DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 1 Aug) – The Kadayawan Cultural Village featuring the replicas of the traditional houses of the city’s 11 tribes will be reopened on Friday as the city allows in-person activities for the month-long Kadayawan Festival after two years of online celebration due to the pandemic.
Second District councilor Al Ryan Alejandre, spokesperson for the Kadayawan Executive Committee, told Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5) on Monday that the tribes are hastening the repair works on the traditional houses as they hope to get them ready for the opening this Friday.
He said each tribe is allocated P250,000 for the renovation and repair, and most are now
nearing completion.
“Based on our meeting last Wednesday, some houses are at 70% while others at 80% or 90% completion,” he said.
The village situated at the decades-old Magsaysay Park was first opened during the Kadayawan Festival in 2017 and has since become a tourist attraction where the Moros and Lumads showcase their diverse culture and tradition.
The city’s tribes comprise six Moro tribes (Taosug, Maguindanaon, Iranun, Kagan, Maranao, and Sama) and five Lumad tribes (Klata, Ata, UboManuvo, Matigsalog, and Tagabawa).
Alejandre said that the tribes would offer food tasting of their traditional delicacies to visitors.
He added that local health officials would monitor the preparation and handling of the food to avoid another outbreak of diarrhea in the city, which recently occurred in Toril due to contaminated street food at a night market on Rasay Street and Toril Public Market.
Dr. Ashley Lopez, City Health Office (CHO) head, reported a total of 217 diarrhea cases with six deaths from July 15 to 28, and officially declared the end of the outbreak last July 29.
“We know we have a problem right now with the diarrhea outbreak. The CHO will monitor the preparation of the food, cleanliness, and orderliness,” Alejandre said.
He said that the local government would no longer require participants to get vaccinated but added that they will be required to fill out health declaration forms a day before their scheduled activities.
Alejandre said there are 17 contingents who have signed up as of August 1 for the “Indak Indak sa Kadayawan,” one of the festival highlights, on August 20. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
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