The Philippine Department of Tourism (DoT) opened Tuesday the WOW Philippines month-long tourism activities in Intramuros that will highlight the arts and crafts of southwest Mindanao.

The Deparment of Tourism Region 12 will showcase the region’s cultures, its people, dances, cuisine, arts, music, and festivals.

Mindanao Arts and Crafts

Mindanao weavers, mostly from Maguindanao, Marawi City, Lanao provinces, and Cotabato City, will present – to the tourists’ delight, Habing Mindanao, an indigenous weaves that speak, in its entirety, the diverse cultures of the peoples in the South.

The Mindanao’s traditional music includes kulintang, agong and gandingan, kudyapi, dabakan, tumpong, and babendil.

Through their presentations in Intramuros, DoT-12 officials said the tourists — both domestic and foreign, will learn the history, music, dances and craft of the Maranao, Maguindanao, Tausug and other peoples of southwest Mindanao and of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“It’s a month-long journey that explores traditional artistic expressions centered on the arts, crafts, and music and other related fields of peoples in Region 12 and ARMM,” said DoT-12 regional director Sohura Dimaampao.