Week-long celebration of Kalivungan

THE week-long celebration of Cotabato’s founding anniversary popularly known as Kalivungan, a Menuvu term which means “gathering”, has always been a showcase of its people and their distinct culture.

This year’s festivity has once again presented the diverse culture, tradition, and practices of different ethnic groups in the province particularly Muslims and lumads or the Indigenous Peoples (IPs), through their music and songs, dances and customary games highlighted in separate events.

One of these activities is the Kapagana Festival, now on its 7th year, which has become an annual attraction for Muslim brethrens here during Kalivungan Festival where more than 200 came from different parts of the province to join and witness the event this year. Held in a Muslim-dominated town of Pikit last August 24, Kapagana Festival was composed of three (3) events namely Kulintangan Extravaganza, Sipa sa Manggis, and Sagayan sa Unta. Kapagana is a Maguindanaon term which means “to welcome or to entertain”.

Kulintangan Extravaganza, a musical competition where Exotic Moro music echoed as Maguindanaoans display their artistry while Moro men dance the Talam and women dance the Tudong, using the Kulintang - a popular brass and percussion ensemble of the Moro People. Participants from Pikit was hailed champion, while participants from Arakan, Alamada, and Banisilan placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd runner-up respectively.

Sipa sa Manggis, on the other hand, is a popular Maguindanaoan game where the player kicks a rattan ball tossed in the air towards a box tied at the tip of a bamboo pole around 30-40 feet from the ground. The group who got the highest points and was declared champion was a team from Pikit, while 1st, 2nd, and 3rd runner-up winners were from the municipalities of Tulunan, Mlang, and Libungan respectively.