04/08/2026
๐๐ก๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ซ๐๐๐๐ฌ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐
๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ : ๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐ฒ๐ง๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐๐๐ง Ministry of Trade, Investments and Tourism (๐๐๐๐ - LDS), Bangsamoro Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (๐๐๐๐๐ - LDS) ๐๐ง๐ Lanao del Sur ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ, ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ (๐๐๐๐๐), ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฐโ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ
๐๐บ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ฉ ๐. ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ข
๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ-๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต (๐๐๐๐), ๐๐๐๐ - ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐๐ถ๐ณ
"๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ, ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ. ๐๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐๐ถ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด."
For centuries, the heart of Lanao del Sur has been woven into cloth, carved into wood, and tasted in our food. Okir isnโt just from one town, it belongs to all of us. You see our identity in the finest ๐ฟ๐ค๐๐ค๐ก of Ganassi, the soft ๐ฝ๐ง๐ช๐ฌ๐(Sponge Cake) of Saguiaran, the savory ๐ฝ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ค๐ก(Smoked Fish) of Mulondo, and the woven ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ง๐ Mats of Buadi-Puso Buntong. In Pualas, mothers weave the authentic ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ฉ strips for our royal ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ malong, while in Tugaya, families turn wood and brass into master art.
Yet, our artisans have long faced a hard question: ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ข๐บ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ?
Answering this question is what drives these three offices to join hands as one family, each bringing its own unique strength to the table:
๐ก๏ธ BCPCH - LDS (The Regional Guardian): Fulfills the vital mandate of chronicling authentic Bangsamoro history and conducting cultural mapping to protect our living heritage. Beyond guarding traditional Meranaw patterns (Okir) from being copied without credit, BCPCH officially validates and preserves historical landmarks, like Padang Karbala in Bayang and Kota Kalawi, while leading archaeological excavations like the one at Camp Keithley. By grounding our identity in historical truth, BCPCH ensures our local communities retain ownership of their roots, giving local weavers, artisans, and youth a deep sense of dignity and protected cultural rights.
๐ฃ PTCAO (The Promoter & Community Heart): Puts Lanao del Sur on the map! Mandated under the Provincial Government to lead local tourism development, safeguard provincial culture, and promote regional assets. PTCAO actively markets our travel destinations, resorts, and heritage sites while unifying local tourism officers across our 39 municipalities and Marawi City. It creates stages for local performers and craftmakers, trains youth tour guides through initiatives like the Meranaw Academy, and drives livelihood opportunities directly to local accommodation, food, and transport sectors.
๐ผ MTIT - Lanao del Sur (The Economic Engine): Turns art into a living. Mandated as the primary regional ministry to foster sustainable trade, investment, and tourism development pursuant to the Bangsamoro Organic Law. MTIT drives enterprise growth, supports MSMEs, enforces consumer protection, and develops regional industries. It turns art into a living by equipping craft makers with Shared Service Facilities (SSF), financial and business training, product packaging support, and trade platforms so families can turn traditional heritage into dignified, sustainable income.
When These Three Work Together, Amazing Things Happen!
This partnership isn't just on paper; itโs changing lives on the ground:
โจ From a Local Fair to a Regional Movement: MTITโs first Okir Art Exhibit in 2024 was such a hit that the Provincial Government adopted it as an official event every two years. By 2028, we plan to bring the exhibit to Luzon so our Meranaw artists can reach northern markets!
๐ก A Permanent Home for Creators and a Memoir of Hope: The Tales of Ranaw Tourism Hub, built by MTIT and handed over to the Provincial Government in 2025, stands as a poignant memoir of the Marawi Siege, honoring our resilience while celebrating the living Meranaw identity. It also serves as a dedicated sanctuary where master artisans can showcase their finest cultural arts.
๐บ Archaeological Tourism: By pairing BCPCHโs excavations in Kota Kalawi and Camp Keithley with PTCAOโs tourism promotion and MTITโs enterprise support, we are turning ancient Meranaw history into exciting heritage tours that bring real jobs to local guides, transport, and shops.
Protecting culture isn't about hiding heritage in a museum. It's about making sure the weaver in Pualas, the cook in Marawi, and the woodcarver in Tugaya can proudly pass down their tools while building a better life. When BCPCH, PTCAO, and MTIT work as one, Lanao del Sur proves we don't have to choose between progress and tradition, we can have both! โค๏ธ
