ouching lives: cidain luzon, remained more isolated from lowland influences. the art and culture of...

Touching Lives: CID

A’s Encounters w

ith Indigenous Peoples in the PhilippinesISB

N N

o. 971-92662-5-2a

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9/9/05, 3:09 PM

Touching Lives:CIDA’s Encounters with

IndigenousPeoples

in the Philippines


writerKristina N. Gaerlan

with editorial input fromGérard BélangerPenny Morton

Joseph GoodingsMyrna JarillasCarlo FigueroaGary Nitorreda

Elsa Baysic-Sumido

photosKristina N. Gaerlan

Ben Abadiano and Ilawan FoundationCarlo Figueroa

Bernard Bonina and the Department of Social Work and DevelopmentIgorota Foundation

People Collaborating for Environmental and Economic ManagementLocal Government Support Program

layoutVictor C. Pahati

printingRaintree Trading & Publishing, Inc.

Touching Lives: CIDA’s Encounterswith Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines

ISBN No. 971-92662-5-2©2005, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

Manila, Philippines

The views expressed in this publication are those of the writer and the editorial committee,and not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)


It is an honour to bring you the latest publicationcommissioned by the Canadian International DevelopmentAgency (CIDA) that focuses on Canada’s involvement withindigenous peoples’ (IP) communities in the Philippines.

Touching Lives: CIDA’s Encounters with Indigenous Peoples inthe Philippines gives us a comprehensive visual and narrativeaccount of eight impressive projects Canada has initiatedwith local IP groups.

Canada’s long-standing development cooperation programwith the Philippines focuses on the thematic areas of good

governance, sustainable development, environment, basic needs, and livelihood andenterprise development. The book shows how these themes were woven in the contextof the development projects.

As I have seen from my visits to almost all these project sites, the initiatives that theGovernment of Canada has embarked on have truly touched the lives of the residentsand families in the areas benefiting from the program. From my meetings with localgovernment officials and ordinary townsfolk, it is a humbling experience to learn whatthose CIDA projects have done to change people’s outlook in life from despair tooptimism.

Canada and the Philippines share the similarity of having indigenous peoples. It is ouradvocacy to facilitate development and cultural efforts so that our peoples can learnfrom one another and ensure that our mutual interests of peace and prosperity areachieved.

My heartfelt thanks go to the Philippines-Canada Cooperation Office for its excellentwork in putting together this outstanding publication.

Peter SutherlandAmbassador

Message

Canadian Embassy Ambassade du Canada


Table of ContentsIntroduction .....................................................................................................1

Historical Background .......................................................................................... 4Policy Environment .............................................................................................. 8Issues and Concerns ............................................................................................ 10

Basic Needs: Studying the New, Relearning the Old ........................................18The MatigsalogMarilog District, Davao City

Gender Equity: A Bridge across Time, Space and Mindsets ..............................26The Ibaloi, Kalanguya and Kankana-eyLoakan and Lucnab Districts, Baguio City

Livelihood: Sowing the Seeds of Continuity ....................................................34The Ata-LangilanTalaingod, Davao del Norte

Local Governance: New Meaning to “Binding Ties” ........................................40The MansakaMaragusan, Compostela Valley

Basic Needs: The Sea: Cradle of Home and Heart ...........................................46The BajaoSangali District, Zamboanga City

Environment: People and Watersheds: Mapping the Balance ............................54The BagoboTalomo-Lipadas Watershed, Davao City

Peace-Building: Partnership in Productivity: The Building Blocks ...................60The Dulangan-ManoboBagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat

Cultural Integrity: Mainstreaming Diversity as a Window to the Future ..........66The TedurayUpi, Maguindanao

CIDA Programs Covered ................................................................................74


ilipino,” as it is widely knowntoday to the outside world, ismainly the identity of thedominant majority ofChristians – their mores,systems and conventions. But

anywhere from 12 million to 20 million of the country’s estimated 80 million populationbelong to indigenous cultural communities or indigenous peoples (IPs). They are mostlyfound in the uplands, as opposed to the “lowlanders” – the basically Christian majorityoccupying the lowland areas, specifically coastal areas and inland plains.

The majority (61%) of the IPs are in Mindanao, 33% in Luzon, and the remaining 6%scattered across the different Visayas islands. The IP communities can be classifiedinto three broad categories: (i) the sedentary farmers in Northern Luzon, commonlyreferred to as “Igorots,” (ii) the Negritos in Central Luzon and the Visayas, whotraditionally lived on hunting and gathering, and have today shifted to swidden farming(slash-and-burn agriculture), and (iii) the Lumad in Mindanao, regarded as the originalinhabitants of southern Philippines until the introduction of Islam in the mid-14thcentury.

Introduction

“F

Introduction

1

Introduction


Such classification is arbitrary, employedin an attempt at an ethno-historical and“racial” description of the IPs. At the sametime, the classification process is anoversimplification because within thesecategories are further sub-ethnic groupsand identities. For example, the term“Igorots,” which originally stood for “hillpeople,” refers to the mélange of IPs foundin the mountain ranges of the SierraMadre and Cordillera, and the adjoiningCaraballo Mountains. In this vast areacovering at least eight provinces in threeregions are numerous distinct IPcommunities including the Bontocs andIfugaos who engineered the extraordinary,steeply contoured rice terraces foundalong the “edges” of the mountains (nowa UN World Heritage site). They alsoinclude the Kalingas, who are furtherdistinguished between Northern andSouthern Kalingas.

The more commonly known “Negritos”are the Aetas in Central Luzon, thetrusted tutors in jungle survival of theAmerican forces throughout the fortyyears the United States maintainedmilitary bases in the Philippines. Theyalso include the 400 or so members of theBatak found in Palawan island. The Batakare believed to be remnants of the Aetaswho settled in Palawan more than 10, 000years ago.

The Lumad are one of the three majorpopulation groups of Mindanao, the twoothers being the Christian migrant settlersfrom Luzon and the Visayas who came toMindanao in the 1920s, and the Muslims,

collectively referred to as Moro orBangsamoro. The Lumad are furtherdivided into 13 sub-groups which havebeen assimilated, in varying degrees, intomodern society. They are mostly found inthe hinterlands and comprise the 5% to6% of Mindanao’s population. TheChristians dominate the region (75%),followed by the Muslims (20%).

These IP communities represent thespectrum of “acculturation” with thelowland Christians. Some, like theBukidnons of Mindanao, intermarriedwith lowlanders; others, like the Kalingasin Luzon, remained more isolated fromlowland influences. The art and cultureof such communities are the last remnantsof a mix of indigenous traditions thatflourished before Islamic and Spanishcontact.

Until recent times, the IPs remainedseparate from the “mainstream” societyand were of interest only to academics.However, both the majority culture andthe government have a betterunderstanding and appreciation now ofthe differences of indigenous communitiesand no longer believe these differencesto be something to express and proclaimonly during special occasions andfestivals. With this change is a totaloverhaul of the development andgovernance strategies adopted vis-à-visthe indigenous communities. Indeed,from one of conquest or outright hostilityduring the colonial times, to neglect bythe immediate post-colonialadministrations, official policy toward

Touching Lives: CIDA’s Encounters with Indigenous People in the Philippines

2


Introduction

The IPs are divided into seven major territories:

* Region 1 and the Cordillera Administrative Region(CAR): a mixture of wet-rice and slash-and-burn(swidden) cultivators concentrated in the Cordilleramountain ranges

* Region 2: wet-rice and swidden cultivators as well ashunters-gatherers found in Cagayan Valley and theCaraballo range

* Rest of Luzon (Regions 3, 4 and 5): the hunting andgathering Aeta (or Agta) group and sub-groups in theSierra Madre range, the Zambales range, Quezon,Polillo island, and Bicol region (provinces of CamarinesNorte, Camarines Sur, Albay and Sorsogon)

* Island Groups (including Mindoro, Palawan, Romblon,Panay and the rest of Visayas): communities engaged inswidden agriculture, hunting, fishing, gathering and trade

* Western and Northern Mindanao (Regions 9 and 10):communities found along the coastal lowlands andhinterlands of the Zamboanga peninsula, and on theplateaus of Bukidnon

* Central Mindanao (Region 12): communities occupyingthe mountainous slopes of Davao, Bukidnon andCotabato, and the upper headwaters of the Davao,Tinanan and Kulaman rivers

* Southern and Eastern Mindanao (Regions 11 and 13):communities along the Davao Gulf and the interiorhinterlands of South-eastern Mindanao

PhilippineEthnographicRegions

LEGEND

Region 1 & CAR

Region 2

Region 3, 4 and 5

Island Groups

Northern & Western Mindanao

Central Mindanao

Southern & Eastern Mindanao

N

3

Source: National Commission on Indigenous Peoples,http://www.ncip.gov.ph/agency/overview.htm, accessed 3 June 2005.

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indigenous communities and their role innation-building has been completelyturned on its head.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDThe Philippines today is acclaimed for itspolicy of recognizing the indigenouscommunities’ right to their “ancestraldomain,” embodied in the IndigenousPeople’s Rights Act. “Ancestral domain”refers to the land and natural resourcesthat indigenous peoples have traditionallyused as their area of domicile and the basisof their economic and social life.

