Cultural Development and Revival Program

Enhances and promotes the cultural heritage of the Bangsamoro region. The main thrust of this program is to imbibe cultural awareness and consciousness among the people through cultural and educational activities.

SCHOOL OF LIVING TRADITIONS

The Bureau on Cultural Heritage has strategized an intervention to ensure the transfer of cultural knowledge to younger generations through the School of Living Traditions (SLT) program. Culture bearers or cultural masters teach skills and techniques in doing their traditional arts or crafts. It is usually a non-formal way of teaching with actual demonstrations. Classes are conducted in a community social hall or a center constructed for the purpose of holding SLT classes.

RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION

In order to contribute to the existing researches on the customary practices of the Bangsamoro people, the Bureau has conducted field research pertaining to the basic stages of the life cycle. These stages are birth, puberty, marriage, and death. In terms of life cycle rituals related to each stage, it varies in different ethno-linguistic groups in the BARMM. Interestingly, these rituals are a combination of indigenous knowledge and Is-lamic teachings. Most rituals are based on Islamic rules; however, pre-Islamic traditions are incorporated to it that resulted to group-specific rituals.

LANDMARKS: HISTORICAL SITES AND HERITAGE ZONES

Tangible cultural resources, such as architecture, sacred landmarks, and folk arts, have been one of the immediate concerns of the bureau. The bureau has conducted research and field visits to historical and cultural heritage sites all over the region. Local historical and cultural data have been collected to assess the type of interventions these traditional resources need. As a result, the field visits yielded the identification of historical and cultural heritage sites in the BARMM.