Kadayawan Cultural Village set for upgrade

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/12 February) – The “Panunod: A Way of Life Project,” which aims to develop the nine-year-old Kadayawan Cultural Village at the Magsaysay Park in Davao City, is set to begin this year through a P20 million grant from the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA).

 Jennylyn Ham, the focal person for the Panunod Project, said in an interview at the sidelines of the “Wednesdays Media Forum at the Habi at Kape” that the project includes the construction of a reception area for visitors and the improvement of the comfort room for them.

She added that part of the funding will be used to construct walkways, making it easier for tourists to navigate the village. She said some of them have complained about the difficulty of walking around the area when it becomes flooded.

The nine-year-old Kadayawan Cultural Village at the Magsaysay Park in Davao City features replicas of the traditional houses of the city’s 11 ethnolinguistic tribes. MindaNews photo by ANTONIO L. COLINA IV

The cultural village, which features replicas of the traditional houses of the city’s 11 ethnolinguistic tribes, was first opened during the Kadayawan Festival in 2017 and has since become one of the city’s tourist attractions.

The city’s tribes comprise six Moro tribes (Taosug, Maguindanaon, Iranun, Kagan, Maranao, and Sama) and five Lumad tribes (Klata, Ata, UboManuvo, Matigsalog, and Tagabawa).

At the village, the tribes showcase their traditional food, dances, and games, she said.

Ham said the city government is currently working on the documentary requirements of TIEZA and the Department of Tourism (DOT) but expressed hope that construction will begin by mid-year and be completed for turnover in the latter part of this year.

Ham said the cultural village is one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions. During peak seasons, particularly during city events like Araw ng Dabaw and the Kadayawan Festival, she noted that the village welcomes an average of about 1,000 visitors daily.

She explained that the grant was awarded after the project placed second in TIEZA’S Tourism Champions Challenge (TCC) in April 2024. The first prize went to Isabela City, Basilan.

According to TIEZA, the TCC is an infrastructure proposal competition that invites provinces, cities, and municipalities to submit high-impact tourism project ideas for funding, capacity building, and implementation.”

“TIEZA will also take charge of the construction and all the bidding, including the procurement…After the construction is done, then they will turn over the project to the city government. The operation of the project afterwards will be taken care of by the city government through the City Tourism Office,” she said.

Ham said that the local government takes pride in the 11 tribes’ rich culture and vibrant traditions.

“What we have here in Davao City is our culture and traditions that are very vibrant, very rich, and very alive. I think that is the strength we can offer to our tourists if they want to experience rich culture and rich traditions,” she said. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)