25TH BALIAKAG FESTIVAL

Prelature of Ipil
Youth Ministry

25th BALIAKAG FESTIVAL

(By: Sem. Marc Anthony M. Vaguchay)


The Youth Ministry of the Prelature of Ipil spearheaded the 25th year celebration of the BALIAKAG (Batan-on Lihok Alang sa Kaangayan ug Gugma) Festival with the Grand Homecoming of the Alumni of the said festival. It was held at Kabasalan Institute of Technology, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay last April 21-24, 2009 with the theme: “We remember, We celebrate, We believe” . There were 935 delegates together with the BALIAKAG Festival alumni, priests, sisters and guests coming from the fifteen (15) out of the nineteen (19) parishes within the jurisdiction of the local church of the Prelature of Ipil.

The whole activity was aimed at the celebration of the gift of life through a deeper and truthful expression of concern for physical, social, economical, and spiritual welfare of the youth of the Prelature of Ipil. Moreover, it was a great venue for sharing individual giftedness and the enhancement of these gifts emphasizing the virtue of love and justice. Such efforts to empower the youth of the Prelature of Ipil is concretely geared at making them manifest their role in the communitarian works for unity and peace through education and values formation.
The first day of the celebration was devoted to reminisce the past 25 years of celebrating the BALIAKAG Festival. Accordingly, the name of the festival comes from a root crop called Baliakag. It is a staple food of the people especially during times of drought. Its fruit is attached to a tiny stem that needs extra care when found because it is the only way to locate such fruit of the Baliakag. This reality is very much reflective of the youth’s journey to life especially in the aspect of self discovery and strengthening of the Christian value system. This is the thrust of the BALIAKAG Festival.
The fruitful recollection of the past 25 years of the BALIAKAG Festival was enough to establish the ambiance of gratefulness for the 25 years of grace and love of God. With grateful hearts, the youth of the prelature of Ipil face the present with joy in their hearts and utmost readiness to celebrate life with its corresponding challenges. This gratefulness was expressed through the active participation of the liturgical celebrations through the Holy Eucharist which served as an ultimate source of strength for the participants. Furthermore, the celebration of the present was also manifested through the sports fests, tree-planting, and Bible quiz and highlighted with the most anticipated Huni sa Prelatura (a by parish choral singing competition) and the Folk Dance competition.
As the youth celebrates the present, the anxiety of the future is also seen. That’s why a need to equip and prepare the youth for the challenges of the future is also being responded to. One of the identified challenges revolves around the issue of faith and morality and how can this be responded to in the context of the Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) where every youth is affiliated. A massive education and information efforts regarding the issues were conducted through simultaneous symposia to allow the youth to be informed and to be empowered to assess the status of their faith as well as their efforts to uphold a morally upright living contextualized in their respective BECs.
The theme of the 25th BALIAKAG Festival challenges every young to live a grateful life to be able to remember the grace filled moments in the past and to acknowledge the presence of God amidst uncertainty, confusions and anxiety.