Safeguarding Lagaylay, an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Canaman, Camarines Sur, Philippines

As mentioned by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), intangible cultural heritage (ICH) contributes to sustainable development and they play a crucial part in keeping the culture alive. UNESCO adds that ICH includes songs, music, drama, dance, crafts, and the other parts of culture that can be recorded but cannot be touched and interacted with, without a vehicle for the culture. In the Bikol region, most of the ICHs are oral traditions. Oral traditions are cultural materials that are passed on by word of mouth by the older generation to the younger ones. The town of Canaman is rich in ICH but most of these remain as oral traditions. One of the surviving few is the lagaylay, a two-hour song and dance performance that exalts the Holy Cross. As an oral tradition, its survivability faces many challenges such as modernization and globalization. For the purpose of safeguarding this tradition, this research identified its parts and the different roles played by the participants. The researcher also created a dance vocabulary for better identification of the movements. The researcher made use of phenomenological methodology, a description of a “lived experience.” Emic approach or the insider’s perspective was also applied. The major parts include the timbako, duyag, pag- atang nin corona (offering of the crown), pasyon, pag-corona (bringing back the crown), pagdulot nin palma (offering of flowers), and the danza. The movements particular to the performance are tarok- tarok—a rhythmical movement of the feet in dancing, ekis—a quarter turn to the right or left, and close steps.

Keywords: lagaylay, oral tradition, intangible cultural heritage