Ongangen Ko Inged a Ranaw (OKIR) Conference

Introduction

The rich and vibrant Meranaw culture has faced complex challenges throughout history. This two-day conference aims to bring together researchers and students from diverse disciplines to engage in a critical dialogue about Meranaw cultural heritage preservation, both in the past and in the present and how they have lived their lives in todays world. By exploring historical and contemporary approaches, we hope to identify effective strategies for protecting and promoting this unique cultural treasure.

Conference Objectives

• To explore the historical context of Meranaw cultural heritage preservation efforts. To analyze the diverse challenges and opportunities facing Meranaw culture in the 21st century including the influence of Islamic values today. To foster cross-disciplinary collaboration in developing sustainable strategies for cultural preservation and all Meranaw assets including agro-eco-tourism of Lanao. To create a platform for sharing best practices and emerging initiatives in Meranaw cultural documentation, education, and engagement;
• To empower researchers and students to become active agents in Meranaw cultural preservation; and
• To highlight the life, culture and environment of the Meranaws in Lanao and beyond or the world outside of Lanao del Sur.

Keynote Speaker

Christine F. Godinez Ortega is a writer, anthologist and editor and cultural administrator. She is the long-time Director of the 32-year-old Iligan National Writers Workshop, the Founding Director and Executive Editor of the Mindanao Creative and Cultural Workers Group. She finished her AB English and American Literature and MA in Creative Writing major in Poetry at Silliman University and a Doctor of Fine Arts degree major in Creative Writing major in Fiction with high distinction from De La Salle University-Manila. She has published books on poetry and anthologies, singly or with co-editors, and is finishing writing projects this year. Christine was full professor of the English Department and was the first Director of the MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology’s Office of Publication and Information. She has organized various literary cultural activities in the country, and she has lectured on the Literatures of Mindanao around the country and abroad.

Plenary Speakers

Bai Norhata Macatbar-Alonto is a distinguished advocate for Muslim rights and women’s empowerment in the Philippines. She holds a degree in AB Psychology from the Philippine Women’s University and pursued graduate studies in Psychology at the University of the Philippines Diliman and at the Asian Institute of Management. She made history as the first Muslim woman appointed Presidential Adviser on Muslim Affairs under President Joseph Ejercito Estrada. During President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration, she served as Commissioner at the Commission on the Urban Poor, where she championed several landmark policies, including the immediate release of Muslim cadavers from hospitals, the right of Muslim students to wear the hijab in schools, and the recognition of Eid’l Fitr as a national non-working holiday—a cause she helped push from executive order to law in collaboration with fellow Muslim leaders. Under President Rodrigo Duterte, she became the first Muslim appointed to the Social Security Commission, serving until the end of her term under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. She continues her advocacy through leadership roles in key civil society organizations: she is President of the Philippine Muslim Women Council, Inc., President for Mindanao of the United Nations Association of the Philippines, and Vice President for Mindanao of the National Council of Women of the Philippines.

Dr. Ulderico B. Alviola is a Straight Ph.D. in Development
Communication graduate from the University of the
Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) under a joint scholarship
grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate
Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). He is the
pioneering graduate of such advanced degree program in history.
He completed his undergraduate degree in Development Communication from the
Visayas State University (VSU), Cum Laude, and worked there for 14 years. He was the
Founding Head of the University Integrated Media Center (UIMC) which is the public
and community relations arm of the university.

Currently, Dr. Alviola is the Chair of the VSU Department of Development
Communication, a CHED Center of Development in Development Communication,
teaching courses in communication theory, fundamentals of development
communication, media and information literacy, development journalism, and
educational communication technology.

He is active in both national and regional communication associations serving key
management positions to represent the Visayas region. Dr. Alviola was elected as the
National President of the Association of Development Communication Educators and
Practitioners (ADCEP) Philippines which is a group organized to expound on the praxis
of development communication specifically to share and discuss about the narratives,
trends, and challenges about this unique field of social science. He is the youngest
President to have served this organization.

He is also the longest serving Vice President for the Visayas of the Philippine
Association of Communication Educators (PACE), the largest and oldest organization of
communication professionals in the Philippines.
Just recently, he was also appointed as the Country Representative for the Visayas of
the prestigious Asian Media Information Centre (AMIC)—an international, non-profit,
non-government organization that serves as a regional research hub for media and
communication issues in Asia and the Pacific.

Dr. Alviola was also a former mover and a community journalist for MovePH, Rappler’s
civic engagement arm, who covered 2013 and 2016 local elections assigned in Laguna
and Samar, respectively.