OLANGUHON, Damitan, Dalwangan, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon (BukidnonNews.Net / 25 April 2026) — The Bukidnon Daraghuyan Indigenous community marked gains in cultural preservation and development while offering prayers for peace and environmental protection as it opened the 1st Daraghuyan Nature and Cultural Festival on April 25 at the foot of Mt. Kitanglad.
Bae Inatlawan Adelina Docenos Tarino led the opening activities and described the gathering as a reaffirmation of their presence, struggle, and shared responsibility for the tribe and their land.
“Naa ang IP diri sa Kitanglad, taliwala sa kalisod ug kapobrehon, nagsubay sa pangagamhanan ug sa kaayuhan sa tribu,” she said, underscoring how the community continues to work with government while advancing the welfare of the tribe despite hardships.
She said the community draws strength from gains achieved over the years, noting that some of their long-term plans “have bloomed and borne fruit.”
The opening day featured a riverine ritual, a short cultural and welcome program, and the ceremonial power switch-on of an energization project covering about 40 units of an 80-unit tribal housing initiative implemented with the National Housing Authority and the Malaybalay City government.
The gathering also coincided with the 19th anniversary of the Tulugan Heritage Center and the 20th year since the community relocated to the Olanguhon area.
The tribal hall, also referred to as the Mt. Kitanglad Cultural Center, was built in 2007 with support from the World Bank Small Grants for Indigenous Peoples. In 2009, the community’s application for a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) was approved.
Festival activities highlighted several development initiatives, including the energization project with Bukidnon Second Electric Cooperative and the City Government of Malaybalay, the turnover of a service vehicle funded under the Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project (MIADP) of the World Bank and the Department of Agriculture. Other projects presented were a solar power initiative with the Provincial Government of Bukidnon, road projects supported by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), MIADP, and the Malaybalay City government, and a three-storey tribal building supported by Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri.
Livelihood and cultural initiatives were also showcased, including basket and mat weaving, abaca thread weaving (hablanan) in partnership with Maybank and Anthill, soil painting and sculpture house, and coffee production activities such as nursery development and sorting under programs supported by CPPAP Non-Destructive Livelihood Activities (NDLAs), DENR-NGP, MIADP, and Good Cup Cebu. The community also presented 3D mapping initiatives with partners from Ateneo de Davao University, the Mangyan Mission, and other groups.
Bae Inatlawan emphasized that the community is part of the Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park, which she described as one of the most active protected areas in the country. She said the Daraghuyan-Bukidnon communities have sustained forest protection and biodiversity conservation through cultural norms and sacred traditions, while promoting non-destructive livelihoods and resilience.
“We have our own established traditional governance structure and cultural practices in place,” she said in a separate statement.
She added that the festival also aims to show the sacrifices and accomplishments within the Daraghuyan Ancestral Domain, or Piglamahan, passed down by their ancestors.
In her letter of invitation, she highlighted the community’s pride in its protected forests, sacred zones, and water sources, noting that these ecosystems sustain not only their own people but also communities in lowland and urban areas.
Since 1997, the community has worked with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources–Mt. Kitanglad Protected Area Management Board, local government units surrounding the park, and the Kitanglad Integrated NGOs, Inc. (KIN). They are also active partners in cultural initiatives at the barangay, city, and provincial levels.
Bae Inatlawan noted that a road project from the Dalwangan Highway to the village is about 50 percent complete, with remaining sections already passable.
The festival carries the theme “Prayers for global peace, order and stability towards sustainable development” (Angampo din ta kalibutan para hu kalinaw, kahusay hu kalig-on daw malahutayon kalamboan).
Central to the celebration is the overnight ritual called Kaliga on April 26, a solemn ceremony that includes prayers, lamentation, dance, and gong drumming. Adult members of the community will remain awake or sleep minimally to sustain the chanting from dusk until dawn.
Bae Inatlawan said the ritual will also include prayers for peace amid global tensions.
“The rituals offered in this occasion will also include prayers to end the armed conflicts, for peace and forgiveness to reign; for solidarity in all of humanity, and in safeguarding of nature in general,” she said.
She acknowledged that preparations for the festival were done hastily and kept simple.
“Now people can say there is such activity here. We have such festival like this here,” she said. (BukidnonNews.Net)
Bae Inatlawan leads the opening ritual by the Sawaga River upstream in Sitio Olanguhon, Damitan, Dalwangan, Malaybalay City
Bae Inatlawan (second from left) leads the opening ritual by the Sawaga River upstream in Sitio Olanguhon, Damitan, Dalwangan, Malaybalay City
The cultural and welcome program was held in front of this three-storey tribal building
Bae Inatlawan leads the opening ritual by the Sawaga River upstream in Sitio Olanguhon, Damitan, Dalwangan, Malaybalay City
Apu Bai Tinangkil Herminia S. Saway of the Talaandig of Songco, Lantapan speaks during the opening program
Vehicles from visitors of the festival park along a road inside the 80-unit Tribal Housing Project of the tribe with National Housing Authority and the City Government of Malaybalay
As festival activities unfold, line personnel from Bukidnon Second Electric Cooperative work on the installation of electric wires for the energization project.
Bibo Tinhay (second from right), a tribal youth artist who joined the Ben&Ben Sounds Like Change Songwriting Workshop, performs Magkaugnay, a song by Joey Ayala during the opening program.
Bukidnon Daraghuyan youth perform traditional dances to welcome participants to the 1st Daraghuyan Nature and Cultural Festival in Daraghuyan, Dalwangan, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon. The presentation featured dances such as the Binanog, which imitates the movements of a hawk, and the Pig-agawan courtship dance, along with cultural songs.
Bukidnon Daraghuyan youth perform traditional dances to welcome participants to the 1st Daraghuyan Nature and Cultural Festival in Daraghuyan, Dalwangan, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon. The presentation featured dances such as the Binanog, which imitates the movements of a hawk, and the Pig-agawan courtship dance, along with cultural songs.
All photos by Ray John Molion / BukidnonNews.Net volunteer
RJ Molion is a BA Sociology student of Bukidnon State University from the higanon Tribe in Kalabugao, Impasug-ong, Bukidnon. He is one of the five completers of the Tagtigusan, a community documentation and reporting training project organized by the BukSU Kalandang Taw Center for Peace Studies, Bukidnon Studies Center, and BukidnonNews.Net for young people from Bukidnon’s tri-peoples communities.
