PH Consulate General in Agana Hosts “Kalinangan” Workshop in Guam
Dr. Edwin Antonio lectures on Philippine indigenous culture before the Filipino community in Guam on 13 November 2019 (PCG Agana photo)
AGANA 19 December 2019 –– In celebration of the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages (IY 2019), the Philippine National Indigenous Peoples Month, and the Filipino American History Month, the Philippine Consulate General hosted “Kalinangan: A Lecture-Workshop on Philippine Indigenous Culture” for the Filipino community in Guam on 13 November 2019 at the Philippine Consulate General Sentro Rizal Agana.
Dr. Edwin V. Antonio, Katutubo Exchange Philippines (KXPH) Founder and Program Director, served resource speaker.
KXPH is a Philippine-based volunteer organization of cultural workers advocating the promotion of local traditional arts, indigenous cultures and languages.
Acting Consul General to Agana Mark Francis C. Hamoy, in his welcome remarks, said “As Filipinos, we are barely aware of that intangible culture that undeniably forms a significant part of Philippine history and heritage. I hope that after this lecture-workshop everybody will learn something significant about Philippine indigenous culture.”
Vice Consul Alex O. Vallespin recognized the representatives from umbrella organization Filipino Community of Guam, Filipino Ladies Association of Guam, Cebu Association of Guam and other FilCom members.
Dr. Antonio presented on traditional arts; indigenous peoples groups; Baybayin, the Philippines’ ancient script; indigenous games; and donning of indigenous attires on some of the guests, and shared some of the challenges KXPH faces in its educational and cultural outreaches.
The Philippines has 110 ethnic groups, 130 ethno-linguistic groups, and 185 languages and is ranked 137th out of 159 countries based on the index of cultural diversity biased towards linguistic variations as opposed to genetic diversity and other variations. END
Acting Consul General to Agana Mark Francis C. Hamoy (seated 3rd from left), Vice Consul Alex O. Vallespin (standing rightmost), Cultural Officer Rosemarie S. Ramos-Blaser (standing 3rd from right), Dr. Edwin V. Antonio (standing 2nd from right) with members of the Filipino community donning Philippine indigenous attires (PCG Agana photo)
For more information, visit https://www.aganapcg.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.philippinesguam.org or https://www.facebook.com/PHinAgana/.