‘Dayaw’ on ANC celebrates culture and heritage of original Filipinos

Sen. Loren Legarda expressed her profound regret when asked by Tempo entertainment editor Nestor Cuartero for her reaction to the violent dispersal of protesters that included Indigenous People (IPs) outside the United States embassy last week.
Speaking at the media launch of the second season of the documentary Dayaw (which starts airing on November 3, Thursday, 6 p.m. on ANC, the ABS-CBN News Channel and ANC HD),  Sen. Legarda described the IPs as having been here before the coming of the Chinese and the Spaniards. They are our roots, she stressed — the true Filipinos, whose culture and heritage we are celebrating in the month of October. Dayaw means exactly that in many local dialects — celebration. It also means “honor” in Ilocano and generally connote inspiration.
But the way the commemoration turned out, it became the opposite — desecration.
Activists from Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and various indigenous groups attacked a police van at the height of the protest in the vicinity of the US Embassy in Manila. Due to years of oppression, the IPs have been politicized to fight for their rights. Police allegedly retaliated and ran over some protesters. The activists, in return, ran for safety, but several people were hit by the police vehicle.
It is good there are groups that promote the interests of IPs positively. “We, in ABS-CBN and ANC, have deemed it our responsibility, in fact our duty, to do our part in promoting this knowledge about our past, and pushing for an enlightened citizenry. Thus, this partnership with the NCCA. We are very proud to be launching the second season of  Dayaw,” summed up Ging Reyes, head of ABS-CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs.
Marking her return to primetime television, Sen. Legarda brings her advocacy to the small screen in partnership between ANC as represented by Reyes and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) as repped by Rene Napeñas. Dayaw is a six-part, 30-minute weekly documentary series that focuses on the preservation of the culture and heritage of the country’s IPs.
For this season, the three-term senator will explore the arts, culture, traditions and beliefs of various indigenous groups from the north to the south of the Philippines to show how each contribute to the identity of the Filipino.
Sen. Legarda started her television career at age 18, and was considered the most awarded broadcast journalist of her time. She was the executive producer and anchor of PEP Talk, which was the first telemagazine show of ABS-CBN in the post-Edsa era and won more than 30 awards including the Catholic Mass Media hall of fame. She was also the executive producer and anchor of The Inside Story and the anchor of the highly respected and multi-award winning news program, The World Tonight, with the late Angelo Castro Jr. before she retired from ABS-CBN to run for the Philippine Senate in 1998.
Decidedly one of the most respected and the most awarded broadcast journalists of her time before becoming a public servant, Sen. Legarda has been known for her advocacy of protecting the rights of the IPs and the preservation of traditional culture. In Dayaw, she hopes to showcase how knowledge and appreciation of the indigenous ways can make every Filipino whole, and how this can also strengthen love for our country, as she has experienced it herself while doing the documentary.
“My interest in indigenous peoples’ culture goes back three decades and they never fail to amaze me. Whenever I talk to IPs or visit indigenous communities, I always discover marvelous things about our culture and heritage. Doing the Dayaw TV series is an enriching experience for me because I continuously learn about our indigenous culture with every episode. We have a very rich culture that we must all try to learn about and I hope that through Dayaw, Filipinos will be inspired and encouraged to discover their indigenous roots. To me, it is not just another television show, but a legacy for the Filipino people,” Sen. Legarda said.
Each episode of Dayaw promises a rich treasure trove of images, insights, traditions and beliefs from various groups, juxtaposing differences and similarities, creating a synthesis of cultures.
In Episode 1, the documentary zeroes in on the ways we preserve, prepare and present food — from the salt-making tradition of the North, to the Halal of the South.
Episode 2 tackles how the environment shapes traditional homes, and will look at the Ivatan home, the Ifugao Bale, the T’boli longhouse, the Bahay Kubo and the Bahay na Bato.
In Episode 3, the Senator will show the different rituals that employ music, chant and dance, such as the Subli of Batangas, the Tud Bulul chant of the T’Boli, and the Bulul ritual of the Ifugao.
Episode 4 will take on an even more spiritual route, as it surveys the rich spiritual traditions of the Agusanon Babaylan, the Mambobolo and Mananambal of Siquijor and the Baglan of Abra.
The last two episodes, meanwhile, will focus on traditional adornments on the body, from the Kalinga batok tattoos of Whang Od and the traditional jewelry of the Ivatan, to the heirloom beads of the Kalinga and the Gaddang, to the modern jewelry of Bulacan.
With Dayaw offering a grand opportunity to promote traditional Filipino culture and heritage, NCCA chairman Felipe de Leon Jr. said he is looking forward to more seasons of the documentary series, emphasizing how it can help strengthen unity among Filipino people.
“Even if we have 1,000 Dayaw episodes, these are not enough to showcase the great variety and diversity of Filipino cultures. With 131 languages, it means we have 131 ethno-linguistic groups and the best way to know the Filipinos is really to know who they are. If you look at Dayaw, it really represents what we call the IKSP of the Philippines: Indigenous Knowledges Systems and Practices and this is the only way to bind the country. You know, any kind of society becomes united by showing them their strengths. Only the positive can unite the people; negative things only tend to divide. We have to showcase the strengths of the Filipinos through Dayaw,” he said.
“Doing the Dayaw TV series is an enriching experience for me because I continuously learn about our indigenous culture with every episode. We have a very rich culture that we must all try to learn about and I hope that through Dayaw, Filipinos will be inspired and encouraged to discover their indigenous roots. To me, it is not just another television show but a legacy for the Filipino people,” summed up Sen. Legarda.
Don’t miss Sen. Legarda’s return on TV as she takes us to another season of Dayaw on ANC. Explore the culture and lives of indigenous Filipinos.

For more information, visit the official Facebook account of NCCA (https://www.facebook.com/NCCAofficial) and news.abs-cbn.com/anc, or follow ANC on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ANCalerts) and Twitter (@ANCalerts).