CDO opens Filipino Heritage month

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — This city’s Filipino Heritage festival leg ended on Friday signaling the opening of May as Filipino Heritage month. Festival finance officer Araceli Salas said that they are opening the festival in cities where people recognize their rich heritage. "We tend to forget and destroy the heritage that we got from our forefathers," said Ms. Salas in her message on her visit here to open the festival. She said that in order for the people to prepare for the future, they must propagate and celebrate the Filipino heritage. City mayor Constantino G. Jaraula who welcomed Ms. Salas together with visitors from Luzon and in other regions, said that this city is cradled by the river and the mountains. "We are cradled in the Macajalar Bay and of Mt. Kitanglad," said Mr. Jaraula. Visayas Island. He said that people who are now residing here are from Samar, Leyte, Bohol, Iloilo and Bohol. "What you see here is already freed from the rough edges," said Mr. Jaraula. "The district heritage of Cagayan de Oro is not something physical but something you can see in the hearts of the people," said Mr. Jaraula. Activities in celebrating the festival included traditional arts and crafts demonstration opening of Maranao weaving, Higaonon weaving, and Subanen basket and mats and decors and also soil painting. The city tourism also held the heritage sites tour on the Gardens of Malasag Eco-Tourism village and the Museum of Three Cultures of Capitol University and Xavier University Folkloric Museum and the La Castilla Museum of Liceo de Cagayan University. A walking heritage tour was also held at the Divisoria district and the San Agustin Cathedral. This city celebrated the four-day festival together with other cities in Luzon and Visayas which started on Thursday. — Geefe P. Alba, BuszinessWorld