Legarda: OPM a vital avenue to preserving Filipino heritage

Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda praised the vibrant Filipino music scene as an integral part of preserving Filipinos’ cultural identity and heritage.

Legarda, long heralded as a staunch defender and promoter of Filipino culture, said that original Pilipino music (OPM) is another avenue in chronicling history.

“OPM is a fun way to reconnect with the Filipinos’ psyche – it helps us advance Filipino arts and culture and promote our impressive work to the world,” mentioned Legarda in commemoration of the Linggo ng Musikang Pilipino celebrated this week.

“Filipinos are known all over the world for their exemplary musical skills. The propagation of OPM is another way of letting everybody else know how we are as a people,” she added.

The four-term senator sponsored and authored Senate Bill 1841, or the bill amending Republic Act No. 10066, also known as the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009, to enhance the preservation of the Philippines’ cultural assets. The bill mandates the local government units to conduct a cultural heritage mapping of their areas for both tangible and intangible, and natural and built heritage.

Moreover, under the proposed measure, the Department of Education (DepEd) shall formulate the cultural heritage education programs both for local and overseas Filipinos to be incorporated into the formal, alternative, and informal education, with emphasis on the protection, conservation, and preservation of cultural heritage property.

“With the establishment of the Cultural Education Program, we can help promote not only mainstream OPM but to help preserve the indigenous music various ethnic groups in the Philippines have been creating for hundreds of years,” mentioned Legarda.

“Recognizing the past and enriching the present are important steps to help safeguard the Philippines’ intangible cultural heritage for our future,” she continued.

The Linggo ng Musikang Pilipino was established under Proclamation No. 933, s. 2014 to achieve the long-term goal of revising OPM.

It is also seen as a way to advance Filipino art and culture and contribute to the development of the economy through employment and revenue streams to various industries. (end)