“Better normal” protocols on next Cordillera Month celebration
WE ARE HUMBLED. WE ACCEPT. Regional Social Development Committee chair and Department of Social Welfare and Development-Cordillera regional director Arnel B. Garcia (L) gratefully accepts the task, the responsibility, and the leadership on the hosting of the next Cordillera Month celebration in 2022, turned over by Watershed and Environmental Management Committee chair and Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Cordillera regional executive director Ralph C. Pablo (R) during the culmination of the 34th Cordillera Month celebration at the Newtown Plaza Hotel here recently. Garcia said he hopes to bring the spirit of cordillera volunteerism or ‘binnadang’ to other areas as well to other regions with “better normal” protocols, in an online interview Friday, August 6, 2021.//Merriam del Rosario, FNS
BAGUIO CITY — Regional Social Development Committee (RSDC) chair and Department of Social Welfare and Development-Cordillera (DSWD-CAR) regional director Arnel B. Garcia said he hopes to be able to brainstorm ideas for “better normal” protocols when private sectors, government agencies, and local government units in the region converge for next year’s Cordillera Month celebration, where the RSDC will be the host.
“I hope I can brainstorm on ideas to bring the traditional gong to other provinces in consideration of better normal protocols…united cordillera as I see it,” Garcia said in an online interview on Friday, August 6, 2021.
He added that he hopes to bring the spirit of cordillera volunteerism or ‘binnadang’ to other areas and to other regions as well, with better normal protocols.
The task of hosting next year’s celebration, which was turned over by Watershed and Environmental Management Committee (WEMC) chair and Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Cordillera (DENR-CAR) regional executive director Ralph C. Pablo was gratefully accepted by Garcia during the culmination of the 34th Cordillera Month celebration which was held at the Newtown Plaza Hotel here, recently.
“We are humbled…we accept…and thank you for giving us the trust, the responsibility, and the leadership. Hindi namin pababayaan yan, together with our agency, the Social Development Committee and the NEDA. Kami po ay magkakaisa,” Garcia said.
Garcia also responded to RDC-CAR vice-chairman and NEDA-CAR regional director Susan A. Sumbeling’s call for a better normal with the words, “That is what we know before, now we know better”.
During the turnover, Pablo said that the task of leading such an event is a huge responsibility, but it is an honor at the same time to lead the cordillerans to celebrate their identity and to promote their advocacy for the region and its people.
In his closing message during the culmination program, Pablo said that their agency’s participation in this year’s celebration has assured them the possibility of tackling diverse issues in the region, including political, social, economic, and environmental, and concluded that the regional government “is definitely one that can address the needs of the region and of our people today and in the future, but the government cannot do it alone-we need to do it all together as one cordillera.”
“We now live in a world where we experience a lot of crisis…we must never miss that opportunity (to work together as one cordillera),” Pablo added. //Merriam del Rosario, FNS