The road to the indigenous peoples’success in securing a policy environmentfriendlier to their struggle for theirancestral domain and a role in chartingtheir development – on their own terms– has been long and arduous.

Pre-colonial Times. The indigenous conceptof land use and ownership, prior to thePhilippine experience of 300 years ofSpanish colonization, was basically one ofcollectivism. Among the Manobo andHanunuo groups, land was communallyowned by the people forming thecommunity. The Ibaloi concept was sharedownership with the gods, ancestors,kindred and future descendants. To theSubanon, only their god had the right toown land, similar to the Kalingas who sawthemselves only as caretakers of the land.The indigenous peoples’ strong attachmentto their land and resources led tointermittent boundary disputes (the so-called tribal wars) with other groups thatviolated their territory.

The IP communities maintained socialand political structures to regulate theirrelations within, as well as with outsiders.Although these relations ranged fromcooperation to conflict, the dichotomy ofmajority-minority, and the consequentproblems of marginalization anddiscrimination were absent at the time,noted a study published by the AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB).* Themajority-minority conundrum presenteditself only during the colonial period.

Spanish Conquest. Spanish colonization ofthe Philippines in the early 16th centuryfocused on opening the IP areas toagriculture and converting theinhabitants to Christianity. The Spanishcolonial government was ordered to opengold mines in the mountains even as ittried to control trade in the lowlands byforcing people to cultivate tobacco. Theirsubjects were forced to live in pueblos.Those who rejected this and retreatedinto the hinterlands were calledremontados, from the Spanish verbremontar meaning “to flee to the hills” or“go back to the mountains.” Forconfederating and resisting Spanishintrusions, the natives of the mountainswere called tribus indipendientes (literally,independent tribes). They were labelledbarbarians, pagans and other derogatorynames – an attitude that even theassimilated Christians in the lowlandswould eventually internalize. Thus beganthe majority-minority dichotomy.

The Spaniards introduced laws thatcontradicted customary concepts of land

4



The Philippines is home to more than 140 ethno-liguistic groups speaking

171 different languages and dialects. The traditions and values retained

by the numerous indigenous cultural communities contribute to the country’s

cultural identity and uniqueness.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


6


use and ownership. They introduced theRegalian doctrine of land grants from theKing of Spain – therefore, privateownership – and titling. Theunassimilated indigenous peoples,however, continued their customarypractice of collective ownership and useof land and other resources.

American Period. The Americansessentially retained the concept of theRegalian doctrine after purchasing thePhilippines from Spain in 1898. TheAmericans usually labelled the tribalpeople as ‘pagan tribes’, ‘culturalminorities’ or ‘hill tribes’ and reintroduceda reservation policy comparable with thatapplied to the American Indians. TheAmericans gradually occupied the areasthat were never brought under theSpanish flag in the previous era.

The new colonizers took a deepethnographic interest in the indigenouspeoples and this has contributed over theyears to the literature on indigenouscommunities. The Americans alsointroduced the notion of public lands,mineral lands and timber lands overwhich the colonial state claimedjurisdiction. Communal landholdingswere not legally recognized and privateland titles were issued in accordance withnew legislation.

To the indigenous peoples, these wereagain incomprehensible notions.

Post-Colonial Period. According to thePhilippines’ first Constitution (1935), all

agricultural, timber and mineral lands ofthe public domain, waters and minerals,coal and petroleum, and other naturalresources belong to the State, andindigenous communities wereprogressively dispossessed of their lands.In 1957, the Philippine Congress createdthe Commission on National Integrationto foster the “moral, material, economic,social and political advancement of the“non-Christian Filipinos” or “nationalcultural minorities” by mainstreamingthem into the body politic. A presidentialdecree issued by president FerdinandMarcos in 1975 declared the ancestrallands as “alienable and disposable,” to beidentified and subdivided into family-sized private plots. From sovereignstewards of their territory in pre-colonialtimes, by the 1950s and 1960s, by a seriesof edicts, the indigenous communitiesbecame illegal occupants of “publiclands.” They were accused ofenvironmental destruction, specificallydeforestation, due to their practice ofkaingin (slash-and-burn) agriculture.

The Turnaround. Through the Aquinogovernment in 1986, a shift from thepolicy of integration to one of pluralismtook effect. The 1987 Constitution“recognizes and promotes the rights ofindigenous cultural communities withinthe framework of national unity anddevelopment” and “protects the rights ofindigenous cultural communities to theirancestral lands to ensure their economic,social and cultural well-being, as well astheir rights “to preserve and develop theircultures, traditions and institutions.”


Indigenous communities are characterized by a subsistence economy. The

cycle from planting to harvest is performed collectively. There are also

indigenous practices in the management of communally owned land and

resources such as forests and water bodies.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


8


The Office of Muslim Affairs, the Officefor Northern Cultural Communities andthe Office for Southern CulturalCommunities were created.Environmental and forest conservationpolicies began displaying a two-trackapproach: the recognition of theindigenous communities’ ancestraldomain claims and the delegation to themof the responsibility for rehabilitating,protecting and managing the naturalresources within their domains.

POLICY ENVIRONMENTAs a Bagobo elder put it, the indigenouscommunities of the Philippines now havea tool to secure their territories – thefountainhead of their identity – theIndigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA)or Republic Act No. 8371. Enacted in1997, the IPRA is designed “to recognize,protect and promote the rights ofindigenous peoples.” Inspired by theInternational Labour Organization’sConvention No.169, IPRA embodies thepromise of more equitable sharing ofresources and benefits with indigenouspeoples, it is one of the world’s mostcomprehensive and progressivelegislations regarding indigenous peoples.

The IPRA identifies the rights of IPs as:• Right to Ancestral Domain and Land

– the rights of ownership and possessionof IPs to their ancestral domain

• Right to Self-Governance andEmpowerment – the inherent right ofIPs to self-governance and self-determination and respect for theintegrity of their values, practices and

institutions; the right of IPs to freelypursue their economic, social andcultural development

• Social Justice and Human Rights – theprinciple of non-discrimination, theright to equal opportunity andtreatment, the rights of indigenouspeoples during armed conflict, theprovision of basic services, and thespecial protection of the rights ofindigenous women, children and youth

• Cultural Integrity – the right of IPs topreserve and protect their culture,traditions and institutions, and theState’s consideration of these rights inthe formulation and application ofnational plans and policies

The IPRA also created two keyenforcement mechanisms: the NationalCommission on Indigenous Peoples(NCIP), the agency responsible for theformulation and implementation of thepolicy, plans and programs to protect theIPs; and the IP Development FundFacility, which supports the process ofestablishing the indigenous communities’domain claims and ensures theavailability of the most essential servicesto the IP communities.

The IPRA also clarifies certain basic butcontentious issues and concernssurrounding indigenous peoples. Inherentin the law’s definition of IPs is therecognition of such important factors ashistorical continuity, self-identification,group membership and most especially,the indigenous peoples’ attachment toland and territory, or ancestral domain.


Many indigenous communities have maintained their traditional socio-

political systems where decision-making is often by consensus, and the

opinion of a Council of Elders holds much weight. The elders usually

determine the distribution of farmland among the different households. Rice

continues to be the dominant crop in the uplands. Among the rice-based

products indigenous communities are known for are rice wine and rice cakes

including a type made from sticky rice and molasses, instead of sugar.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


The law recognizes the IPs’ right not onlyto transfer ancestral land or propertyamong members of their community, butalso to redeem those acquired throughfraud.

A significant feature of the IPRA is therequirement of “free and prior informedconsent” – which refers to the consensusof all members of the IPs to a program,project or activity in their ancestral domainthat any external party – be it anongovernmental organization or a privatecommercial entity – intends to pursue. Thecommunity’s consensus, according to thelaw, should be obtained free from externalmanipulation, interference and coercion,and secured according to their customarylaws and practices.

The IPRA attempts to correct historicaloversight and omissions. Notwithstandingits best intentions, however, the law is notwithout loopholes.

In 1998, a year after its enactment, theIPRA was challenged in the SupremeCourt on constitutional grounds. Thepetition questioning the legality of theIPRA was premised on three points: (i)the law violates the Constitutionalprinciple that all natural resources belongto the State; (ii) the law deprives theState of control over the exploration anddevelopment of natural resources; and(iii) the law threatens to strip privateowners of their properties.

The 1998 petition was dismissed in 2000,but in December 2002, the UN Special

Rapporteur on the Human Rights andFundamental Freedoms of IndigenousPeople raised some experts’ observationsthat the IPRA may lead to “contradictoryor ambiguous interpretations that do notfully favour indigenous rights.”

In spite of its weaknesses, the IPRA isthe first of its kind in the world. It is stillin its infancy, and many challenges lieahead. However, the Philippines hasshown a remarkable example in thedefence and promotion of indigenouspeoples’ rights.

