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Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Pakaradjaan: Basilan’s festival of solidarity


by Rene V. Carbayas

ISABELA CITY, Basilan May 23 (PIA) –The emergence of tourism industry as potential economic propeller of every town or province has made the entire Philippine archipelago as the bastion of local festivals.

Almost every town and city in the archipelago has their own version and taglines of a festival, celebrating unity and diversity, abundance of local products, and showcasing local culture and traditions.

A town or province is identified by its festival—its people’s culture, traditions, and lifestyle as expressed in street-dancing, spectacle, and pageantry. This display of extravagance is the Filipino’s way of celebrating life and our desire for prosperity, progress, and peace.

This same aspiration is very evident in the festival of Basilan. The island has unfortunately been known for its dark stories and events that painted an image as the “feared island” of the south. To change it from the “feared island” to the “revered island”, local authorities here believe that before attracting other people to Basilan, the locals must first be convinced of what the island has to offer.

Every year Basilan celebrates its founding anniversary on March 7 with activities that failed to meet expectations from various sectors. For the past years, the celebration has been observed as dull and less impacting both to the locals and outsiders.

Until last year (2011) when the different department heads of the provincial government met to reinvigorate the observance of the annual Basilan day, and the Pakaradjaan is born.

According to provincial tourism officer Gigi Carama-Junudi, the “Pakaradjaan” is a Tausug and Yakan term for merry-making or celebration, occasion, and event. The intention she said was for all sectors of society in all municipalities and city in Basilan, including non-ARMM Isabela City, to gather and showcase unity and diversity, products and culture of Basilan.

This year (2012) Basilan celebrates its 38th founding anniversary and the second year of the Pakaradjaan festival from March 1-7 with the theme “Solidarity: road to peace.”

The participation of various sectors in Basilan on the occasion was very significant for Basilan Gov. Jum J. Akbar who look forward to a more vibrant and meaningful celebration yearly, saying in Filipino that it has been quite some time that the provincial government has celebrated the province’s founding anniversary with week-long activities.

Akbar said they decided to celebrate it this “big” with Pakaradjaan to showcase the better and positive side of Basilan, more than the negative images that were being projected by various sectors.

Indeed, there are a lot of things that the world is missing on what Basilan could and has to offer. Tourism Officer Junudi said that first and foremost Pakaradjaaan celebrates the unity of Basileños contrary to misconstrued perceptions that “we are killing each other here.” The celebration projects that the people of Basilan are joyful people who love to celebrate and be merry, which is the essence of Pakaradjaan, the essence of solidarity.

Second, Junudi said that the celebration also intends to really promote Basilan as a tourism destination with the potentials of its natural resources and unique culture. Junudi, however, admitted that it is not easy to sell Basilan as a tourism destination with the long history of conflict that shy away tourists and investors.

But the local government is hopeful that through the annual Pakaradjaan Festival, Basilan will have a place in tourism and reclaim its glory where peace reigns. (RVC/PIA9-ZBST)