Manila, Philippines? With positive stories getting harder and harder to come by these days, there is one, coming from the country¡¯s ethnic communities, that restores one¡¯s faith in the transformative power of art.
Home to 77 ethno-linguistic groups, the Philippines has an amazing tradition of unique artistic practices and expressions, developing simultaneously but individually, owing to the archipelagic distribution of its population. These practices and expressions contain as they help shape Filipino cultural identity.
Although overshadowed by colonial or modern artistic forms such as cinema, pop music, among others, indigenous creative expression is struggling to be alive and well, with major as well as minor successes.
One major success is the School of Living Traditions (SLT) instituted by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the country¡¯s premiere government agency tasked to promote and preserve national culture and arts. Created in 1992, the NCCA has since implemented programs, activities and projects (PAPs) concerning heritage conservation, artistic excellence, cultural promotion, culture and development, culture and education, to name a few.
The SLT was designed around the UNESCO declaration that one of two ways to ensure cultural preservation is to transmit indigenous art practices to the next generation. According to the NCCA, ¡°While there are various facets of cultural heritage that can be transmitted to the next generations, this program would like to specifically focus on the transmission of indigenous skills and techniques to the young. It aims to encourage culture specialists/masters to continue with their own work, develop and expand the frontiers of that work, and train younger people to take their place in the future.¡±
An SLT is set up in an area where there is a vanishing indigenous tradition say, of weaving, or making of musical instruments. The NCCA provides funding for the school in terms of three phases: (1) Training; (2) Advanced Training; and (3) Marketing of the students¡¯ produce. All expenses related to the activities are borne by the NCCA, including the honorarium of the master and the project coordinator, supplies and materials, documentation, and the transportation and food allowance of the students. The students attend the SLT for free.

The SLT, however, does not fit the conventional picture of a school. Many of the young students are taught at ¡°the house of the living master, a community social hall, or a center constructed for the purpose.¡± The teaching method is also more ¡°non-formal, oral and with practical demonstrations.¡± At the SLT, the master nurtures the talents of the students for a period of three months to a year; the classes are scheduled on weekends so they don¡¯t miss formal school. An SLT accepts a maximum number of 30-40 students, but the usually enrolment rate is 20. 
 Students are usually eight to 21 years old. After regular students attending formal school, out-of-school youths and housewives are the next highest enrollees. Most of the students are girls and women who come from poor families.
To date, around 20 SLTs have been implemented all over the country.
One of the completed SLTs is the Tausug School of Living Traditions, which was involved in reviving the weaving the pis siyabit, the traditional headgear of Tausug men. Another is the Mati School of Living Traditions: Mandaya Traditional Arts in Mati, Davao Oriental. The school taught ¡°elementary students and out-of-school youths the traditional dances, songs, and chants of the Mandaya. Making of Mandaya items as their clothing, beadworks, musical instruments, and basketry (were) also taught.¡±
Students attending the above SLTs as in the others discover their community¡¯s artistic tradition and culture. With the knowledge often comes pride of place, which many cultural writers have considered an important foundation of nationalism. But for many of the students, perhaps the most important benefit of the SLT is the economic self-sufficiency it provides them.

SLT graduates engage in informal productive work, selling and marketing their newly-learned crafts or performing for a professional fee. For example, graduates of the Sarangani School of Living Traditions have since begun to sell their weaving products. Their success was in large part also due to the support of the local government in marketing the women¡¯s products. Children who were taught to perform indigenous dance at the Sultan Kudurat School of Living Traditions have since toured in Mindanao, and for the prestigious, the National Arts Month Festival. The success of the Sultan Kudarat SLT may be attributed to the dynamism of local coordinators to promote their indigenous art. Another SLT, in Ifugao, has ensured the production of consistently top-of-the-line products, such as baskets, blankets, trinkets, and others, which the region is known for locally and internationally.
At a programmatic level, the SLTs form part of one of the core mandates of the Republic Act No. 8371 or Indigenous Peoples Right Act: to ensure Indigenous Peoples¡¯ cultural integrity. It is also a proactive stance on the possible negative effects of globalization on local culture. According to anthropologist Jesus Peralta, ¡°Globalization will result in an exponential increase in the contact with other forms of cultural influence that will certainly affect local cultures, unless controls to soften impact are set in place.¡± Thus, efforts to bolster national or ethnic cultural promotion, such as the SLT, will go a long way in protecting the right of indigenous communities to their culture expression or identity. 

 

Of course, not all is coming up roses for this laudable program. There is, for example, the big issue of sustainability. Ideally, after the NCCA has implemented the three phases, SLTs should be able to stand on their own. But some SLTs fold up for a variety of reasons. Thankfully, The NCCA will be conducting an evaluation of the program to see how still to improve it, to learn from best practices of notable SLTs.
But for now, it is at least heartening to know that reviving disappearing traditions are changing the lives of some Filipino young and women: by being proud of themselves and their culture they have become economically empowered as well.