Governor Carlos M. Padilla presided over this morning’s consultative meeting on the Nueva Vizcaya Historiography Project being jointly proposed by the Provincial Administrator’s Office (PAO) and Public Affairs and Information Assistance Division held at the Function Room, LCE Bldg., Provincial Capitol.
Former Governor Ruth Raña Padilla, the incumbent President of the Nueva Vizcaya State University (NVSU), assisted the governor in facilitating the discussions.
The other attending academicians were Mr. Darwin Don M. Dacles, SMU’s Director for Research, and Mr. Arnold D. Pitpitunge, President of the Nueva Vizcaya Historical Society.
Also present were some personnel from the Provincial Planning and Development Office, Provincial Tourism and Culture Office (PTCO), Public Affairs and Information Assistance Division (PAIAD), and Governor’s Executive Office.
The subject proposal stemmed from Governor Padilla’s observations on documents being submitted to him for approval which, he said, “reflect some discrepancies and gaps in fundamental historical and other data elements”.
This obfuscation in vital information indeed precludes critical and holistic appreciation of history, which may result in: (a) marginalizing the import of one historical segment while inordinately magnifying another, and (b) the crafting and implementation of inappropriate or unrealistic developmental interventions.
As designed, the project shall cause the development of validated local historical narratives, consistent with the fundamental tenets of “historiography”, which articulate the socio-economic, political, and cultural roots of the province of Nueva Vizcaya.
The major activities proposed to be undertaken include:
• Conduct of continuing researches to address the gaps and inconsistencies in the facts and other details in the existing historical narratives of the Province of Nueva Vizcaya and its component municipalities and barangays;
• Production and dissemination of information materials on the validated local historical narratives in various media forms, and
• Institutionalization, through an executive or legislative measure, of a provincial historiographical information management system driven by a dynamic composite organization.
In view of its complexity and far-reaching implications, the group created a technical working group that will undertake further study on the proposition and recommend doable strategies and courses of action for the consideration of the same group.
