05.22.2014
Cebu City will host the closing ceremonies of the 2014 Taoid Heritage Program Celebration, a series of events for the May National Heritage Month of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the leading agency for arts and culture headed by its chairman Felipe M. de Leon Jr. and OIC-executive director Adelina Suemith, and its Subcommission on Cultural Heritage (SCH), headed by Rev. Fr. Harold Ll. Rentoria, OSA.
The closing will be held on May 31, 2014, in the Queen City of the South, preceded by a Eucharistic Mass led Cebu archbishop Jose Palma, D.D., at 5:30 P.M. at the Pilgrim Center of the Minor Basilica of the Santo Niño de Cebu. The closing program will follow at 6:30 P.M. with performances by Rev. Fr. Jonas Mijares, basilica rector; the San Diego Dance Group; the University of the Visayas Chorale; and the Basakanon Performing Group. There will be keynote speeches by Cebu governor Hilario Davide III, Cebu City mayor Michael L. Rama, and NCCA chairman De Leon. Fr. Rentoria will officially closed the celebration.
The National Heritage Month is celebrated for the whole month of May every year since the signing of Proclamation No. 439 on August 11, 2003 “in recognition of the need to create among the people a consciousness, respect and pride for the legacies of Filipino cultural history and love of country.” The NCCA leads in its celebration through the SCH. This year, the event 2014 Taoid Heritage Program Celebration, with the theme “Pamanang Pinoy,” was conceptualized. It officially opened with Taoid sa AlMaSor in Daraga, Albay, graced by Albay governor Joey Salceda and the new Taoid ambassador Enchong Dee. Similar activities were held in Sorsogon City on May 2 and Masbate City on May 5. This was preceded by Taoid sa Limasawa on March 31 in Limasawa, Southern Leyte, coinciding with its 493rd commemoration of the First Mass of the Philippines. Similar celebration will be held in Northern Mindanao—in Jimenez, Misamis Occidental, on June 17; in Iligan City on June 18; in Cagayan de Oro City on June 19; and Jasaan, Misamis Oriental, on June 20.
The Taoid Heritage Program aims to be a yearlong cultural intervention program, assisting local communities in the conservation of their cultural heritage.
The steering committee of the Taoid Heritage Program 2014 is composed of Rev. Fr. Harold Ll. Rentoria, OSA, head of SCH and the National Committee on Archives; Dr. Stephen S. Totanes, vice head of SCH and head of the National Committee on Historical Research; Lucille Karen E. Malilong-Isberto, SCH secretary and head of the National Committee on Monuments and Sites; Dr. Marilou P. Tadlip, assistant secretary and head of the National Committee on Libraries and Information Service; Robert Bjorn O. Santos, SCH member and head of the National Committee on Art Galleries; and Amado R. Alvarez, SCH member and head of the National Committee on Museums.
For more information, contact the NCCA Public Affairs and Information Office (PAIO) head, Rene Sanchez Napenas at (632) 527-2192 or 0928-5081057; or email us at ncca.paio@gmail.com.
