The University of Santo Tomas Graduate School – Center for Conservation of Cultural Property and Environment in the Tropics (USTGS-CCCPET), in collaboration with National Commission for Culture and the Arts – Philippine Cultural Education Program (NCCA-PCEP) and the City Government of Ormoc held the National Training on Culture-based Governance for LGU in Ormoc City, Leyte from August 27-29, 2019.
The training was attended by 177 representatives from different provinces, city and municipalities in the country. These representatives include mayors, board members, councilors, cultural officers, and tourism officers. The main objective of the training is to orient the government workers on arts and culture, cultural education, culture-based governance that will curate and enrich all the cultural knowledge and networks, with the end-view of transforming them into cultural, social, and economic capitals that will later on propel innovation and advancement. The end result is the development of a knowledge-driven economy as the country’s future driver of growth.
In the training, speakers from the academe, Catholic Church, and government’s cultural agencies and local governments shared their experience in adopting such an approach. CCCPET Director Eric B. Zerrudo, representing the academe, began by setting the context and starting the call to value heritage, with the question: “Heritage, makakain ba ‘yan?” (Heritage, can it be eaten? [i.e., be a source of livelihood). Zerrudo, both an economist and cultural heritage specialist by academic preparation, went on to discuss how sustainable development and inclusive growth can be achieved through cultural practices.
