CDO councilor pushes for practice of indigenous customs in public offices – Inquirer.net

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Cagayan de Oro City’s 21st Council in session. (File photo courtesy of CIO)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — The city government is advancing plans to integrate indigenous customs into its bureaucracy to honor its cultural heritage.
Second District Councilor Joyleen Mercedes Balaba said Thursday that a way to reintroduce the city as a culturally diverse community is by observing indigenous practices, even through small gestures like greeting “Maayad” in government offices.
“It’s not just a greeting but a way of life; speak with kindness, walk with humility, and build a future where no one is left behind,” she said.
Balaba, who heads the Committee on Tourism, has proposed an ordinance to adopt local traditional and indigenous customs in government bureaucracy.
“Maayad” is a greeting commonly used by the Higaonon, one of Northern Mindanao’s main indigenous groups, meaning good, peaceful and beautiful, conveying well-being and positive intent.
Councilor Roberto Cabaring, the Indigenous Peoples’ Mandatory Representative, welcomed the move, stating it would help promote indigenous culture in the mainstream.
Alongside the cultural greeting, Balaba is also advocating for the official recognition of “Kolon,” the local term for clay, as a unique product identity of Cagayan de Oro, specifically from the village of Bulua.
Bulua has a history of pottery-making spanning over five decades. It is home to rich clay deposits found in three of its sitios, making it the only known source of natural pottery clay in Northern Mindanao. /apl
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