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ARMM’s food festival tells more on peoples culture, tradition

By Ferdinandh Cabrera

The tribal groups in Muslim Mindanao can be identified through the food they prepare and offer to guests, so the saying goes.

This is what is happening in an “eat all you can” event inside the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) compound here as the Cultural Village highlights seven tribal groupings.

Dubbed as “Food Festival,” the seven tribal groups with makeshift village put up around the ARMM complex here, have offered traditional food and delicacies.

Visitors, mostly local officials and ordinary villagers visit, share, taste food at the Iranun village, one of the tribal groups, which present the tradional “Pagana.” 

Visitors were treated like special guests regardless of status in life. 

“Foods are everywhere, fruits too, how lovely to spend time here” said one of the visitors from Manila on a business trip here who dropped by the mock villages. 

“Only here in ARMM food festival,” he said of the food from Iranun village that included Muslim delicacies “Pyurs,” “Amik,” “Piaparan” and many more.

As the guests take sumptuous food, local artists performed “Kulintang” musical accompanied by a Muslim dance troupe.

In nearby booth was a “Tausug village” where fruits and sea foods ready to eat. Featured in the Tausug village from Sulu were traditional food known as “Tiyula Itum,” “Daral”, “Putli Mandi,” “Pasong” and many more.

Visitors were also treated with traditional Tausug dance and music.
Not far away were the, “Maguindanao”, “Maranao,” “Sama,” “Teduday,” “Yakan” and other minority tribal groups. 

Colorful flaglets, known as “Bandala,” litter around the compound in a very festive mode. Replicas of traditional houses are very visible.

One can tour and visit the ARMM through miniature villages where customs, traditions and traditional food are put forward.

“Through this miniature villages one can identify a tribal food because of the food, color, traditional dress and delicacies,we treat visitors like Sutans” Mayor Kits Guro of Matanog, Maguinanao said as he pointed to the Iranun village.

Mims Ayupan, a food chef judge, said visiting the mock villages place means you have “visited” the entire ARMM.

The cultural village was the brainchild of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman to show to the world the rich culture of various tribal groups in the region. (END)