The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) is collaborating with local government units (LGUs) for history and heritage education in the Negros Island Region.

At the opening of the first Negros-wide LGU training on history and heritage at the Bago City Community Center on Tuesday, NHCP Chairperson Regalado Jose Jr. underscored the vital role of the cities, municipalities, and provinces in historical education, cultural preservation, and nation-building.

The three-day training gathers about 150 participants, including tourism officers, cultural workers, educators, and cultural enthusiasts and advocates from various LGUs.

The program covers lectures and workshops led by NHCP experts on The Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines, guidelines on naming and renaming streets, public spaces, and place names and on the declaration of local holidays, protocol practices for local commemorations and observances, and recognition of historic sites and structures.

Other topics include guidelines on the preservation of heritage structures, the agents of deterioration and basic material conservation, creating a local history museum, and the local historical committees network.

In her message, Mayor Marina Javellana-Yao said Bago City takes pride in a meaningful partnership with the NHCP that honors the roots of the Bagonhons’ identity as a people.

“This is an opportunity to listen to the voices of the past and allow them to guide our present actions. It is a moment to reflect, to reconnect with the values of our forebears, and to renew our shared duty to preserve what is truly ours,” she said.

Javellana-Yao said she hopes the training will ignite renewed passion and purposeful action in the communities “so that no name, no place, no memory worth honoring is ever forgotten.” (PNA)