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MSU-IIT unveils Diksyunaryong Kultural ng Higaonon, launches its Mobile App version

by Jed B. Otano, Project Member | Mar 19 2025

On March 13, 2025, MSU-IIT led the community launching of the milestone project, Diksyunaryong Kultural ng Higaonon (Cultural Dictionary of Higaonon) at Barangay Bagocboc, one of the Gaups (Higaonon communities) in the Dulangan Ancestral Domain in Opol, Misamis Oriental. 

A research output years in the making, driven by a deep desire to preserve and protect the Higaonon language from declining, this dictionary carries a piece of history, a thread of rich traditions, and an expression of identity and unique cultural heritage of the Dulangan Ancestral Domain in Opol, Misamis Oriental. 

This initiative started in 2022 as a collaborative effort between the Center of Language Studies (CLaS), the Mindanao Heritage and Indigenous Research Center (MHIRC), and the College of Arts and Social Sciences, and was implemented by a core team composed of CASS faculty members– Assoc. Prof. Danilyn T. Abingosa, Ph.D. (Project Leader); Assoc. Prof. Noffaisah B. Pasandalan, MA; Assoc. Prof. Jay Rey G. Alovera, Ph.D.; and Asst. Prof. Jed B. Otano, MiH. 

The community launching was attended by the representatives from the Municipal Government of Opol, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)-Region X, and various respected Indigenous peoples’ mandatory representatives, tribal leaders, and more than hundreds of community members.

The Tribal Council members of the Dulangan started the activity through a panubad, a ritual invoking prayers to the Magbabaya for the community event to proceed, and this was followed by the Ecumenical Prayer of Datu Maulana Romeo Gican. 

Datu Jeffrey Puasan, the Municipal Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR), formally opened the event through his Welcome Message, who also narrated how his late father, Datu Mampinuhan Norberto Puasan or Datu Norbing, dreamt of this moment, on how the Dulangan can better deepen and preserve their roots, identity, and heritage. Thus, the late Datu Norbing started a community initiative to teach the younger generation their indigenous knowledge.

Datu Jeff expressed his sincere thanks to MSU-IIT for making a real impact in the Dulangan, through an important resource to preserve and promote the Higaonon language, ensuring that it continues to thrive for generations to come.

Dr. Nancy Q. Echavez, the Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs, representing MSU-IIT Chancellor Alizedney M. Ditucalan, emphasized in her Special Message the importance of language as a vessel that carries the identity, history, customs, and traditions of the people. 

Dr. Echavez also urged the Dulangan to always foster a sense of community, standing tall regardless of the cultural and social spaces, and to always take pride in one’s identity by speaking their native language. This reinforces the notion of always looking back at where they come from, who they are, and how they will be known to others. 

From the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing she represented last 2024, entered into by MSU-IIT and the Dulangan, Dr. Echavez has long been on this journey of safeguarding the identity of the Higaonon communities in Opol through language preservation.

The project leader, Assoc. Prof. Abingosa recounted how the project was motivated by the dream of the late professor, Dr. Maridette E. Molina, to preserve the undocumented Higaonon language. Dr. Molina, together with Dr. Abingosa, saw the need to protect the Higaonon language from becoming endangered or extinct. To do so, comprehensive grammar, dictionaries, orthography, and pedagogical materials in the Higaonon language should be written. Thus, this research project was conceptualized as a response to the need to preserve the language in written form before it disappears without the speakers knowing it. 

Asst. Prof. Paul B. Bokingkito, one of the project members, also led the launching of the Mobile Application version of the said Cultural Dictionary. In response to today’s increasingly technology-driven society, the research team also sought the expertise of Asst. Prof. Bokingkito and Mr. Adren Julius Molijon in converting the printed Cultural Dictionary into something digital, ensuring more convenience and accessibility. Thus, a mobile application version was made as an additional resource and ideal strategy for increased engagement not just for indigenous language learners, but also for non-native speakers. 

Consistent in his leadership and advocacy, Municipal Mayor of Opol, Misamis Oriental, Atty. Jay Francis Bago, also expressed his immense gratitude to MSU-IIT through the research team, for extending the groundwork of documenting and preserving the Higaonon language in the Dulangan. He commended the unwavering dedication of the research team for their humble contribution to strengthening the cultural heritage and identity of the Higaonon communities in Opol. Mayor Bago also highlighted the invaluable mark of the Higaonon in the municipality of Opol including its toponym, the Kabaya Festival, and the teaching of the Higaonon language in secondary schools, among others.

As one of the Tribal Council Members in the Dulangan, Datu Buasag Artemio Puasan was deeply honored with the generous gesture of MSU-IIT to preserve their indigenous language and for translating such initiative into a powerful tool for learning, growth, and transformation amongst the Higaonon communities. Datu Artemio is currently serving as the oldest tribal teacher in Barangay Nangcaon, Opol, transmitting indigenous knowledge, systems, and practices (IKSP) to the younger generation. The Cultural Dictionary, according to him, will not only preserve their language and identity but also enrich the culture of learning among the younger generation of Higaonon.

The activity was concluded by Dr. Alovera, who traced this journey from more than a decade ago when Datu Mampinuhan Norberto Puasan, or Datu Norbing, as he was fondly called, then mandatory representative of the Dulangan, began scribbling notes of the indigenous cultures of the Higaonon group in Opol, Misamis Oriental. It was his vision for the young generation of the Higaonon to retain as much of the cultural traditions that were slowly overtaken by the lowland cultures. Dr. Alovera reaffirmed MSU-IIT’s commitment to sustain the partnerships with the Dulangan Ancestral Domain through research and community development.

Following the community launching, the cultural dictionary and its mobile app version are set to be unveiled at MSU-IIT during the Research Week scheduled this April. 

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