Bukidnon Tagolwanen, BukSU launch IP-focused radio program

MALAYBALAY CITY (OP-IPS/11 January 2021) The Bukidnon Tagolwanen Tribal Council and Bukidnon State University launched an indigenous peoples-focused radio program dubbed Kag-lambaga on January 8, 2021 on the university’s radio station DXBU 104.5FM.

The radio program was conceived with the partnership between the tribe and the university based on a memorandum of agreement signed on December 28, 2020 at the Office of the University President in the main campus.

Tribal head Atty. Bert M. Estrada, Datu Manhan-ayan, and IP education advocate Mr. Virgilio R. Namoc, Datu Balina-e, signed the agreement on behalf of the tribal council. Dr. Oscar B. Cabańelez, Datu Kahindugan, and Ms. Loreta Sol L. Dinlayan, director of the Bukidnon Studies Center, signed the agreement for BukSU.

The collaborative radio program, which airs and streams live every Friday, 3-4pm covers diverse topics on culture and language, and ongoing projects in the tribe’s ancestral domain. The discussion are intended to benefit the members of the Tribe and the university’s stakeholders.

Kag-lambaga is Binukid for “discussion or dialogue; exchange of ideas”.  

Before the maiden airing, representatives of the tribal elders and university officials attended a Bigola ritual at the Bukidnon Studies Center Hallway at 8a.m. on January 6, 2021.  The ritual symbolizes a call for the spirits to strengthen and provide guidance on the partnership in airing the episodes of the radio program.

The first episode, aired on January 8, featured an introduction about the program by Atty. Bert M. Estrada and Datu Virgilio Namoc.

The Kag-lambaga radio program is one of the projects of Bukidnon Studies Center, which aims to facilitate in the growth and development of the integrity of Bukidnon culture. In 2020, the unit aired a radio program focused on learning Binukid. Ms. Dinlayan served as the program’s resource person.  

More updates about the Kag-lambaga radio program and project are available on “Bukidnon Studies Center” Facebook page. (George Gorby E. Rubio/BSC Publication Contributor)