Inday Loren Reopens Antique Harvest, Launches Book on SLTs

In an effort to promote the culture and arts of Antique, as well as boost tourism and trade in her home province, Senator “Inday Loren” Legarda today will reopen the Antique Harvest Fair and launch the book, Everyday Culture: Our Schools of Living Traditions.

This year’s Antique Harvest will be held from March 20 to 26 at the Robinsons Place Antique. It aims to promote Antique’s culinary heritage and tourist destinations and help the local producers to generate more income and orders.

“Following the success of its first and extended run in December 2018, we are relaunching the Antique Harvest, which promotes the province’s agricultural produce, crafts, and other food products and provides our kasimanwas with livelihood opportunities,” said Legarda.

“What I love about this project is that it is a fusion of three advocacies close to my heart—support for our micro and rural enterprises; the promotion of our culture through local products that are part of our traditions; and the promotion of ecotourism,” she said.

Legarda added that showcasing local products to more people not only generates more income but also presents opportunities for growth because entrepreneurs are exposed to consumers who may have ideas or opinions to improve and innovate.

“As we hold more Antique Harvest Fairs in the future, I would like to see more participants and new entrepreneurs join because we hope that the enterprises we have here now have already progressed and gained access to bigger markets,” Legarda said.

Meanwhile, the Senator also presented one of her book projects on culture, the Everyday Culture: Our Schools of Living Traditions. It features facets of the country’s cultural heritage that have become part of everyday living and aims to prove that preservation and propagation of the Filipino traditional knowledge and artistry is possible in this fast-paced age.

Among the ethnolinguistic groups featured in the book is the Ati community of Antique, an ethno-linguistic group in the province that continues to observe its traditional way of life, including hand embroidery, bamboo musical instruments, as well as the buri and nito weaving in the sitio of Pantad, Igcalawagan, Tobias Fornier.

It also highlights the Meroy Kareñosa, the Enati version of the much-loved native dance in the Visayas and the culture of the Pantad Ati Tribe Organization.

Legarda said this is the first of a series of books on Schools of Living Traditions (SLT), which will serve as educational and resource material for students, researchers, artists and cultural workers. It aims to generate deeper awareness, appreciation, and recognition of the traditional designs created and produced by our indigenous communities.

Legarda has been supporting SLTs since her first term as senator and initiating various programs to promote living traditions as an effort to conserve cultural heritage while also providing livelihood opportunities for indigenous communities.

“This project is part of my commitment to preserve heritage. It is my hope that this book will not only promote knowledge on our traditions, but also encourage more Filipinos to protect our heritage,” Legarda concluded.