DavOr eyes Mandaya tribal dwelling as UNESCO heritage site

MATI CITY, Davao Oriental, Oct 26 (PIA) Davao Oriental Provincial Governor Corazon Malanyaon assured to push Sitio Sangab, Barangay Pichon, Caraga as a world heritage site before the United Nations Educational  Scientific, Cultural  Organization (UNESCO) as the Mandayas maintain their culture and tradition despite the modernization.

She praised the indigenous peoples in the area for their love and preservation of their cultural practices. 

The indigenous peoples celebrated the 16th Kalindugan Festival October 25 as thanksgiving to the Deity in guiding them to preserve their cultural tradition.

The festivity became more meaningful with the issuance of the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title or CADT-01, granted to them by the government through the National Commission on the Indigenous Peoples.

Malanyaon said she already discussed the opportunity of the bringing the place to the UNESCO as a heritage site with the tribal chief Likid Coper Banugan.

She said with the issuance of the CADT, the Mandayas can now truly assert their right to run their affairs and to preserve the land and their culture.

Malanyaon observed residents in the place still wear their traditional clothing and maintain their farming, fishing, justice system, and peace and order.

“They are able to practically preserve their ways of doing things,” she said.

Malanyaon hoped to boost their effort in making the place a cultural tourism site with the assistance from the Department of Tourism and the Department of Public Works and Highways following the declaration of the province as a priority area for tourism. (PIA 11-Joey Sem G. Dalumpines)