Embracing the past
Celebrate our heritage and our roots. This is the heart and spirit of two national events on Thursday, Oct. 29.
The two events commemorate the establishment of the National Museum of the Philippines and the National Commission of Indigenous Peoples in keeping with the provisions of the Philippine Commission of 1901 and Republic Act No. 8371 of 1997, respectively.
The Thursday events highlight the observance of the Museum and Galleries Month as mandated by Proclamation No. 798 issued in 1991 and the National Indigenous Peoples Thanksgiving Day (Proclamation No. 486 signed in 2003) apparently us an outcome of the signing of R.A. 8371 of 1997, which gave birth to NCIP.
Museums are responsible for the realization of national goals of preserving, enriching as well as promoting the dynamic evolution of our national culture and heritage. In the same vein, the recognition of indigenous peoples and cultural communities have become part of our national consciousness and that recognition must lead to the promotion and protection of these indigenous peoples’ rights.
As we observe these events this week we must continue to embrace our past with genuine sincerity, open-mindedness and tolerance for it is in doing so that we find substance and meaning to what we are today and the direction we are taking as a nation and people. NWI
