DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 31 July)—The newly renovated Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) session hall highlights textiles from the city’s 11 tribes to remind Dabawenyos of their “rich culture.”
The framed textiles, which can be found at the front of the SP secretariat table front-facing the audience and city councilors, is the “highlight” of the newly furbished session hall, Vice Mayor J. Melchor Quitain Jr. told reporters Tuesday after he toured them around the SP to show the building’s recent renovations.
These are textiles from Bagobo-Klata, Bagobo-Tagabawa, Matigsalug, Ata, Ovu-Manobo, Sama, Kagan, Maguindanao, Iranun, Maranao, and Tausug.
“When we talk of our culture, part of that are the 11 tribes, Christians and migrants from Luzon and Visayas. In our conversation with the city architect, it was noted that our rich culture is remembered only during Kadayawan, once a year,” Quitain said.
Kadayawan is an annual festival in the city, celebrated throughout the entire month of August.
“We thought, why not make it the theme or to highlight the 11 tribes of Davao City, so that everyday Dabawenyos will know that we have a rich culture,” Quitain added.
He said the session hall is 98 percent complete, with only some fixing needed for the air conditioning.
Aside from the framed, installed textiles, it has a new LED wall, sound system, swivel chairs for the vice mayor and city councilors, UV-printed SP logo, air conditioning units, and audience chairs.
Outside the session hall, a gallery of former and current city officials are on display, mimicking a museum.
Quitain said the hall will be ready for use next Tuesday, August 6, for the city council’s next session. It will also host Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte’s state of the city address.
While renovation was ongoing, the SP held its sessions at the third floor of the legislative building, intended as conference room but with foldable walls.
The P11-million worth of renovation, the first since 1995, only took seven months, Quitain said.
Apart from the session hall, all other parts of the SP will be renovated, such as the old city library (a new city library was built along Ponciano St. in 2022), which will be converted to conference rooms, pantry, prayer rooms and internet server rooms.
The SP lobby is still undergoing renovations, which includes tile replacement, improvement of the ceiling, doors, and others.
At the entrance, a local café featuring Davao’s local coffee will be installed. New fire detection and alarm projects will also be completed as well before 2025. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
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