Sadanga’s culture, values, solidarity reaffirmed in COVID pandemic
SADANGA, MT.POVINCE (PIA) — for the people of Sadanga, Mountain Province, the COVID-19 pandemic reaffirmed that their culture and values of community solidarity and cooperation are alive.
Sadanga Mayor Gabino Ganggangan related that it was during the lockdown that they were able to make the new generation feel the community tradition of living in solidarity and caring for each other especially during hard times.
“While you take care of yourself, you must also be conscious of looking into the welfare of others, of the community because we have to live as one community.
Because I don’t think it is correct na lahat na lang iasa sa gobyerno. While government has a lot of resources to act on this, at times the response may come late and the immediate response has to depend on the community itself. “
This he said is a tradition which the new generation saw that they can cling on to if there are calamities or pandemic s like this.
Ganggangan showed the Sadanga people’s indigenous practice of resiliency and caring for the needier in times of crisis by waiving food packs from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
He did this confident of the “indigenous social structure, values, and practice of taking care of our respective relatives or kins, neighbors, or kailyan in distress during hard times or economic crisis “so that no one will go hungry’.
Sadanga was also among the Cordillera LGUs to return excess funds of the Social Amelioration Program.
Ganggangan also shared that for the enhanced community quarantine, one of the national government’s response to curb the spread of COVID-19, he had it localized thru their traditional practice of “teer si far-in”.
The “teer” or rest day is a tradition which the Sadanga community observe s when faced with calamity or tragic incident. During this period which traditionally lasts from one day to three days, visitors or outsiders are not allowed to enter the community and community members are not allowed to go out.
The mayor said he has expanded the “teer” to cover the whole duration of the ECQ.
Ganggangan also underscored the importance of people understanding the situation to gain their cooperation.
With the ECQ, it was the first time that people were told to stay at home for a long time.
Thus it was important to make people understand that the novel corona virus is dangerous.
By making them understand that they gain the cooperation of the people. Sadanga and the rest of Mountain Province have no COVID-19 case to date.
JDP/PIA-CAR