ISSUES AND CONCERNSPoverty remains a serious and widespreadproblem in the country, with officialestimates putting poverty incidence at35% – that is, 35% of the population areunable to meet the minimum basic needsof shelter, food, health, education andlivelihood. An important question is, arethe indigenous communities dis-proportionately poor? Are they poorerthan the “majority” lowlanders?

The absence of disaggregated data makinguse of the conventional denominators ofhuman and social development – income,literacy, mortality, etc. – makes this adifficult question to settle, but the ADBstudy that extrapolated national-levelstatistics to come up with a profile of five“indigenous regions” (regions whereindigenous peoples constitute at least40% of the population) confirms this.

For example, the average income in thefive regions – the Cordillera

10



Indigenous or traditional knowledge in the Philippines revolves mostly around health

care, agriculture, forestry systems, mining, arts and crafts, and music, dance and

literature. These knowledge systems and practices contribute to the protection of the

ecosystem and the search for sustainable development.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


Administrative Region (CAR) andRegion II in Luzon, and Regions X, XIand Caraga in Mindanao – is substantiallylower (42%) than the national average.In the case of the CAR, poverty incidenceremained the same over a decade, whilein Region X, this even worsened from1997 to 1998. It should also be noted thatexcept for Region II, poverty in the ruralareas is deeper than it was 10 years ago,underscoring the extremes of Philippineagriculture: the meagre returns from theindigenous communities’ small, rain-fedsubsistence farms in contrast to theprofitability of the high-value, high-inputcash crops of the large plantations.

The heaviest toll of the marginalizationof indigenous communities is on healthand nutrition. Malnutrition is a commonproblem. According to “The Health andNutrition Situation of Children andWomen in Indigenous Communities,” astudy of the De La Salle University, poornutrition, especially among the childrenand mothers, is often a direct or indirectcause of common, preventable illnesses anddeaths.** The IPs have deficient diets dueprimarily to the increasing poverty inthese areas, which is aggravated by therapid depletion of their natural resources.

The study found IPs to have inadequateprotein, vitamins and minerals, and anexcess of carbohydrates and starchy food.

The lack of potable water and sanitarytoilets, combined with limited access tobasic services, increases the IPs’vulnerability to malaria, dengue and H-fever. Diarrhoea and cholera aresometimes fatal. Cases of poisoning fromeating root crops not prepared for humanconsumption have also been reported.

A common feature of indigenouscommunities is the low educationalbackground of their members. This ishardly surprising because even though theConstitution directs primary education(Grades 1 to 7) to be compulsory and freeof charge, the proximity of school to homeis punishing, demanding that the childrentrek three to 13 kilometres down to theschool and then back up to their homesafter classes. In addition, IP children gothrough the standard curriculum with anembedded worldview and cultural valuesdifferent from their own.

Yet, such education is critical if acommunity wants to complete theirancestral domain claim as soon as

Regions IP population (in %) Regional Poverty IncidenceARMM 21.7 59.8Region XI 14.0 33.1Region XII 13.5 46.8CAR 11.9 37.6Region II 10.5 30.4

Source of basic data: “Census on Population and Housing 2000,” cited in Erlinda M. Capones, “Indigenous Peoples in thePhilippines: Development Issues and Challenges,” http://www.stats.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/BC13AF73-982F-4A6A-AFE5-C0EF2F42D2C5/0/PRESENT182.ppt, accessed 20 June 2005.

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Because of the worsening poverty and lack of livelihood sources, a growing number

of indigenous people, mostly women, have entered overseas contract work as

caregivers and domestic helpers. More than 50,000 indigenous women are estimated

to be working abroad now, leaving behind their children and husbands.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


possible. The compilation of backgrounddocuments proving ancestry alonerequires more than basic literacy. Becauseof insufficient funding, the governmentcannot even support a community’smapping exercise, which requires a highlevel of engineering skills. The IPcommunities are, to a large extent, left totheir own devices and must therefore havemembers capable of completing thenecessary paperwork.

A thirty-year old secessionist war insouthern Mindanao and the communistinsurgency has exposed some IP regionsto the violence of war. The UN SpecialRapporteur’s 2003 report on his missionto the Philippines cited examples ofarbitrary detentions, persecution andkillings of community representatives,mass evacuations, hostage-taking,destruction of property, summaryexecutions, forced disappearances,coercion, rape, food blockades, illegaldetention, physical assault, harassment,torture and threats suffered by IPs.

A basic concern of IPs, whose survival isfundamentally dependent on the bountyof their natural environment for theirsubsistence, is the extent ofenvironmental degradation of all theecosytems – upland, coastal and plain.Large-scale logging operations, mineralextraction, chemical farming, and blastfishing and trawling have depleted theforests, croplands and seas.

Satellite data confirm the disappearanceof forests throughout the Philippine

archipelago since the logging boom of the’60s to the extent the average forest coveris now less than 20%. But the minimumrequirement to restore natural ecologicalprocesses, according to experts, is 54%.Fifteen of the country’s 18 majorwatersheds are degraded, characterized bysoil erosion, erratic stream flow anddeclining groundwater tables. In MetroCebu, the ecological deficit is alarming:from zero forest cover to 70% soil erosion.The rampant use of destructive fishingmethods in the loosely guarded municipalwaters has left only 5% of the Philippines’reefs in excellent condition. The fishcatch has also declined significantly.

Despite the challenges at the policy leveland the range of issues that the IPs face,the reality on the ground is that in pocketsof the Philippines, IP communities aredetermined to improve their conditionsand secure their welfare with externalassistance such as CIDA’s. The Matigsalogchildren of Davao City are able to pursuetheir studies with the use of a curriculumthat also promotes their indigenous valuesthrough storytelling. Also in Davao City,a participatory mapping projectestablished baseline information on theBagobo subtribes occupying the Talomo-Lipadas watershed so these communitiesregain the agency to address the mosturgent development issues and needsfacing them. In Zamboanga City, a senseof expectation pervades the Bajao in newhomes that combine the community’saffinity with the sea with basic sanitationfacilities and culturally sensitivelivelihood activities. Subsistence organic

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The “life events,” from birth to death, are marked by rituals

upholding the sanctity of life and a conception of death as a process

of joining the spirit world of one‘s ancestors○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


16


NOTES:NOTES:NOTES:NOTES:NOTES:

* Environment and Social Safeguard Division-Regional and Sustainable Development Department, Indigenous Peoples/

Ethnic Minorities and Poverty Reduction: Philippines, Manila: June 2002, p. 9.

** Abstract of Jesusa M. Marco, “The Health and Nutrition Situation of Children and Women in Indigenous Communities: A

Preliminary Review,” Manila: Social Development Research Center-De La Salle University, 1993; http://serp-p.pids.gov.ph/

details.php3?tid=1505, accessed 20 June 2005.

farming has become more sustainable forthe Ata-Langilan in Talaingod, Davao delNorte with modest capital supportincluding ploughs and working animals.In Maragusan, Compostela Valley, theMansaka are major actors in themunicipality’s development plan, fromwaste management to reforestation toecotourism. In the North, subtribes of theIgorots are reaffirming the convergenceof an indigenous identity and traditionalcustoms with the principle of equitablerelationships from a gender lens. In

Bagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat province,the Dulangan-Manobo are moreconfident and active in their barangay’saffairs and development projects after aseries of capability- and confidence-building activities with their Christianand Muslim neighbours. Finally, the“tri-people” advocacy of peacefulco-existence between Christians,Muslims and Lumad in Mindanao is avibrant way of life and a tangiblegovernance tool in Upi, Maguindanao,ancestral domain of the Teduray.


Studying the New, Relearning the Old

18

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

The MatigsalogMarilog District, Davao City

PCCO_final2new.p65 9/9/05, 10:22 AM18

he nearest public school inMarilog, a district of MetroDavao, is nine kilometres ofhiking and trekking overdifficult terrain. The childrenhave to wake at the crack of

dawn, sometimes as early as 4 a.m. to walk to school. Then they begin hiking back uphome upon dismissal at 3 p.m. Their young, usually famished bodies are exhausted bythen. Few are able to get past the first two grade levels. To the Matigsalog parent andthe child, there is more sense in bringing the children along to the forest to gatherabaca fibre or mobilizing them on the vegetable plots.

In 2001, with support from CIDA’s Philippines-Canada Development Fund (PCDF),the NGO Ilawan Center for Peace and Sustainable Development (Ilawan) completedthe construction of a school for the Matigsalog in sitio Contract, Marilog district witha grant of PhP2.1 million. (See page 74 for information on the PCDF.)

Ilawan is headed by Ben Abadiano, a Ramon Magsaysay awardee for emergent leadership(the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize). He was recognized by the Magsaysay awards

T

Basic Needs

Studyingthe New,Relearningthe Old

The Matigsalog

19


for his work over the past 20 years withindigenous communities, specifically forthe Mangyan school-of-living-traditionproject in Mindoro that he initiated whenhe was a student. Ben was drawn to thecommunity of 500 Matigsalog householdsbecause of the determination they showedto contribute their labour in building aschool.

