PIA pushes Ibanag culture preservation

By Ma. Jessica Pabalinas and Oliver T. Baccay

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan -- The Philippine Information Agency - Cagayan Information Center launched Wednesday two literary contests highlighting preservation of the Ibanag culture.
    Angely L. Mercado, officer-in-charge of PIA region 2, said the events were in support to Indigenous Peoples' Month celebration this October, featuring the lives of the Ibanags, their culture, traditions, beliefs and rich history.

She said Ybanag is already a dying language that is why continuous advocacies and promotions are needed to preserve the language.

Oliver T. Baccay, information center manager, discussed details of the Ibanag short story writing contest and the quiz bee during the virtual launching which was attended by local media practitioners and culture heritage advocates.

The short story writing aims to highlight the life, tradition, culture, belief, history or literature of the Ibanags.

Stories must be written in Ybanag language with 1,000 minimum words but not more than 2,000. Entries should be submitted online through email addresses: piacagayan@gmail.com or oliver.baccay@pia.gov.ph.

For the Quiz Bee, one question will be posted every day, from Mondays to Fridays which started Oct. 5 to Oct. 23 every 12 noon.

There will be 15 questions to be posted, five each for the easy, average and difficult levels.

The contests are open to all ages and can be participated in by interested individuals worldwide, Baccay added.

The winner for the short story writing contest will receive P5,000, the second placer will receive P4 000, the 3rd placer will receive P3, 000 while five individuals will be given consolation prizes of P100 worth of cellphone load. The youngest and the oldest writers will also receive each P2,000.

For the online quiz bee, winners will receive P5,000 , P4,000 and P3,000 for the first, second and third placers, respectively. Five individuals will also be given P100 worth of cellphone load.

A special incentive of P2,000 will also be awarded to the individual who can answer all the 15 questions.

Benjamin De Yro, local historian, said there have been several efforts on the preservation of the Ibanag culture but urged stakeholders that more efforts should be initiated to ensure that the next generation will still live by the said culture.

"Preserving the Ibanag culture starts at home. Parents should teach their children how to speak the Ybanag. They can still teach their children of other languages but they should not forget their original language," De Yro said.

On her part, Eloisa Mabborang, teacher and a scholar of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, said the education department has been promoting and preserving the Ibanag culture through its ‘Indigenous Peoples Education Program’ and the ‘Mother-Tongue Based teaching’. 

"We now realize the importance of teaching our students their original language. Parents should also help in enriching the knowledge of their children about the Ibanag culture and in practicing them to speak in the Ybanag language," Mabborang said.

Mabborang also encouraged Ybanag writers and advocates to publish more literatures to include dictionary and magazines related to the Ibanag culture. -- MDCT/OTB/PIA-Cagayan