City cites individuals, organizations behind success of Ibagiw Festival events

The city government through city council Resolution No. 129-2023 commended individuals and organizations behind the success of the murals and community theater events of the Ibagiw Baguio Creative Festival last November.

Cited were City Planning Development Office Coordinator Donna Rillera-Tabangin, Project Director and Theatre Facilitator Lynette Grace Carantes Bibal, mural artists, Council of Elders and barangay officials of Happy Hallow and Bakakeng Central barangays, student volunteer artists, school officials of Happy Hallow Elementary and National High Schools, St. Martin’s School Inc. and the executive committee of the ibagiw Festival represented by Dr. Raymundo Rovillos.

The project “Baguio Community Artscape: Baguio Stories in Visual Arts Projects” aimed to preserve community stories through murals and paintings culled from a series of storytelling and theater activities with community elders and residents as key informants.

In the resolution, the city said the project produced murals in the barangay halls of Happy Hallow and Bakakeng Central barangays and according to the city officials, the project “deserves full support not only to maintain the status of Baguio City as a Creative City healed by the United National Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) but also to sustainably preserve the valuable cultural practices and history of the indigenous peoples of Baguio through visual arts which at present is embodied only through oral traditions.”

Also specifically cited were the groups and individuals behind the project and invaluable artworks: student volunteer painters/artists: 1. Macuja Ylizalde P. Alfiler; 2. Ezra Allysa D. Ananayo; 3. Jonel Tolai-ao Bacayang; 4. Val Anthony O. Baobaoen; 5. Femy Dhania G. Lamsis; 6. Krista Vanimei R. Penaflor; 7. Janella M. Pidazo and 8. Gwyneth C. Tomines; the Council of Elders and Barangay Officials of Happy Hallow; the teachers and students of Happy Hallow Elementary School and National High School represented by Senior High School Coordinator Ms. Aladina D. Diano and School Head Mr. Rey D. Gaspasin; as well, as the Council of Elders and Barangay Officials of Bakakeng Central; and the St. Martin’s School Inc Assumption headed by the School Principal Sr. Anna Camela Pesongco. – Manette Sky Agbunag, Aileen Refuerzo