Legarda champions culture-centered development at Koronadal’s 84th Foundation Day and 2025 Hinugyaw Festival

Senator Loren Legarda underscored the vital role of culture, indigenous traditions, and inclusive development as she joined the City of Koronadal in celebrating its 84th Foundation Anniversary and 2025 Hinugyaw Festival as Guest of Honor.

In her message, Legarda paid tribute to the everyday workers and culture bearers who shaped Koronadal’s identity and progress. She emphasized that true progress is measured not just in the number of projects but in how people, culture, and the environment are valued.

“Hindi lang pag-unlad sa bilang ng proyekto, kundi pag-unlad sa kung paano natin pinahahalagahan ang ating kapwa tao, ang kultura, at ang kalikasan,” Legarda said, as she lauded Koronadal for weaving its diverse histories and identities into a shared celebration.

She emphasized that the Hinugyaw Festival is rooted in thanksgiving and in the meeting of cultures, settlers and indigenous communities, Tboli and Blaan, Maguindanaon and Christian traditions, whose lives and livelihoods fill the city’s streets and institutions with meaning. Legarda highlighted Koronadal’s example of integrating culture and creativity into everyday governance and community life, describing this as the kind of development the whole country should pursue.

She underscored that when people know their own story, they are stronger in facing economic pressures, social division, and the impacts of climate change, and called on citizens to protect their lands and waters while remaining rooted in their heritage.

Addressing the youth of Koronadal, Legarda urged them to harness technology and creativity in the service of their heritage and communities, turning their everyday digital platforms into powerful spaces for storytelling, advocacy, and support for local products and indigenous cultures.

“Your creativity is not limited to filters and reels. You can use your phones, your writing, your drawings, your music to tell the stories of your forefathers, your communities, your culture and traditions. Gamitin niyo ang inyong talento at kakayahan para tulungan ang mga lokal na produkto, para itampok ang kalagayan ng lipunan, para ipagtanggol ang mga komunidad na madalas hindi naririnig,” Legarda said.

As Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Higher, Technical, and Vocational Education, she noted that increased education budgets and ensured scholarship allocations for state universities and colleges, including South Cotabato State College, place real opportunities directly in the hands of the province’s young people.

Legarda further stressed that gains in education, culture, and local development will only be meaningful if communities remain grounded in their values and shared sense of responsibility. She urged Koronadal’s leaders and residents to protect what makes the city distinct while opening more opportunities for its people, especially the younger generation.

“The City of Koronadal already has strong foundations with a rich mix of cultures, a tradition of hard work, and people who care about their kasimanwa. Take care of these strengths. Invest in your culture and traditions. Listen to your elders and indigenous leaders. Protect your lands and waters. Encourage our youth to dream big while remaining rooted,” Legarda said.

The four-term Senator has long worked with South Cotabato’s cultural communities through concrete initiatives on the ground. She has supported the establishment of weaving centers, cotton production assistance, and the provision of handlooms, equipment, and raw materials to help transform traditional weaving into a stable livelihood. Among her projects are the Lang Dulay Weaving Center and the School of Living Tradition in Lake Sebu, which not only safeguard Tboli cultural knowledge but also create sustainable income, strengthen intergenerational transmission of traditions, and build pride in the province’s indigenous identity. Legarda has likewise extended support to the province’s five Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) awardees in South Cotabato— Mabal Tabih weaver Fu Yabing, T’nalak master weaver Lang Dulay and Barbara Ofong , T’boli chanter Rosie Sula, and T’boli brass caster Bundos Fara—and secured funding for the establishment of National Museums in Koronadal and Lake Sebu as permanent homes for their works and the region’s cultural treasures.

“When I first visited South Cotabato years ago, I saw a land that listens to its indigenous communities; supports its micro, small, and medium enterprises; empowers its artisans; protects its surroundings; and trusts its young people,” Legarda recalled. She said returning for the Hinugyaw Festival has strengthened her commitment to back communities that place culture and nature at the center of their development choices.

Over a two-day working visit to South Cotabato, Legarda’s participation in the Hinugyaw festivities was complemented by on-the-ground engagements in Lake Sebu and Koronadal. She met with GAMABA awardees and culture bearers, visited weaving centers, and conducted site visits to the National Museum facilities in Koronadal and Lake Sebu—activities that, she noted, reaffirm the province’s role in showing the country that culture and creativity are not on the sidelines, but on the frontlines of real, sustainable progress. (30)