City conducts cultural mapping sessions

MABALACAT CITY--The City Tourism Office (CTO) here is conducting a series of cultural mapping sessions to further promote tourism in the city.

There will be eight sessions of cultural mapping in various locations to gather more historical and cultural resources for its nature and culture-based tourism promotion, development and preservation.

City Tourism Officer Arwin Paul Lingat said the research-based project aims to gather additional heritage and cultural stories of structures and its environmental importance.

Lingat said the project will be a partnership between the local government represented by Councilor Krizzanel "Win-Win" Garbo, committee chairperson on tourism, culture, and arts; chief of staff Rosan Paquia; Michelle Ong of Mabalacat City College; teachers from the Department of Education Mabalacat City Division; cultural mappers of the city; and Dr. Eric Zerrudo from the UST Center for Conservation of Cultural Properties and Environment in the Tropics.

Allan Ocampo from the Mabalacat DepEd Division will be the city mappers' coordinator.

Culture and Heritage Awareness is part of the nine pillars of governance of Mayor Crisostomo Gar bo.

The mayor said Mabalacat is a city with rich tradition and culture that is worthy of celebration.

Cultural mapping is about safeguarding cultural diversity given to a wide range of research techniques and tools used to "map" distinct peoples' tangible and intangible cultural assets within local landscapes around the world.

Cultural mapping is also used to describe the use of research methods, tools, and techniques to identify, describe, portray, promote, and plan future use of particular regions' or cities' combined cultural assets and resources.