Legarda pushes cultural heritage protection, backs UP Visayas projects

Senator Loren Legarda called for stronger integration of cultural heritage in policy and education as she led the launch of two ethnographic books on Panay’s indigenous communities at the University of the Philippines (UP) Visayas Iloilo City campus on Aug. 9, 2025.

“When we honor indigenous knowledge, we do not simply gain historical insight; we recover wisdom about how to care for the land, how to build community, how to live with balance and dignity,” Legarda said during the event.

“These lifeways, refined across centuries of adaptation, carry the seeds of our collective future if we have the humility to listen,” she added.

The publications, Panagway: The Ati in the Narratives and the Archives and Badbad: Untangling Archived Knowledges on Panay Bukidnon Life and Culture, were supported by Legarda as part of her long-time advocacy for ethnographic research.

She lamented the scarcity of literature on the Ati due to “systematic neglect” and the erosion of Panay Bukidnon language and rituals because of “poor political choices.”

Panagway, authored by Frances Anthea R. Redison, Kyla Agnes L. Ramirez, and Theodore Ricardo R. Bautista, documents Ati history, culture, and the challenges they face in sustaining traditions and asserting identity.

Badbad, written by Prof. Jose Taton Jr. and Josie Jane T. Tambirao, compiles rituals, epic stories, dances, music, embroidery, and environmental practices of the Panay Bukidnon, verified from dispersed archives and field research.

“These books… are testaments to a people who have long walked these lands… yet who, for centuries, have been written out, written over, or written thin—exoticized in textbooks, misunderstood in policy, or omitted from the narratives we teach and celebrate,” Legarda said.

She emphasized that restoring indigenous groups to the center of the national story is both a scholarly and moral obligation.

Legarda also turned over the newly renovated UP Visayas auditorium, which she supported for rehabilitation, affirming her commitment to bolster the university’s capacity to serve the public.

“As an alumna and as a four-term Senator, I will remain committed to ensuring that UP has the facilities, programs, research, and cultural infrastructure it needs to serve the nation,” she said.

“With our continued partnership, we affirm that through the University of the Philippines, the country is repaid many times over—in knowledge, in culture, and in service,” she added.

The senator has funded other UP Visayas projects, including theater restoration, campus expansion in Antique, and the UPV Museum of Arts and Cultural Heritage, alongside cultural mapping and indigenous knowledge publications.

She said the value of these investments can be measured in their real-world impact—whether in classrooms, livelihood improvement, tourism integration, or cultural preservation.