If there’s anything architecture is meant to do, it is to connect people. Just like how art can connect people and feelings, public spaces should be the places where people can feel safe and included.
On April 27, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has turned over the newly completed “Tulugan (tribal hall)” to the Kitaotao local government. Costing P4.9 million, this two-story hall is made of wood battens and nailers with masonry walls, concrete slabs, and stairs with steel handrails and balusters were also installed. The Nipa roof meanwhile is framed with steel.
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With this new addition, the tribal hall will serve as a venue for the Sinuda Village’s Matigsalug and Manobo tribes’ gatherings, meetings, and learnings among many other functions. According to DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar, the tribal hall’s design depicts an architectural style that’s traditional and goes according to the needs of the indigenous tribes.
Aside from being a common area for town meetings, the new tribal hall is also an important structure that can preserve the tribe’s culture. According to Bukidnon’s 3rd congressional district representative, Manuel “Manoy” Zubiri, the hall will serve as a dynamic center of Sinuda Village’s Matigsalug and Manobo tribes, one which the people can call their own.
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After receiving this new tribal hall, Kitaotao town mayor Lorenzo A. Gawilan Jr. expressed his thanks to the government and encouraged the indigenous peoples to create new ways of solving life’s challenges while supporting the government’s efforts to break the poverty cycle.
“The completion of this project signifies the government’s zeal in uplifting the lives of the hill tribes here who are mostly deprived of the basic services as they are geographically isolated from the economic center.” Kitaotao town mayor Lorenzo A. Gawilan Jr. says in a report from the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), “This would empower our IPs to strive even more in fostering unity and strengthen their roles as government’s partners in peace and development,” the mayor said.
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