Long confined to their ancestral lands, the language, lifeways, and historical narratives of the Ati and Panay Bukidnon will now journey across new places through two newly launched books by the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV).

The book launch took place on August 9, 2025, at the Pagwa Performing Arts Hall, Museum of Arts and Cultural Heritage, in the Main Building of the UP Visayas, Iloilo City campus. It brought together representatives of the Ati and Panay Bukidnon communities, the authors and the contributors of the books, and Senator Legarda, who keynoted the launch.

UPV Chancellor Clement Camposano, Professor Emeritus Alicia Magos, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Commissioner for Island Groups and the Rest of the Visayas Alex Centena, Congressman James “Jojo” Ang of USWAG Ilonggo partylist, and Vice Chancellor Encarnacion Emilia Yap were also present. Cultural workers, researchers, students, and various stakeholders filled the hall to celebrate these publications on the indigenous communities.

The Ati, Ata, or Ita, and the Panay Bukidnon, a unifying term for indigenous cultural communities residing in the mountain ranges of Panay (including Iraynon Bukidnon, Jalaudnon, and Akeanon Bukidnon), are two important communities of Panay and Guimaras. They carry with them the large fragments of Western Visayas’ history and identity, yet are almost voiceless minorities in the region. Through the books of “Panagway: The Ati in the Narratives and the Archives” and “Bádbad: Untangling Archived Knowledges on Panay Bukidnon Life and Culture,” their stories and legacies are heard, honored, and preserved.

“Indigenous knowledge is not an aesthetic curiosity but a survival strategy, a source of wisdom in an age of climate chaos and cultural erasure,” Legarda said in her keynote message

The ‘Panagway’ is authored by Prof. Frances Anthea R. Redison, Kyla Agnes L. Ramirez, and Theodore Ricardo R. Bautista. It highlights the history and traditions of the Ati sourced from archival materials and interviews with local scholars, developmental workers, filmmakers, and institutions who have formed close connections with the indigenous community.

The ‘Bádbad’ is written by Prof. Jose R. Taton Jr. and Josie Jane T. Tambirao. The book serves as an ethnographic encyclopedia derived from the cultural heritage and the traditional knowledge systems of the Bukidnon people of Central Panay highlands.

Anna Razel L. Ramirez and Prof. Martin G. Genodepa edited the two books and worked with a project team from UPV to make these publications possible.

As part of the occasion, Panay Bukidnon Culture Bearer of Oral Traditions, Teresita Castor Caballero, led the prayers in the traditional Bukidnon language, which reflects beliefs of the Panay Bukidnon community.

The Ati indigenous cultural community also delivered a Panaghoy, or “call,” infused with pamarwit, the community’s traditional whistle tunes. The performance was a poignant expression of ancestral memory, brought to life through the shared tradition of percussive music by Balay Patawili, the proponent of the NCCA-approved project “Ka-Likha.” This initiative is led by Dr. Maria Christine Muyco and Anilao Indigenous People’s Leader Tatay Enoch Valencia. The piece was composed by Prof. Jose Taton Jr., with the assistance of Jeraldine Alfonso and Jason Keith Caparanga. Choreography is by Nila Claravall-Gonzalez, assisted by Chino So, in collaboration with the Anilao Ati and Lanit Jaro communities.

Response from the Ati community was given by Tribal Leader Felicitas Catedrilla and from the Panay Bukidnon by Dr. Elsie Caballero Padernal.

The two books mark the fifth set of publications supported by the Office of Senator Loren Legarda, an advocate for indigenous peoples’ rights and protection and the main proponent of the Cultural Mapping Law. The office provided P2M funding support for the project.

Copies of the books are now available at the Office of Initiatives for Culture and Arts (OICA), ensuring the legacies of Panay indigenous communities are carried on in the next generations and across their geographical and linguistic boundaries.

Written by Ma. Therese Taghap

Photos by Marc Leo Layson