Called Pamulaan (which means seedbedin the Matagsilog dialect), the schoolconsists of: (1) the main classroom; (2)the resource center/library cumconference hall, and (3) a museum. Theproject also included the purchase oflearning supplies and materials. Aninteresting detail in the project’s expensereport is the purchase of children’sfootwear, prompted by the observation ofone PCDF staff during a monitoring visitto the project.

“C’mon, get them some slippers,” SergeVillena, a PCDF staff, whispered to Ben.

Serge was startled by the Matigsalogchildren’s bloated stomachs, andinstinctively realized that these were onaccount of worms as the children runaround barefoot, reserving their slippersfor school and special occasions. Sergemade a quick accounting and forecasting.Slippers would cost only PhP50 a pair, andthere are less than 50 children to buythese for. The school, when finished, willbe empty most days anyhow if thechildren are always sick. The slippersbecame a necessary expense.

The classroom is a 90-square-metrestructure that can be separated into twopartitions by an accordion-style wooddivider. The boys and girls on the leftpartition are noticeably bigger than thoseon the left. The smaller children are agedbetween 6 and 9; the bigger ones are from10 to 12 years old. “But in terms of skills,the two groups are basically the same.Both are just learning to read, write andcount. Only, we have to divide them

The children perform an indigenous song and dance about all kinds of animals around them,

from carabaos to fireflies. The number, usually performed when welcoming guests, lasts about 15 minutes.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

20



The students file out of the school for lunch. In an hour they will return for their afternoon lessons,

or for a storytelling session. Inside, the “small group” occupies one half of the room

and the “big group,” the other half.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

The Matigsalog

21


The museum features a tree pole for the staircase and a basement that doubles as the children’s

storytelling space. Books and other learning materials donated by the project are now

available to the children in the library, while in the past, even access to paper was difficult.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

22



because the big ones tend to dominate thesessions when we put them together,”teacher Anna Lynn Labanon noted.

The resource center/library also serves asvenue of the community’s meetings. Themuseum showcases murals on the Lumadof Mindanao as well as some Matagsilogartefacts and crafts. The museum’sbasement, which has an overheadclearing of more than five feet, doublesas the children’s storytelling space. Herethey often gather and take turns retellingthe stories often heard from the elders –stories of people and nature, and ofcommunities weathering their problems.

“This is the first project that has beenorganized for us,” one Matigsalog elder

said to Ben, “that not only provides anessential need but also recognizes thevalue of our indigenous ways.”

Per the Department of Education’sapproval of Pamulaan, accreditationwould be incremental: As long as thestudents pass the accreditation test, thenPamulaan is conferred formalaccreditation for that grade level. By thenext school-year, if they pass the nextgrade level’s accreditation test, thenPamulaan is accredited for this as well.And so on, per school-year.

So far, Pamulaan is approved by theeducation department to hold grades 1and 2 classes, as well as the first to thirdyears of high school.

The Matigsalog

23

The Matigsalog community elders and a representative of Davao’s Department of Education

with Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines Peter Sutherland and

CIDA Head of Aid Gérard Bélanger during the turnover ceremony in December 2004○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


When Ben first met the community, theMatigsalog were wary. They had beenpromised too many things for too long –with nothing to show for it. But duringthe closing ceremony of the 2004-2005school-year in March, all the Matigsalogin attendance – adults and children –cried unabashedly. It was the first time,they explained, that any Matigsalog childmanaged to complete a full school-year.In the past, when the rainy season came,the children simply dropped out of theirclasses from the sheer distance of thepublic school.

24

The children cried at the thrill of being able to complete a school-year during the emotion-filled

first closing ceremony of Pamulaan in March 2005. The adults cried as well, moved by gratitude

and relief for a school that respects and values their indigenous learning traditions

and knowledge system.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


Around Pamulaan are the vegetablegardens that the children and adults tendto – sources of additional food and incomefor the community so that the schoolbecomes sustainable. An old woman, whoappears to be in her 70s but cannot tellher exact age, stands up from the “pechay”(Chinese cabbage) when she wasapproached. She has no grandchild oreven a distant relative attendingPamulaan but is one of the most activehelpers in maintaining the garden. “I justlike the idea that our children can attendschool now, that’s why I help.”


Thick fog often hovers over the community. In the afternoons, it usually rains. In the mornings, the

adults volunteer time to maintain the surrounding gardens. Because they are always muddied, the

children’s slippers, purchased by Ben Abadiano (L) on Serge Villena’s (R) urging, have to be

removed before they enter the classroom.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

The Matigsalog

25


A Bridge across Time, Space and Mindsets

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The Ibaloi, Kalanguya and Kankana-eyLoakan and Lucnab Districts, Baguio City

26


icky Makay, now 54,married when she was 19years old to another Ibaloi.It was a union that herparents and her husband’saunt had arranged and,

under Ibaloi rules, could not be broken. Vicky, for example, wanted to continue herstudies but her parents were already impatient. “Backing out would have been thebigger shame. My family would never have taken me back,” she said.

Leaving the marriage was not an option either. “Separation was unthinkable,” Vickysaid while shaking her head.

For Vicky, who is now based in Loakan district, Baguio City, the three-day gendersensitivity training she attended, however, confirmed for her the twin imperatives ofchoice and action that should be available to all women. Organized by IgorotaFoundation, the training is Igorota’s partnership with the Baguio City local governmentin a project called “Localizing Gender and Development Mainstreaming.” The projectis a recipient of CIDA’s support under the agency’s Gender Equity Fund (see page 74 forinformation on the GEF) and includes capacity-building activities such as the training

V

Gender Equity

A Bridgeacross Time,Space andMindsets

The Ibaloi, Kalanguya and Kankana-ey

27


that local government representatives andcommunity leaders like Vicky haveattended. The inputs gathered from theseare envisioned to help articulate the city’sGender and Development agenda, andidentify projects and services for womenin response to their issues.

Vicky has four children and is a proudgrandmother to two toddlers. Contrary tothe socialization of Ibaloi women, sheassures that marriage will be a choice forall her children and that they are free tochoose whom they want to marry.

“I also realized from the training that wewomen can do what men can. If theopportunities are not there for the mento be good providers, you get out thereand look for ways to fend for your family,and you can,” Vicky said. “We were alwaysat war before. You know how it is with uswomen, especially when there’s littlemoney and there are children to feed. Butafter some time, you have to just let go.”

These women have become more creativeand enterprising. The children will haveto take turns in attending school, forexample, or a child may have to stop fora semester as the parents buy time to savefor the next. Vicky and her friends havemastered the art of coping. “Happily,we’re not tight with the budget all at thesame time, or else we’d be dead,” one ofVicky’s friends said.

In Lucnab, another district of Baguio City,the facilitator’s differentiation betweengender and sex during the gendersensitivity training struck barangaysecretary Cris Perez. The distinctionbetween biological and gendered rolesilluminated to him the preconceptions hehad of men and women in general, andhis wife in particular.

Cris has become a more understandingpartner to wife Jerlyn and a moreapproachable father to his five children,he said. “I now more willingly share in

Vicky Makay: “In the past, an Ibaloi couldn’t back out of a fixed marriage or get out of a bad one.

Your family would have disowned you.”

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28


Vicky Makay’s grandchildren and neighbours. The two other Ibaloi women point out the areas in

their own homes reserved for the traditional cañao ritual.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


29


A portion of the majestic Cordillera panorama, which is dotted with numerous

indigenous communities collectively called “Igorot”○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


30


the housework. I help her with thelaundry, and I’m proud of it. On purposeI stand out there in the yard so that theother men will see me doing the laundry,sometimes with her, sometimes just bymyself, and hopefully they realize it’s notsomething to be ashamed of.”

There should be more gender sensitivitytraining and gender advocacy projects formen, Cris added, not only to reduce theincidence of violence against women butmore important, to change the mindsetsof men.

“The facilitator also reminded us of thetoll of childbirth on a woman’s body,” Crissaid, “which is why men should shouldereven more of the housework after awoman delivers.” He recalls a traditionamong the Kalanguya of the in-laws’performing the housework for a householdwhere the woman had just delivered anewborn. “Not even the woman’s’ family

members, but her in-laws,” he said.“Unfortunately it’s also a tradition thatmany seem to have forgotten and mustbe revived.”

The series of gender training, accordingto Igorota’s program coordinator MargeBalay-as, has also reduced drinking amongthe men and idle talk among the women.

As a member of an indigenouscommunity, the Kankana-ey, while beinga gender advocate, Marge is too familiarwith the “debate” surrounding genderequity and ethnic studies, the contentionof some being that gender equality is animported concept that conflicts withindigenous norms and customs, andtherefore should not be imposed onindigenous communities.

But Marge, before joining Igorota, was avolunteer for an International LabourOrganization study called “Management

A training session of the Igorota Foundation○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


31


of Ancestral Domains,” an experiencewhen she saw for herself the “streaks ofgender inequality even though both menand women are seen as nurturers andproviders.”

