Ten indigenous games, including Bangkaw, Pana, Palo Sebo, Tumba patis and six others are featured events when the Indigenous Peoples (IP) Games – Visayas are held in Bago City, Negros Occidental this weekend.
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Richard is guest of honor, making a second visit to the IP Games after witnessing its comeback event in the Province of Palawan last November 2023.
Seventeen local government units (LGUs) from Negros Occidental will be participating in the said event.
The PSC team, headed by Commissioner Matthew ‘Fritz’ Gaston, previously paid a courtesy visit to the Office of the Bago City Vice Mayor Ramon Torres, and finalized the details of the event together with the local secretariat, Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representatives (IPMRs), partner agencies including the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), City’s Department of Education (DepEd), and other partners to discuss the upcoming IP Games.
“We would like to acknowledge our LGU partner and host, Bago City, Negros ccidental, headed by Mayor Nicholas Yulo, together with Vice Mayor Ramon Torres,for wholeheartedly accepting the invitation to hold the Visayas leg of the IP Gamest his year in Bago City”, said Commissioner Matthew Gaston who is in charge of the gency’s IP Games program.
The showcase in Bago City will serve as the second leg of the IP Games this year, following the successful first leg in the Municipality of Salcedo, Ilocos Sur last April.
Also, part of the program in each leg is the IP Forum, a public discussion on th importance of IP communities and the need to promote local culture particularly to the younger generation, and IP Photo Contest which will showcase photo entries highlighting moments during the games proper as another way to promote the IP Games.
The conduct of IP Games is made possible with the help of IPG private partners, Otsuka-Solar, Inc. (Pocari Sweat) and Milo, who regularly provide support through product giveaways.
The PSC has been organizing the IP Games since 2018 following the United Nations Educational and Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s appeal for the preservation of the cultural heritage of the World. The IP Games made a successful comeback in Palawan last November 2023 after the pandemic.
With the aim of conducting the event in each of the three (3) major islands of the country, the third leg in Mindanao will be hosted by General Santos City late next month as part of the celebration of October as the IP month.
