war that surrounded them coupled with the illegal fishing groups that uses dynamite and high-tech fishing trawlers in their homeland Mindanao prompted these people to journey for a safer environment.
Today, Badjao can be found everywhere. Considered to be one of the oppressed and displaced tribe in the country today, they build their houses with wood scraps, rice sacks and cartons without consideration for toilet and amidst the bustle of city life, Badjaos are seen selling wares and begging on the streets as their means of livelihood.
This was the life that Lucia Isnani 65 year old from the Badjao Community in Mambaling, Cebu City came to live with since they moved to Visayas in the 60’s.
She has eight children to which she does not even know how old, except for her 13, 11 and 3 years old because these were the only ones who went to school.
“Wala ko mu eskwela kay wala may ni-ingon nako eskwela.” (I did not go to school because nobody told me to go to school) said Lucia.
Nobody in the Badjao community in Lucia’s time went to school, nor visited a health center. Most of them rely on the mandate of their inherited cultures and practices dictated by their forefathers and Datus.
However, when DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program was implemented, things in the Badjao Community of Cebu City made a turn around as women in the community learned to read and write.
“For a year now together with the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), education has always been encouraged every Family Development Session (FDS).
What really prompted the illiterate Badjao women to take reading and writing classes was Land Bank-Plaza Branch’s prodding to learn reading and writing so they can do banking transactions and minimize the chances of being deceived” said Tears Zapatalo-Lim, City Link.
Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Pantawid Pamilya) is a poverty reduction program of the national government implemented by DSWD.
It provides conditional cash grants to extremely poor household with children 0-14 years old as much as P1,400/month for health (P500/month) and education (P300/month/child but a maximum if three children only).
To continue receiving the said conditional cash grant, set of conditions pertaining to health and education have been identified for the beneficiaries to comply such as pre-natal and post-natal care for pregnant women, children 0-5 must have immunization and monitored weighing.
As for education, children starting three years old must attend classes at least 85% of the time and while the children get educated, so does the parents during their Family Development Session which they are required to attend at least once-a-month.
It was during these sessions that the City /Municipal Link like Tears can slowly inject social change for the better.
Lucia is starting with the basics of pre-school, from how to hold the pencil to learning her ABCs, but she does it with pride just as her cultural heritage call for.
Her biggest incentive is being able to bond with her schooling children as they help their mother meet school head on, a step at a time. (PIA-7/mbcn & DSWD-7 Info Officer)