In one community, she said, she asked awoman and a man belonging to thecouncil of elders to step up and join herin front. Then she asked the discussionparticipants, “If you had a problem, wouldyou approach the male elder or the femaleelder?” Everyone chose the man, thisappeared perfectly all right even with thewoman elder, as if this was the natural andonly correct choice.”

Advocacy for indigenous communities’rights, it has been argued, should focuson the communities’ collective survivaland welfare, because to focus on thesubjective rights of individual memberswill be distracting, divisive, even dilatory.

But as a gender advocate and Kankana-ey, Marge sees no dilemma.

“For me, it’s really here [she brings herright palm to her breast to refer to theheart]. It is really, really difficult to bridge[indigenous] culture with a genderperspective. You can’t enter a communityand just drop your gender framework onthem. It is an excruciatingly slow processwhere you must first learn their culture,their systems and processes, their ways ofnaming so that you neither anger norinsult them. Only then can you, little bylittle, start suggesting changes in the notso desirable parts of their culture.”

The most important lesson is that thedecision and desire to change has to comefrom the community. “Honestly, I’m notat all pained. I am happy. My genderperspective has deepened my worldviewand identity as an indigenous person.”


32

Gérard Bélanger, CIDA Head of Aid, with IP members in their traditional wear, when he visited

Sagada, Mountain Province in May 2003. In the background is a portion of the world-renowned

rice terraces, proof of the indigenous communities’ engineering and agricultural skills.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○



33

Barangay secretary Cris Perez; the community leaders of barangay Lucnab; and staff members of

the Igorota Foundation including Marge Balay-as (right) . Multiple roles: Not be deterred by their

domestic tasks, three women across generations tend to their wards while participating in a focus

group discussion. Note the indigenous Cordillera baby carrier made from a locally woven blanket

wrapped around the infant and then slung around the mother’s neck○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


Sowing the Seeds of Continuity

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The Ata-LangilanTalaingod, Davao del Norte

34


he Ata-Langilan community of 53households in the hinterlands ofTalaingod, Davao del Norte isalmost untouched by moderninfluence, not even television. Noinstance of mixed marriage seems

to have taken place from as far as the elders can remember, even though a few havemanaged to attend college and work in the city.

The Ata-Langilan’s most striking characteristic is the strong sense of collectivity, evidentin how everyone seems to know what is going on with the rest. Even the dogs are communalresponsibility. “If you have no extra food but I do, then I will feed the dog. And thefollowing day, if we both don’t have any, then somebody else will,” one man said.

The experience of CIDA’s Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) with the Ata-Langilan confirms the difficulty of traditional small-scale farming for a poor IPcommunity without the necessary credit, extension and other support systems in placebecause although the community has secured the title to its ancestral domain, whichcovers some 90,000 hectares, the members do not have the means to buy their mostimmediate farming inputs. (See page 74 for information on CFLI.) It should be noted,

T

Livelihood

Sowing theSeeds ofContinuity

The Ata-Langilan

35


moreover, that the vast expanse of theAta-Langilan territory is solid rock. Avery limited area is arable.

The option of subsistence farming for theAta-Langilan is also challenged by hightransport costs. In bringing any excess riceand corn to the mill, the community hasto fork out PhP1 per sack for the motor-cab, another PhP1 to bring this backhome for packing and storage, and thenanother PhP1 to haul the sack to themarket to sell.

Set in barangay Dagohoy in Talaingod,13 kilometres of steep roughroads fromthe neighbouring town of Kapalong, theproject entailed the provision ofcapability-building, technical and capitalassistance to make the Ata-Langilan’ssubsistence farming more tenable andsustainable. The specific form ofassistance was the distribution of

carabaos, goats, ploughs, and rice, banana,corn and vegetable seedlings. The Ata-Langilan prefer to plant only indigenousvarieties as farming is organic, rain-fed,and essentially for their ownconsumption. “We grow white, black,brown and red rice, and our coconut ismore fragrant,” the people said.

Before the project, the farming of uplandAta-rice was a dying practice, but thecommunal farm has been instrumental inits revival. The Ata-rice is anindispensable commodity for the Atatribe as it is used in almost all of thecommunity’s rituals and ceremonies.

The community elders, all of them men,decided on the distribution of land parcelsof the communal farm, with a householdgetting from one to three parcels to till,according to need. The Council of Eldersalso divided the community into clusters


36

An Ata-Langilan elder, also considered the community’s weaving expert○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


The Ata-Langilan

37

Snapshots: Ata-Langilan members gather on the community’s ritual grounds;

an elderly woman inspects her freshly harvested tubers; and curious women and children oblige

an equally curious camera.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○



38

Elements of the sustainable farming project — goats, carabaos, and seeds, seedlings and

technology; NGO workers atop the pen coax the goats with grass stalks.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


as a way of regulating the use of the 20sets of carabaos, iron ploughs, harrows andbolos. The families take turns in usingthese during land preparation.

Income from working the communal farmhas also allowed the families to save riceand corn for the observance of IndigenousPeople’s Day in August 2004, and theoccasional purchase of meat and otherfood items. Twelve couples were also ableto finance their weddings from their farmearnings.

The carabaos made the women’s task ofland preparation lighter and faster. “Ah,the carabaos make such a big difference,”the mothers said. “We used to be soexhausted after working in the farm butnow we have more time and energy forour other chores.”

Some of the 85 native goats distributedhave also served as a food supplement,injecting a welcome change in thecommunity’s daily fare, which typicallyconsists of rice or tubers. With the goats,the people are able to have meat everynow and then. The goats also provide themanure that they apply to their crops asgrowth boosters.

There are also 15 bigger and slower hybridgoats, crossed from local and importedbreeds, which the Ata-Langilan discoveredto be prodigious milk producers. The milkhas alleviated the high incidence ofmalnutrition among the childrensubstantially. So now, the goats arecarefully tended in an elevated pen under

the indigenous ipo tradition of caretakingof animals.

The Ata-Langilan, as with a few otherLumad groups such as the Bagobo, followthe ipo tradition of animal care andprotection wherein animals that are giftedor entrusted to a family are treated asmembers of the family. In this case, theanimals are not raised for their commercialvalue alone, and cannot be sold off or givenaway as dowry by the recipient. “In fact,the recipient family takes even better careof the animal, which may have been theoriginal owner’s pet, than its own petsbecause the kindness shown to the animalis a reflection of the family’s respect andesteem for the donor,” an advocateexplained.

This principle of kinship and socialsupport underlying the custom of ipo isnot unlike the importance that tribes inAfrica attach to animals entrusted tothem by neighbouring clans, usually intimes of adverse conditions such as anepidemic or prolonged drought.

When the carabaos and the goatspurchased for the sustainable farmingproject arrived, the elders immediatelyreminded the community that the animalswere being assigned for their use and totheir care under the ipo. The goats –whether the natives or the hybrids – werenot to be sold off until they had beenpropagated. The hybrids have so farproduced eight offspring, and thecommunity awaits with a sense of thrill thekids that one is about to have any day soon.

The Ata-Langilan

39


New Meaning to “Binding Ties”

40

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

The MansakaMaragusan, Compostela Valley


The Mansaka

41

valley surrounded bymountains towering 2,000 to9,999 feet above sea level, themunicipality of Maragusan inCompostela Valley is nestled ina rainforest. Less than one-

fourth of its total land area is used for production as the town is 75% mountainous. Itsoriginal inhabitants were the Mansaka who today comprise only one-fourth of thepopulation, the second biggest ethnic group after the Cebuanos (about 65%) that beganmigrating to the area in the 1950s. Displaced from their ancestral domain by migration,logging and mining, the Mansaka were dispersed in the different barangays of Maragusan,including the Mansaka Village, a five-block settlement in the town center.

Today, the Mansaka are among the poorest of Maragusan’s population. The localgovernment unit (LGU), however, mobilizes them for several of its poverty-reductionprograms. Many Mansaka, for example, are employed by their barangays in waste-recoveryfacilities where they sort the recyclables from the non-recyclables for dispatch to a mainmaterials recovery processing center, a centerpiece of the LGU’s development plans. Inaddition, the majority of the forest guards of the LGU’s 309-hectare reforestation projectare also from the IP communities.

A

Local Governance

NewMeaning to“BindingTies”


Portraits of the Mansaka: Residents of the Mansaka village of different generations; and the

Maragusan’s main waste processing facility, a centerpiece of its development plan and one of the

municipality’s big employers of Mansaka○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


42


Patricia Orquiera records a transaction in the Botika sa Barangay’s sales journal.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Through the local water district office, theLGU has also made water available free ofcharge to the residents of Mansaka Village.

Elsewhere, the IPs are also visible. Forexample, Patricia Orquiera, of mixedPantukan and Mansaka ancestry, mindsthe “Botika sa Barangay,” one of fivevillage drugstores established by the LGUto cater to the pharmaceutical needs ofthe IP communities. Here, she earns anallowance of PhP1,000 monthly, whichsupplements the income of her husbandfrom being a farm labourer andoccasionally, a carpenter. Her earnings helpbuy the rice, soap and other immediatenecessities that the family needs.

