March 29, 2024

The city council has passed an ordinance seeking to provide an avenue for the students in all public and private learning institutions to study the cultural practices of the Cordillera indigenous peoples including their history, chants, dances, and way of life.
Authored by Councilor Arthur Allad-iw, the ordinance aims to re-inculcate the indigenous cultural heritage to students in the different schools in the city. 
The establishment of the SLT program shall provide an opportunity for students in public and private educational institutions in the city to experience first-hand the cultural heritage of the Cordilleran IPs by bringing them close to the IP community.
Under the SLT program, students shall study cultural practices except ritual-related activities, materials, and instruments used during death rituals, and sickness and pandemic, which are exclusively for the exercise of elders, bearers, and practitioners.
The ordinance emphasizes the conduct of any activity under the SLT shall be consulted first to the elders, practitioners, or villagers to avoid misrepresentation or any other forms of negligence. Approval from the IP community shall be sought first by the students or their advisers in cases of sensitive cultural practices or those enumerated by law needing the consent of the concerned indigenous groups as mandated by Republic Act 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997 and other issuances on the matter by the concerned agency.
Students, parents, teachers, and school staff in the basic education shall be encouraged to engage in researches, documentation, and compiling of appropriate and available learning materials. 
The ordinance was signed by Mayor Benjamin Magalong on Feb. 22. – Jordan G. Habbiling