Three research proposals of the Center for Social Innovation, Local Knowledge, and Educational Research (CSILKER) have been approved by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) to receive financial support for 2017’s cycle of SALIKHA Creative Grants.

“There are three research proposals of CSILKER which qualified for CHED-NCCA SALIKHA grants. The research proposals cost eight million pesos and need around 20 faculty members to complete the researches,” said Mr. Darin Jan C. Tindowen, CSILKER head.

Team leaders of the said three research proposals are: Dr. Ray T. Obispo for “Preservation and Promotion of Ibanag Cultural Resources through Cultural Mapping;” Mr. Tindowen for “Knowledge Systems and Practices of Aeta Communities in Cagayan Valley Region towards the Establishment of Agta Community Heritage Center;” and Mrs. Jennifer C. Bangi for “The Malaueg Language Corpus and Folk Literature of Rizal, Cagayan.”

The SALIKHA Creative Grants is a joint program of CHED and NCCA to advance arts research and ignite creative projects that tackle Philippine arts and culture to deepen cultural knowledge, showcase distinct Filipino identity, and promote socio-cultural transformation in the country.

SALIKHA was derived from the words saliksik (research) and likha (work/creation), and aims to provide financial support to higher education institutions to produce and share creative outputs for publication, exhibition, production, and other forms of public use.

The CHED and NCCA encouraged interested teaching and non-teaching personnel who were affected by the K to 12 transition from all higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines to partake in the program.

Moreover, a total of P300 million is the budget of the joint program of the two agencies for selected proposals and projects. Chosen proposals and approved projects may receive grants worth P500,000 to P10 million, depending on the type and scale of the project. The agencies have also strictly emphasized that outputs must also be commensurate to the size of the grant provided.

Designs of the proposals and projects were aligned on research, innovation, development, and production of creative outputs and knowledge centered on arts and culture; indigenous knowledge system and practices; preservation and documentation of vanishing traditions and practices; local and community culture, history and language; and innovation or new technologies in the arts.