Legarda: Let Us Bring Our Culture Closer to the People

As the country starts the celebration of the National Heritage Month, Senator Loren Legarda called on the government and Philippine culture and history enthusiasts to initiate and support efforts to revive the Filipinos’ interest in their heritage.

“It is quite a difficult task to make our people embrace our culture since many have long forgotten about it. But if they refuse to visit our history, we must let history visit them. Let us bring our culture closer to the people,” she stressed.

Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Cultural Communities, explained that the various fiestas all over the country that celebrate every town or province’s history should be continuously enriched; while the conduct of exhibits on Philippine culture must be done regularly.

“I have organized a few exhibits at the Senate to raise our people’s awareness on our rich heritage. We can also do that in schools, office buildings, even in malls where everyone can see. People may only take a little interest at first, but the more people see it the more they will talk about it. That is what we must aim to do—to make our culture part of our everyday life.”

The Senator also explained that although technology threatens to overshadow national heritage, the products of progress can also be used as tools to bring Philippine culture into full bloom again.

She said that the use of audio-visual presentations and internet in school can make history a more interesting subject for students. Moreover, the internet can be a venue to showcase the richness of the Filipino culture through photo and short film contests with Philippine Heritage as a subject, and whose winners would be adjudged by online voters through various social networking sites.

“Technology can actually be a friend of history. We can use it to revive our citizens’ interest in our culture. The internet is a strong tool to help showcase Filipino culture not only to Filipinos but to the international community,” she pointed out.

“In reviving our heritage we must make use of the talents passed on to us by our forefathers—ingenuity, creativity, resilience and resourcefulness – and at the same time make use of the tools and technology of the present. We must find common ground in all our efforts, find where they cross and intersect, and weave them together, creating one unbreakable fabric that is the Filipino soul,” Legarda concluded