While Patricia may have a workingknowledge of herbal medicines, her workat the barangay drugstore has also exposedher to the community’s common healthproblems, including malnutrition. Many

Mansaka children, she said, suffer third-degree malnutrition because they do noteat on time, or of sufficient quality andquantity. She tells her neighbours withmalnourished children, “You feed themvegetables you can grow in your backyard,you don’t need to give them somethingfancy.” Patricia is also able to advise themof any vaccination campaign orsupplemental feeding that the LGU offers.

The LGU’s adoption of GPS (globalpositioning system) technology will hastenthe process of delineation and titling of theMansaka’s ancestral domain. Theintroduction to the benefits of GPStechnology, including a comprehensiveForest Land Use Plan (FLUP), is one ofthe results of assistance from CIDA’s LocalGovernment Support Program (LGSP) informulating the municipality’s legislative-executive agenda. (See page 75 forinformation on the LGSP.)

The Mansaka

43


From cradle to grave, the community istied to the land. A typical setting inMansaka territories is a group of fivehouses, with the main house in the centeroccupied by the parents, and thesurrounding four to five houses occupiedby the married children and theirrespective families. The farms are usuallyadjacent or across their homes, and thesacred places of burial of ancestors arewithin the vicinity.

According to a University of thePhilippines (UP) scholar, the Mansakalanguage has no equivalent of the word“territory,” and they have no concept ofland ownership in the same way thismeans to the lowlanders – in hectares orsquare metres. Instead, the determinationof boundaries was by tradition since theland occupied by a particular home andfarm was transferred from one generationof Mansaka to the next. According to theUP study, in the past, all a Mansaka fatherhad to do was to call the children andpoint out to them the plot each oneshould farm. “That is the area you musttill.”*

The principle of collective stewardship –not ownership – of land was also seen inthe tamba, the Mansaka custom of placinga coffin-like box at the entrance of a farmplot or the approach to fishing or huntinggrounds to which the Mansaka in chargewanted others’ access restricted. TheMansaka believed violation of the tamba

would anger the spirits guarding the areaand bring about immediate misfortune,sickness or death, and withhold any yieldfrom a farm, forest or river under a tamba.

The Mansaka’s main occupation remainssubsistence agriculture – particularly riceand corn. Many of them, however, areunable to sustain rice or corn cultivationdue to the high cost of inputs as well asthe rising prices of basic commodities.They depend instead on gabi (taro roots)and kamote (sweet potato), which entailless expense to grow, for their daily foodrequirements. The LGU’s successfuldelineation of the Mansaka’s ancestraldomain and application of an ancestraldomain title will restore to the communitytheir customary rights over the land thatlies at the core of their being and sustainsthem.

Maragusan’s LGU, which LGSP has citedwith a Kaagapay Seal of Excellence inLocal Governance, has many otherdevelopment plans with the Mansaka’sparticipation and welfare in mind,including eco-tourism. The attractionsare there – easy hills and difficultmountains for climbers, caves forspelunkers, a huge lake and a generoussprinkling of waterfalls, and hot and coldsprings for everyone else. The Mansaka’sdirect involvement in such adevelopment plan in their area is a clearaffirmation of respect for their intrinsicaffinity with the land.


44

* Delia Magaña, “Ang mga Mansaka sa Maragusan ng Davao del Norte,” Inisyatibo sa Pag-aaral ng mga Etnolinggwistikong

Grupo (IPEG): 1998, pp. 21-46. [published by the Office of Research and Publications, College of Social Sciences and

Philosophy, University of the Philippines, Quezon City, Philippines]


The Mansaka

45

The local government’s planning and development officer and rural health worker; one of

Maragusan’s scenic waterfalls tagged for ecotourism development; and the information

technology team using the municipality’s GPS technology○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


The Sea: Cradle of Home and Heart

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The BajaoSangali District, Zamboanga City

46


Basic Needs

The Sea:Cradleof Homeand Heart

The Bajao

47

ophia Alipuddin, 40, isindescribably happy about thehousing settlement that 70 Bajaofamilies now occupy in sitioTungbato, in Sangali district, a 10-minute boat ride off the fish port

of Zamboanga City. “It’s different here. We are different here. There seems to be moreunity now. We are happy, in our hearts.”

Their new homes, she said, portend other good things to come, including livelihoodopportunities that will extricate them from hunger.

Sophia and her husband Roming de los Reyes have six children aged between 1 and 7.Often, the family makes do with just one meal a day.

Roming is a fisherman occasionally finding work as a “baradero” – a labourer on thebig fishing vessels that are out to sea for a full month. In this case, his take-home paytotals around PhP600. “Where will PhP600 take us if for the next month the vessel ison dry dock?” Sophia asks.

S


Sophia’s father was also a fisherman.“Before, the fish were everywhere. Therewere none of those launches yet then,”Sophia recalls. “But now, of course, howmany thousands, millions, of people arethere in Mindanao?”

Sophia herself sometimes hitches a ride ona cousin’s banca from where, not havingthe basic hook and line as tools, she mustdive for lato or seaweeds. “Often that’s allwe have for the day.”

Known as sea nomads or sea gypsies, theBajao, in the past, lived almost entirelyon water in their boats. They areacknowledged to be excellent fishermenand banca makers. In adverse weather orwhenever threatened by groupsencroaching on their territory, the Bajaowould let their boathouses simply float.

In the early days, it is said, when an agingBajao felt useless and a burden to thefamily, he or she would ask to be left onone of the many islands and sandbarsdotting the Celebes Sea to “disappearquietly.”

The Bajao were once a people proud oftheir ways. From miles, their rituals andweddings performed on the sea could beheard accompanied by the indigenoustambul (drums), kulintangan (guitar) andagung (gongs). The women performed thetraditional igal dance on the sea, in theirboats. Today, however, only a few Bajaofamilies remain living in their boats. Theyare mostly found in Tawi-Tawi and Suluat the southern tip of the Philippines.Their boathouses are open prey to theruthless “saitan” or sea pirates who takenot only their catch but also their fishing

The scaffolding and catwalk of Project Hope in barangay Sangali:

the “groundwork” for the Bajao’s community on the sea○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

48



The housing settlement in various phases of construction. Some of the beneficiaries contributed

labour as counterpart contribution to the project.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

The Bajao

49


50

Sophia Alipuddin and her brood of six; two of the Bajao elders; and a significant feature of the

new culturally sensitive Bajao settlement is that it also provides several public toilets

that the households share.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○



equipment and, for the better-offboathouses, their bancas’ motors. Theterrorist group Abu Sayyaf known to roamthe mountains and waters of Basilan, onthe other hand, reportedly harass theBajao for food.

The majority of an estimated 70,000 to100,000 Bajao population like Sophia andRoming have otherwise been forcedonshore where they have set up their stilthouses on the seaside or, in the case ofSangali, the river’s mouth. Although saferfrom the marauding saitan, they aredisenfranchised from their life support –the sea.

The Bajao housing settlement in Sangaliis a partnership between the Philippinegovernment’s Department of SocialWelfare and Development (DSWD) and

the Zamboanga City government, andCIDA’s Philippines-Canada DevelopmentFund in a project called “Project Hopefor Bajao Families.” (See page 74 forinformation on the PCDF.) The projectincludes the construction of core sheltersin three sites, barangay Tungbato inSangali district of Zamboanga City, andbarangays Kulaybato and Bato inLamitan, Basilan province. (The islandof Basilan is thirty minutes off ZamboangaCity by pump boat.)

Beyond the provision of shelter, ProjectHope is a comprehensive developmentplan of re-integration and re-discoverytargeted at building culturally sensitiveBajao communities. The plan takes intoaccount not only the Bajao’s need forlivelihood opportunities and increasedaccess to basic social services and facilities,

The Bajao

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All smiles: Project Hope instils in the beneficiaries newfound pride of place and identity.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


but also interventions to improve theBajao’s sense of self-worth and pride, anequally urgent agenda. A commissioner ofthe National Commission on IndigenousPeoples once described the Bajao as “themost marginalized of the indigenouspeoples’ communities.”

With the stewardship of the citygovernment, the barangay council isintent on pushing the other componentsof Project Hope. The pursuit of anancestral domain claim for the Bajao isthe stakeholders’ latest success. [The titleto 179 hectares of the mangrove area inSangali awarded to the Bajao was securedweeks before this was written.] The peopleare also eager about the prospects ofelectricity and literacy classes in their newcommunity.

“We know nothing. Most of us areilliterate... no read, no write,” Sophia said.“When we are on land, we cringe at a

barking dog owned by a Christian. That’swhy I miss my father so much. Hepromised that for as long as he lived, hewould send me to school.” The memorybrought Sophia to tears.

Having reached Grade 6 before her fatherdied, Sophia, indeed, is one of the mosteducated in the community. Of all seventycertificates of ownership to their newhomes that were given to Project Hopebeneficiaries in Sangali, only three weresigned in script; the rest bore thumbprints.

