The yearly Grand ‘Ammungan’ Festival set to be celebrated this month by the province from May 19-24 had its first staging as a mere cultural festival 37 years ago with  then Governor Carlos Padilla at the helm as a Congressman of  the Lone District of Nueva Vizcaya.

He poured full support and assistance to the ‘Ammungan’ (Gathering) festival to promote the rich cultural heritage of the more than 16 Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in the 15 towns and 275 barangays of the province.

A 1986 cultural festival dubbed ‘Ammungan’ hosted by the Nueva Vizcaya Historical Foundation (NVHF) under his wife, former Governor Ruth Padilla popularized the term and conducted extensive research on the cultural practices and traditions of IPs in the province.

“We trekked in the mountains to gather information from various IPs inorder to document their cultural practices and traditions to better showcase and communicate them to the public,” said former Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Regional Director and current Solano town Councilor Rudie Bueno.

The ‘Ammungan’ served as a venue where various ethno-linguistic groups were highlighted in a grand gathering.

Marichelle Costales, provincial tourism officer and current Director-General of the festival, said  the festivity finally became the tourism brand of the Founding Anniversary of Nueva Vizcaya since 2009 after its transition as Vizcaya Week in the early 1990s and ‘Panagyayaman’ (Thanksgiving) from 1996-2008.

“The Grand ‘Ammungan’ Festival is a distinct gathering in thanksgiving of all IP s and migrant groups in the province. It is an expression of unity, gratefulness and graciousness of Novo Vizcayanos. It is a collective manifestation of the natural embodiment of its people’s heritage and identity,” she said.

The Grand ‘Ammungan’ Festival is now included in the list of festivals in the country by the Department of Tourism (DOT).

During her term as Governor and onwards, Ruth Padilla institutionalized the IP Summer Workshop in partnership with the department of Education (DepEd) and the  National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), among others to teach young IPs on their respective cultural practices and traditions.

She said the IP Summer Workshop aims to ensure the  transfer of cultural knowledge, practices and traditions from one  generation to another.

With the sustained conduct of the IP Summer Workshop, former Governor Ruth Padilla then saw younger IPs performing their cultural presentations during cultural occasions and programs in Nueva Vizcaya, a far cry with the previous years where only elder IPs perform them.

“Our rich culture and tradition is our identity that should be passed on. We should be proud of our cultural identity,” she said during one of the IP Summer Workshops. (OTB/BME/PIA NVizcaya)