IP dance troupe from Pres. Roxas wins national contest

KIDAPAWAN CITY – An indigenous dance troupe in North Cotabato’s President
Roxas town has earned national recognition and brought honors to the province
after being adjudged as one of the national winners of the National Music
Competition for Young Artists (NMCYA), officials said today.

Lito
Fernandez, Department of Education (DepEd) Cotabato Schools Division Program
Coordinator, said in a statement that Datu Inda Elem. School of President Roxas
town was adjudged as national winner for Traditional Music Ensemble Category of
the NAMCYA along with other finest dance troupe and ensembles in the country.Declared winners along with Datu Inda dance troupe were Bolton Elementary School Cultural Dance Ensembles and Pantungan Elementary School Dance, Arts and
Literary Development (DALID) Troupe – both from Region 11 and P. Kindat
Elementary School Music Ensemble from Region 12 and Sangasang Ud Liwang Ethnic
Ensemble of the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR).
This
really is a great feat not only for Deped Cotabato but for the entire province
and a proof that our students are highly competitive in cultural, sports and
academic competitions” said Fernandez.North
Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza lauded the honors the dance troupe has brought
for the province even as she vowed for more moral and financial support to
students in national competition representing the province. We
aim for the students of the province to continue to give their best and bring
the name of Cotabato Province in every competition. It is also our aim for them
to become productive individuals and future leaders in line with the advocacy
of Serbisyong Totoo,” Mendoza said.
Datu
Inda Elem. School’s 15-member ethnic dance troupe performed the Sunggod Te Kamanga”
(Feeding the Whetstone), a Manobo-Kulamanen tribal dance which depicted the
rich culture and tradition of the Indigenous Peoples (IP) in Pres. Roxas and in
other IP communities during the series of NAMCYA provincial and regional level up
to the national competitions.According to Emmanuel T. Lumayon, Director of Datu Inda
Elem School Dance Troupe, during the provincial and regional the
Manobo-Kulamanen children gave their best renditions of the ethnic dance and
portrayed the life of the people.
The children gracefully showcased their native dance
and conveyed the message of life, love and unity of the IP’s despite of their
different traditions and beliefs to the judges and the spectators,” Lumayon
said.
The competition from local to regional to national
level is one way of helping the IPs preserve their culture and tradition.