DAVAO CITY, (PNA) — The city government of Davao wants to hold next year the first ever Tribal Games for the 10 different tribes here.
Tribal leaders and representatives attended a meeting held at the City Mayor’s Office Sports Development Division on Wednesday.
“Mayor Rody Duterte is also very excited and is giving his full support on this program,” said CSDD officer-in-charge William “Butch” Ramirez.
He cited how South Africa’s leader Nelson Mandela was able to unite their different tribes by also using sports. Ramirez said that many immigrants from Luzon and Visayas here in Davao still do not know about the culture of the Mindanao tribes.
“And maybe thru this we can also achieve more peace and progress here“, said Ramirez.
This unique sporting event will showcase the traditional games of 10 different tribes which were represented during the meeting by Deputy Mayor Nicanor Mohamad of Kagan, Datu Carlito Guinto Sr. of Matigsalog, Hadja Naty Radjail of Tausog, Hadja Minda Maujon of Sama, Ed Marohomsalic of Maranao, Abubakar rakim of Maguindanao, Rudy Mande of Matigsaling, Rosalinda Palmero of Manobo, Ruthcel Ny of Tagabawa, Cherry Ann Codilla, Rosalyn Jurial and Michael Manday-onan of Ata Tribe.
Also present at the meeting were Prof. Armando Soler V of the University of the Philippines Mindanao Campus, CSDD Deputy chief Goldie Delvo and coordinators Tommy Inigo and Lito delos Reyes.
The event is also aimed to promote camaraderie, peace, tourism, culture and the importance of physical fitness.
“There will be cultural presentations also,” Ramirez said.
The tribes will submit their propose games late this month for the weekly presentations in November.
The initial phase of the Tribal Games will be during the annual Araw ng Dabaw in March while the culmination is during the Kadayawan Festival in August.
“This will be a bigger event than the other tribal games in Luzon since it will involve 10 tribes”, said Inigo, whose late father Manuel “Lito” Inigo was named as “Datu Daba” by the indigenous people.