But more important, the Bajao are excitedabout the ongoing consultations todetermine the livelihood and trainingneeds of their families. “We have beenasked about our plans, what we believewe’re good at,” Sophia said. “Althoughmy father was a fisherman, my mother wasa vendor, she kept a sari-sari store. That’swhy I believe I’ll do well with my ownsari-sari store.”


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LGU officials during a monitoring visit to the housing project,

including Sangali’s 72-year-old barangay captain○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


The Bajao

53

A barangay councillor of Sangali organizes the certificates of ownership of the new homes.

Note the thumbprint on the certificate. Present during the turnover ceremony in February 2005

were Ambassador Sutherland (with a new homeowner) and various DSWD and LGU officials.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


People and Watersheds: Mapping the Balance

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The BagoboTalomo-Lipadas Watershed, Davao City


The Bagobo

55

ario “Jabi” Vargas, a staff ofCIDA’s People Collaboratingfor Environmental andEconomic Management(PCEEM), listened intentlyto a Bagobo leader, his

eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. The Bagobo was explaining how the Lumad ofMindanao have been “forced out” and “hemmed in” – forced out of their territories bydevelopment aggression, but “hemmed in” by environmental protection initiatives thatdisenfranchise them from their natural environment. “The law on National IntegratedProtected Areas System completely disallows the cutting of trees in protected areas wheresome IP communities are found. This may be good, but the law also deprives us of woodfor our own consumption,” the Bagobo cited as example.

Later after the forum, Jabi reflected on PCEEM’s mandate of watershed protection.“Our job is to bring the different interests together, encourage dialogue and ensureparticipatory decision-making,” Jabi said. “But not only that. Along the broad andstrategic concerns such as land use and water use, we also have to address the immediatesurvival concerns of the people, including the small farmers and IPs,” he noted. (Seepage 75 for information on PCEEM.)

M

Environment

People andWatersheds:Mapping theBalance


Collection of water sample for testing.

Up close: In various spots the Talomo-Lipadas watershed are troubling sights of neglect

including quarrying and indiscriminate water collection and use.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Responding to the needs of the IPcommunities occupying the Talomo-Lipadas watershed, however, is easier saidthan done as there was no baseline dataon these communities that PCEEM coulduse in the beginning. Such informationon the Tagabawa, Ubo, Klatacommunities, all subgroups of the Bagobo,is critical to PCEEM’s “multi-stakeholder”approach to watershed management.

PCEEM was prompted to carry outcultural mapping to determine theconditions of the IP communities in the38,000-hectare watershed area,considered an environmental hotspot.The project covered the identified IPsettlements in 19 upland barangays (11in Talomo and eight in Lipadas), andutilized a survey and participatory rapid

appraisal methods, including focus groupdiscussions, to gather the necessaryinformation on the IPs. The participationof the community at each and every stepwas important, the principle being thatthe community members have the mostintimate knowledge of their conditions,including the watershed they live in. Themapping project therefore allowed theBagobo communities to define their ownissues, aspirations and development goals.

In all, the census surveyed 2,724 IPhouseholds (2,119 in Talomo and 605 inLipadas) based 600 metres and above.“We wanted a more comprehensivesurvey and cover the entire Talomo-Lipadas watershed,” said Marcel Goño,executive director of PCEEM, “but we justdidn’t have enough resources and time.”


56


The Bagobo

57

A common Davao sight: a billboard at the entrance of a banana plantation advising the schedule

of aerial spraying of chemical inputs; examples of farm management techniques to prevent

erosion such as intercropping bananas with durian, and canals to trap the soil carried down by

rainwater; farmers in the watershed area in action during a demonstration-teaching session○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○



58

Farmers working together to protect their livelihood and the watershed;

an inspection team crossing one of several springs in the area○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


The mapping project revealed thatindigenous peoples comprise almost one-third of the total population in thewatershed. “Our engagement inwatershed protection has made it clear toPCEEM that in spite and because of theirabsence, the IPs are very much in thepicture,” Jabi said.

Seven of every 10 households rely onfarming for income although of the totalnumber, only 39% in Lipadas and 43% inTalomo own the land they till. Theproductivity levels vary widely, withmajority citing lack of capital, pestinfestation and poor soil fertility as themost common problems encountered.The rest are tenant farmers operatingunder fixed sharing arrangements withthe landowners or farm labourers paiddaily wages. The traditional sharing ofproduce with the owner is called nilima,that is, four parts for the owner and onepart for the worker. The harvest isreckoned either by sack or cavan.

Whether owners of their farms, tenantsor seasonal labourers, the majority of theIPs live below the poverty threshold. Theaverage monthly income is onlyPhP3,833, or not even one-third of theestablished poverty index in the regionof PhP11,000.

The IP settlements subscribe to a conceptof stewardship – instead of ownership – ofthe land, which is common amongindigenous peoples. The vast Lipadaswatershed, for example, was the ancestral

homeland of the Tagabawa, and in thecommunity’s memory are important placesthat serve as referents to the group’scollective identity including mountains,hills, burial grounds, ritual grounds andother physical monuments. According tothe elders, they use just enough resourcesto survive and limit their economic activityin any given area to two planting seasonsa year to give the land time to replenish orregenerate. They exhibit deep reverencefor their natural environment in general,and continue to ask permission from thespirits guarding the rivers if they can catchthe fish and frogs in the waters.

Another significant discovery of thecultural mapping project is the threat ofloss of indigenous knowledge systems,cultures and practices. Although theadults in 71% of the IP households canspeak and understand their traditionallanguage, the proportion of children whodo so is much lower at 37.2%. The eldersdecry the disappearance of traditionalpractices, including communal sharing ofnatural resources.

The vast area of Talomo-Lipadaswatershed has seen, over time, bountifulharvests, long droughts, tribal wars,invasions, waves of migration, and theencroachment of big corporate interests.With the information the culturalmapping project gathered, a powerful toolis available to PCEEM and otheradvocates in helping the Bagobo addresstheir problems and chart the course oftheir development.

The Bagobo

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The Dulangan-ManoboBagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat

Partnership in Productivity: The Building Blocks


61

ly Ungot, a Dulangan-Manobofrom barangay Chua inBagumbayan, Sultan Kudaratprovince, learned to stay on thevery edge of the road wheneverhe would pass Christian territory.

Like the other Lumad in his village, he learned to keep a low profile, with head bowed,whenever he ventured out of the village. As children, the Dulangan-Manobo wereraised believing that if they had to choose between a Christian and a Muslim to approachat all, it would always be a Muslim. But that would change, eventually.

“It took months before I could convince him to speak up for the Lumad,”CO-Multiversity organizer Mimi Pimentel said. CO-Multiversity is the partnerorganization of CIDA’s Philippine Development Assistance Program (PDAP) in aproject called the Mindanao Program for Peace and Development (ProPeace). ProPeaceis one of the joint efforts of Canada and the Philippines in the rehabilitation andpeace-building effort in Mindanao. (See page 75 for information on the ProPeace.)

ProPeace, established in 2001 as Mindanao grappled with the ravages of a “total war”declared by president Joseph Estrada the year before, supports the development

E

Peace-Building

Partnership inProductivity:The BuildingBlocks

The Dulangan-Manobo


initiatives of the Muslim, Lumad andChristian populations. In short, ProPeaceis a “tri-people” response to the situationin Mindanao. It is premised on the beliefthat the conflict in Mindanao is not oneborne by social, ethnic, religious orcultural differences, but by the scourge ofwidespread poverty.

“You can look at conflict from a socio-cultural to a religious perspective, but forPDAP, we see the issue as poverty.ProPeace is a recognition of the povertycontext of the war, which is why our mainstrategy is also livelihood and enterpriseinterventions,” said Jerry Pacturan,PDAP’s managing director. “So, whetherthe community is purely an IP group or acombination of two or three of thepopulation groups, PDAP may enter thepicture because we want to address theissue of poverty and contribute to thecommunity’s livelihood development.”

The communities supported by ProPeaceare in various post-conflict stages ofpeace-building and development, just likebarangay Chua where the three sectorsare relishing newfound solidarity andoneness, a far cry from a time when ethnicprejudices and fears held sway.

With assistance from Propeace, theDaguma Range Tri-people’s Federation,the network of people’s organizations inChua organized by CO-Multiversity, isengaged in a host of livelihood andenterprise development activities. Theseinclude a solar dryer for the peasantorganizations, two cooperative stores runby the women’s groups, and goat dispersalfor the youth association. Before theseinitiatives could commence, however,CO-Multiversity conducted several“culture of peace” seminars, firstseparately with the three different groups,then in joint sessions.

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The remains of the Manobos’ daycare center where the children

and adult observers alike learned how to read and write.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


A Manobo mother and her children; CO-Multiversity staff Mimi Pimentel;

youth volunteer Joannee Mendoza; and the initially “reluctant” Manobo spokesperson Ely Ungot○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

63

The Dulangan-Manobo


“It was frustrating because Ely wasarticulate when the Lumad met amongthemselves. You could see his leadershippotential stand out. But our tri-peoplemeetings would start and end with him,as representative of the Lumad, saying nota single word,” Mimi recalled.

