INTERNATIONAL and local experts in traditional sports will headline the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC)-backed 2021 Indigenous Sports and Games Webinar Series: Preserving and Promoting the Rich Cultural Heritage of our Ancestors starting on Thursday.
The four-part webinar series is in conjunction with the celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Month which will bring together renowned resource speakers in the field.
Tourism Officer of Hungduan (Ifugao) Haydee Hermosora will open the series with a lecture forum on “Punnuk,” a post-harvest thanksgiving ritual practiced and performed by residents of Hungduan and later tagged as one of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2015.
Professor Jo-Ann Gimenez Grecia of the Department of Professional Education at University of East Manila will talk about “Teaching Philippine Games: Perspective from Non-Indigenous Physical Educator” on October 21.
Director Ferdausi Cerna of the Bureau Office of Education, Culture and Health of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples will explain “Cultural Sensitivity” on October 28.
Capping the series is Professor Pere Lavega, president of the European Association of Traditional Sports and Games, who will present “Traditional and Indigenous Games as Intangible Cultural Heritage” on November 5.
PSC Commissioner Charles Raymond Maxey, oversight for the Indigenous Peoples Games program, said that he expects meaningful insights from the resource speakers.
“We believe that these honored resource speakers will further encourage not just the Indigenous Peoples but all Filipinos to promote and showcase our traditional games,” Maxey said.
Some 1,000 participants are expected to attend all four sessions which will commence online at 1 p.m. The webinar is held in collaboration with the NCIP and Pocari Sweat.