Topics discussed were cultural education, cultural awareness, creative economy, intangible cultural heritage, books and press, culture for development indicators, creative cities, creative social enterprise, cultural hubs and Filipino values.

Cebu City in Cebu, considered as the “Queen City of the South,” hosted this year’s International Conference on Cultural Statistics and Creative Economy (ICCSCE), the third one organized by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) since it started in 2017.

More than 400 cultural workers, members of the academe, researchers, experts, media practitioners, tourism officers, local government unit employees participated in the conference held on 14 and 15 October at the Waterfront Hotel in the city’s Lahug district.

ICCSCE aimed to highlight the contribution of culture to national development and sought “to give an opportunity for local researchers to showcase how their researches contributed to policy-making and planning relative to their subjects.”

Topics discussed were cultural education, cultural awareness, creative economy, intangible cultural heritage, books and press, culture for development indicators, creative cities, creative social enterprise, cultural hubs and Filipino values.

Papers delivered included “Contextualizing Physics Introduction for Indigenous People: The Mangyan Experience” by Maria Fatima Jingco of San Jose National High School, Occidental Mindoro; “Indigenizing Knowledges in the K-12 Curriculum: Implementing the Indigenous People’s Education Curriculum Framework at Malitam Elementary School” by Irish Joy de Ocampo of the University of the Philippines Diliman; “Millennial Students’ Level of Awareness of the Cebuano Folk Dances” by Ann Bernasyl Vestal of Mandaue City School for the Arts; “Baybayin and the Proposal for a National Writing System: Knowledge and Attitude among University Students in Quezon City, Philippines” by Barry Gundayao of Quezon City Polytechnic University; “Steering Creativity and Tourism on the Streets: Buskers and the Proposed Busking Ordinance in Baguio City” by Ivan Emil Labayne of Pedantic Pedestrians; “State-Funded Film Venues and Film Exhibitions in the Philippines” by Gerald Gracius Pascua of Ateneo de Manila University; “Understanding Fisheries Trend in Batan Estuary, Aklan” by Ronald Maliao of the Aklan Research for Coastal Studies; “Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices of Capiz and their Scientific Perspective: A Basis for Culture-based Science Education” by Mark Anthony Durana of the Department of Education Roxas City, Capiz; “2017 National Book Development Board Readership Survey” by Jeffrey Perdigon; and “Status Report of Philippine Public Libraries and Librarianship” by Jennifer Dimasaca of the National Library.

NCCA chairman and National Artist Virgilio S. Almario.

Also read were the papers “Vietnam’s Culture for Development Indicators” by Nguyen Thi Thu Oanh of Vietnam’s General Statistics Office; “Developing Culture for Development Indicators in Cambodia” by Hang Lina of Cambodia’s National Institute of Statistics; “Creative City Mapping of Baguio and Makati” by Paolo Mercado of the Creative Council of the Philippines; “Statistical Data of the Creative Economy of Cebu City” by Gil Carungay of the Strategy and Business Development in Mactan, Cebu; “Holicow” by Kae Batiquin of Design Ventures Cebu, Inc.; “Karaw Craftventures” by Paul Orpiada; “Artisanal Heritage Studies and Creative Enterprise Center” by Emi Englis of the Philippine Women’s College Davao; “Aspace” by Regil Cadavos of Aspace Cebu; “Applying a UNESCO Creative City” by Paolo Mercado of the Creative Economy Council of the Philippines and Patricia Mendoza of MATIQ Hub; and “NCCA Study on Filipino Values” by Arvin Villalon of the NCCA.

Bilangan 2 edited by Michael Kho Lim and Roel Hoang Manipon.

Shabaz Khan of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Regional Science Bureau of Asia and the Pacific served as the event’s keynote speaker. During his speech, he highlighted the significance of the preservation of culture in the age of globalized societies.

The conservation and preservation of diversity and at the same time respecting everyone in the globalized world is very important, he explained.

Some of the papers are included in the book Bilangan 2: Selected Papers from the 2019 International Conference on Cultural Statistics and Creative Economy, edited by creative economy expert Michael Kho Lim and journalist and cultural researcher Roel Hoang Manipon, which was launched at the event.

The event was capped off by a cultural performance from the KanSugbo Dance Fusion, a famed cultural group in Cebu.