Traditional PHL tugging games put on UNESCO Intangible Heritage List

Photo: Renato S. Rastrollo/NCCA

Traditional tugging games and rituals from the Philippines, Cambodia, Korea and Vietnam have been placed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List for 2015.

These practices, prevalent among these countries' rice-farming cultures, "are enacted among communities to ensure abundant harvests and prosperity," said UNESCO. "They promote social solidarity, provide entertainment and mark the start of a new agricultural cycle."

The countries involved worked with each other to present the tugging games and rituals for inscription on the list. The tugging rituals have been included in the submission inventories of Cambodia, the Philippines and Vietnam since 2013, and of the Republic of Korea since 1969.

After studying the information provided to it by the four nations, the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage agreed to inscribe the tugging games and rituals on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during its tenth session, which was held in Namibia from November 30 to December 4.

The rituals usually involved two groups, each trying to tug the rope from the other. However, the committee noted in its decision, the practice was "intentionally uncompetitive," with the emphasis not on winning or losing.

Instead, "these traditions are performed to promote the well-being of the community, and reminding members of the importance of cooperation."

Furthermore, while there were variations of the ritual in each country, the tugging rituals and games involve almost the entire communities, and "are an effective sociocultural mechanism that mitigates any existing inequality."

The organization also pointed out that the rituals also had some religious significance, with the tugging between two forces symbolizing the strength of natural forces such as the sun and the rain. — BM, GMA News