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On Sunday’s Pamulak sa Kadayawan Floral Parade, Davao City Mayor Rody Duterte pitched a call to the government to make serious strides in its peace talks with the communist group and Moro separatists.

In spotlighting the celebratory pitch and color of the Kadayawan Festival, let us give honor and deference to the unifying common tongue of all Lumads of Mindanao — the Cebuano language as the Island’s lengua franca. And so, allow me to use this as medium in this special write-up about the legendary Datu Mangulayon, the greatest of all Lumads in this part of the Philippine Islands.

Birang ug uban pang sugilanon sa mga Bayaning Lumad sa Mindanao assumes the dual function of a school children’s book and a pastime for adult readers interested in humble beginnings, native birth, rituals and assaults. The color and realism of indigenous culture is interspersed in the universal concepts of freedom, valor, independence and patriotism—themes that are lost in the commercial pageantry and crass spectacle of Philippine indigenous festivals.

The bright colors, banging of drums, vibrant dances and chants reverberated the streets during the Kadayawan’s Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan (Street Dancing).

Sta. Ana Police Senior Supt. Ceazar Cabuhat estimated the crowd was 33% less than last year’s attendance and attributed the dip to security concerns. Despite this situation, revelry is still up in the air.

This weekend’s Kadayawan parades will have a tense mood rather than a celebratory one.

With security measures in place for the Kadayawan Festival, folks told Davao Today they were split between joining and staying home for the festivities.

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