CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)--The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) sets the 9th DIWANG: Sagisag Kultura ng Filipinas competition grand national finals, December 8, 2021.

DIWANG: Sagisag Kultura ng Filipinas is a competition that started in 2013 as a flagship project of the NCCA’s sub-commission on Cultural Dissemination implemented by the Philippine Cultural Education Program (PCEP), in cooperation with the Department of Education (DepEd).

DIWANG aims to highlight the symbols of Filipino culture in the hopes of reigniting the Filipinos’ deep appreciation for national identity.

Four competitions are lined up for this year's DIWANG namely, the Gawad PCEP Para sa Pinakamahusay na Video Lesson ng Gurong Mag-aaral, Diwang Paskuhan: A Christmas Songwriting Development and Competition, which is in partnership with the Philippine Madrigal Singers.

The other two competitions are the Balagtasan, which is a Filipino form of poetic joust expressing thoughts are reasoning through speech and derived from the name of Francisco Balagtas, and the Culture-based Module Making.

PCEP Director Dr. Joseph J. Cristobal said during a recent online presser, “Ang kultura po ay bahagi ng araw araw nating ginagawa, kaya ang kultura rin ang magiging sandigan ng ating kaunlaran sa personal na buhay, sa tagumpay, ito din ang dapat na maging sandigan ng ating bansang Pilipinas para ito ay tunay na umunlad.”

(Culture is part of our daily life, culture is what we should lean on for personal development and success, our country, Philippines, should lean on culture for it to thrive.)

Cristobal said Sagisag Kultura ng Filipinas should be able to motivate students, teachers, businesspersons, and the public and integrate these to their profession, arts, or what they do for a living.

“Kapag ang kultura ay hindi naging pundasyon ng ating edukasyon mula basic hanggang college, magiging weak ang ating mga pananaw at hindi pakikinabangan ng ating sambayanan, lipunan at bansa ang ating propesyon kung ang ating natutunan ay hindi nakasandig sa ating kultura,” said Cristobal.

(If culture is not the foundation of our basic to college education, our vision becomes weak, and our country and people will not benefit from it if what we learned is not anchored on culture.)

The Sagisag Kultura ng Filipinas (Philippine Cultural Symbols) can be downloaded via ncca.gov.ph/philippine-cultural-education-program-pcep/sagisag-kultura/

The Culture-based Module Making was open to subjects in Basic Education (Grade 1-10), Senior High School Core Curriculum Subjects, Senior High School Applied Track Subjects, Specialized Subjects and the Special Program in the Arts.

The top 10 modules will be awarded during the Grand National finals and the winners will each receive P10,000, a trophy and certificate of recognition.

For his part, Ramon Abrera, education program supervisor of DepEd-10, said there are three entries to represent northern Mindanao in the Culture-based Module Making competition – from Misamis Occidental, Ozamiz City, and Lanao del Norte.

The 9th DIWANG: Sagisag Kultura ng Filipinas Grand National Finals will be done, online, through Zoom, December 8, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. via PCEP FB Live @pcepofficial. (SAYU/PIA-10)