SENATE OFFICE, Manila, November 7, 2010-The Isang Habi, Isang Lahi exhibit organized by Senator Loren Legarda, Chair of the Committee on Cultural Communities will formally open  at the Senate on Monday to honor the rich culture of the Indigenous Peoples (IPs), preserve their distinct heritage, Filipino ancestral wisdom and to rekindle the pride of the country’s cultural diversity.

The Senator said that aside from her personal collection, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Nayong Pilipino Foundation and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples will share their pieces of jewelry, textile and costumes source in the country to show that each ethno-linguistic tribe is distinct.

Legarda is scheduled to deliver her speech in the Senate Floor to appeal that they have to work together to hear the chants of elders, move with dances to the deities, weave organic fabrics, learn sustainable agricultural and resource use methods, and cure sickness through methods that have withstood the test of time.

“There are many forces that work against the Indigenous Peoples, those that divide and destroy their very character and existence such as mining, displacement due to war,  being uprooted from the very soil to which they are spiritually and fundamentally linked, lack of education opportunities including extra-judicial killings,” she said, adding that there have been developments in legislation taking into consideration the growing recognition of IP rights.

In this connection, Legarda has filed the following: Senate Bill No. (SBN) 1342 Anti-Religious and racial Profiling Act, SBN 1365 No-Mining Zones, SBN 1371 Protection of Internally Displaced Persons, SBN 1372 Equal Employment Opportunity for IPs, and the   SBN 1371 Resettlement for Under-Privileged and Homeless Citizens affected by government development projects.

Legarda said that this exhibit shall strengthen the different ethno-linguistic tribes, share their different cultures and practices, their beliefs, unite Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, into one fabric that binds together and makes stronger the Filipinos, adding that as a people, let these differences unify and solidify the mold of our national identity. (Jason de Asis)

to NDRRMC. (Jason de Asis)