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.