UPV researchers share expertise on indigenous knowledge in various forums

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In celebration of the 2022 Indigenous Peoples Month, UP Visayas experts on indigenous knowledge systems, through the UPV Indigenous People’s Resource Center, spoke at various forums and conferences around the country.

Ms. Anna Razel L. Ramirez of the Information and Publications Office and current Project Development Assistant at the Office of the Chancellor was invited to speak at LikHaraya 2022 via Zoom on October 15, 2022, by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts Likhaan Resource Center and the Office of Sen. Loren Legarda. Ramirez discussed her paper, “Pagpadayon ka Duna Nga Kaaram: The Suguidanon of Panay.”

Ms. Ramirez and Kyla Agnes Ramirez of West Visayas State University also presented a paper on the “Documentation of the Panay Bukidnon Language through Suguidanon (Epics) Research” during the 2022 Philippine Language Conference on October 25, 2022, at UP Diliman, Quezon City.

The event was organized by the TEBTEBBA Foundation (Indigenous Peoples’ International Centre for Policy Research and Education), Ugnayang Pambansa para sa Katutubong Kaalaman at Talino (UPAKKAT), and 170+ TALAYTAYAN Multilingual Education Inc.

At the same conference, Prof. Jonevee Amparo, Coordinator of the UPV Sentro ng Wikang Filipino, also presented a paper on “Exploring Practices and Language Policies: Language Endangerment and Revitalization in Panay Bukidnon Communities” on October 26, 2022. Her co-presenters for this paper were UPV Professor Emeritus and Anthropologist Dr. Alicia P. Magos and Ms. Anna Razel L. Ramirez.

“The Panay Bukidnon: Keeping the Suguidanon Alive, A Shri Vishayas Conference,” held at Roxas City, Capiz on October 27, 2022, also featured resource speakers and reactors from UP Visayas, including Dr. Alicia Magos, Prof. Jose Taton, Jr. of the UP High School in Iloilo, and Anna Razel L. Ramirez.

Magos gave a message during the event as the respected authority on Panay Bukidnon epics and culture, having worked on these subjects for more than 30 years. Prof. Taton, on the other hand, was reactor to the Keynote Speech of Dr. Felipe Jocano, Jr., the son of the first Filipino anthropologist who researched the Sulodnon and the Hinilawod Epic and a professor from the University of the Philippines Diliman. Meanwhile, Ms. Ramirez discussed with young artists, cultural researchers, and workers the “Importance of Cultural Mapping in Preserving Local Heritage: The Antique Experience.”

On October 28, 2022, Ramirez was also invited as a speaker for the Panubli-on, Social Science Day at the West Visayas State University Cultural Center, to speak about Panay indigenous peoples through her presentation, “Notes from the Field: Working Towards the Preservation of Panay IP Culture.”

Finally, on October 29, 2022, Mr. Sashah Dioso, Research Associate of the Center for West Visayan Studies, gave a lecture via Zoom on the topic, “The Babaylans of Western Visayas” organized by Palm Grass for a conference at Cebu Heritage Hotel.

Prior to all these events, the Indigenous People’s Resource Center under the Western Visayas Studies Center, in coordination with the Visayan Studies Class 101, held a webinar entitled “Dunang Kinaaram: A Webinar on Indigenous Knowledge, Cultural Identity and Resource Conservation” on October 19, 2022, via Zoom. (UPV IPO)