Finally, Mimi sat Ely down to convey theurgency of a Lumad voice. “I thought tomyself when I watched and listened to theChristian and Muslim representatives,‘They are not much older than me, notmuch different from me. Their issues aresimilar to ours. They worry about the samerat infestation that destroyed our crops.If they can speak out, I should try to aswell,’” Ely resolved.

The key, Mimi reflects, is constantpersonal encounter, in spite of andprecisely because of the people’sprejudices and differences. Mimi and hercolleagues at CO-Multiversity did not tireof gathering the residents of Chua for thesessions, even if at first blush theseappeared to be “idle chats.” Neighboursbegan to realize their similarities, as wellas differences, with one another from theconstant sharing of their respectivebeliefs, practices and customs, and theexchange of personal stories. “I knew wewere okay when the three groups couldafford to joke about their differences andlaugh together,” Mimi said.

When she saw practically Ely’s entirecommunity coming down the road toattend the federation’s first generalassembly, Joannee Mendoza, a Christian

youth leader of Chua, could not believeher eyes. Even now, her voice falterswhen she remembers. “I was stupefied.They were all there – old men andwomen, the adults, the children. Theyeven brought with them the infants andlaid them in makeshift cribs tied to theposts,” she said. The Lumad were quiet,Joannee noted, but the sight of so manyof them leaning against the wall wasoverwhelming.

Today, when Ely and the other Dulangan-Manobo from his village bump into theirChristian and Muslim neighbours in thefootpaths, market, the motor-cab depotor the double-tire bus, they trade updatesabout their different projects, aside fromupdates on their private lives. Theycelebrate one another’s achievement andlament one another’s misfortunes in unity.A few months ago, a Dulangan-Manobo’s pregnancy complication set offthe whole barangay in a panic search fora habal-habal or skylab (local terms for animprovised motorcycle) to bring her tothe health center in the town proper. Itturned out to be a life-threateningectopic pregnancy treated in the nick oftime.

Indeed, the divisions have melted awayand the reality of peace is gelling in Chua.In the meetings held outside the barangay,Mimi added, the Christian and Lumadparticipants take care of asking thequestion for their Muslim companions:“Are you serving us pork? None of us hereeats pork.” Sometimes, Mimi would spy aMuslim break into a shy smile.

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The vegetable depot for the farmers of Chua; a typical outhouse; the usual modes of access to and

from upland villages in Mindanao such as Chua, fully packed jeepneys and “skylab” motorcycles

improvised to hold one driver and as many as four passengers○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

65

The Dulangan-Manobo


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The TedurayUpi, Maguindanao

Mainstreaming Diversity as a Window to the Future


67

ne rainy afternoon in October2002, in Upi, Maguindanaoprovince, the truck owned byAlex Peñalosa, fell into aravine and turned over fourtimes. Six hitchhikers died on

the spot; while eight others suffered fractures and other injuries and had to be rushedto a hospital in Cotabato City.

All the fatalities and injured, including the driver, were Muslim; Alex, who also managesa small store of agriculture supplies, is Christian.

That same night, the families of the hitchhikers were upon Alex and his family,demanding payment in damages and for medical expenses. The demand started atPhP120,000 per casualty, excluding the expenses to be incurred for the kanduli, theMuslim commemoration ritual of the death anniversary held on the third, seventh,20th, 40th, 50th and hundredth days. In Cotabato City, Alex’s sister was constantlyasked for money for the meals of the families of the injured. “I was never more scared inmy life. All sorts of fears – I was ruined, bankrupt... I was dead, I was going to spend therest of my life in jail,” Alex said. His wife was distraught.

O

Cultural Integrity

MainstreamingDiversityas a Windowto the Future

The Teduray


Mayor Ramon Piang visited the Peñalosasthat night and assured the couple ofassistance from the local government unit(LGU). Mayor Piang, who is on hissecond term, had inherited a municipalitybeset by intense conflict relating toproperty ownership and politics. Upi wasat one time a town where theconstituency of Christians, Muslims andTeduray was used to taking the law in itsown hands. The mayor deputized twopolicemen to ensure the Peñalosas’ safety.Then he asked Alex if he needed theAdvisory Council’s intervention, towhich Alex agreed straightaway.

The Advisory Council of Upi, which wasthe main campaign platform of MayorPiang, is a combination of the traditionalCouncil of Elders of the Teduray (44% ofUpi’s population) and the Council ofElders of the Maguindanoan Muslims(23% of the population) with present-dayarbitration mechanisms to represent theChristian sector of the population (33%).

Created to settle local disputes amicably,the council is an echo of the indigenousdecision-making and policy-settingmechanisms revered by both the Tedurayand the Muslims. It is composed of twoTeduray elders (called “Kefeduwan” in theTeduray dialect), two Muslim elders andtwo Christians chosen by their respectivesectors in consultative assemblies. Itsestablishment was facilitated by theintervention of CIDA’s LocalGovernment Support Program indetermining Upi’s development needs,and building the governance capacities ofthe local chief executives and municipalemployees. (See page 75 for information onLGSP.) “Of course we would know whatwe need to do, but our plans wouldn’thave been as well laid out, and wewouldn’t have been as systematic with ourimplementation,” Mayor Piang said.

Although the council sits en banc inhearing and mediating cases, if theprotagonists in a particular case are both

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Upi’s mayor, Ramon Piang, a Teduray and recognized as one of the country’s Ten Most

Outstanding Municipal Mayors in 2003○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


69

The Teduray

The tri-people face of Upi: Two members of the women’s egg-production cooperative; Vice-Mayor

Abdul June Salik, a Muslim; a Christian barangay captain; a Teduray Kefeduwan and member of the

Council of Elders; and a Teduray woman community leader○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


70

Teduray members in their daily attire and in indigenous costumes worn

during special events and celebrations○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○



Teduray, the Kefeduwan preside.Likewise, if the parties involved are bothMuslim, the Muslim elders preside theproceedings, and if the parties are bothChristian, the barangay justice systemtakes over. If the parties are from thedifferent sectors, their respective eldersarbitrate, together with the barangayofficials if Christians are involved.

In envisioning an Advisory Council, themayor’s Teduray origins played a role. “Ialso wanted to avoid the cycle ofretaliation behind the rido (family andclan feuds) and to make room forimportant customs of the Teduray suchas the kitas demaluwas and se egudkenugew,” Mayor Piang said.

The kitas demaluwas and se egud kenugeware Teduray rituals where the participantsslightly shave off the edge of their nailsinto a bowl of water and all drink from

this. “These are rituals as powerful as ablood compact,” Mayor Piang added.

A clear measure of the people’s preferencefor traditional, non-antagonisticsettlement of disputes was that the notionof an Advisory Council met no resistance.“They have neither the money forlawyers’ fees nor the time for the slowprogress of court hearings,” one councilmember explained.

The Advisory Council can best bedescribed as the institutionalization andharmonization of the customary laws ofthe Teduray and the Muslims with theexisting penal codes. It is, in effect, thecherished self-determination of theTeduray and Muslims in action, albeit insynchrony with modern-day law.

Mediation generally takes a day, “with alot of caucuses and asides” between an

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The Teduray

A teeming bus parked behind the CIDA project billboard during market day○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


elder and his constituents taking placein the course of the hearing. The eldersexercise their suasion over theirrespective communities. “We do a lot ofpersuasion and advising, sometimes evenadmonition,” one council member said.

A ground rule in the Advisory Council’smandate, besides the constituents’ directendorsement of its members, is thecontending parties’ mutual commitmentto uphold its final decision. When sucha final decision has been reached, theAdvisory Council secretary translatesthis to a written document signed by allthe council members, the complainant,the defendant and Mayor Piang. Thedecision is then considered binding.

Otherwise, the dispute reverts to thestandard justice system of barangaymediation or police investigations and,failing a resolution at either level, moveson to formal court litigation.

Four years since the Advisory Councilwas constituted, police cases havedeclined by 35%.

The council’s caseload varies from landdisputes to physical injury, rape, anddowry disputes. Between the Teduray,the disputes are usually related toproperty boundaries. By far, however, themost difficult case encountered was thatof Alex and the Muslim fatalities.

The council convened two days after theaccident, although the two Muslimelders began consultations with the

families soon after this, explaining tothem the principle of, and provision for,damage payments in case of deathstipulated in the civil code. Themediation hearing lasted almost sixhours, from 5:30 in the afternoon untilan hour before midnight. As a gesture ofgoodwill, when Alex was asked to givean additional cavan of rice per familyof the Muslim fatalities on top of theagreed indemnity, he offered to give alittle more than the cash equivalent ofthis.

“We spent the last two hours of that nightsigning the final document, with the sheernumber of parties involved in the case andthe corresponding number of copies tosign,” the elders noted.

Today, Alex is a walking testimony of theefficacy and wisdom of the AdvisoryCouncil. “I tell everybody, ‘If you have acase, go to the elders. Don’t waste yourtime, go to the elders.’”

There is a glow not only in Alex’s face,but in that of every Christian, Muslim orTeduray of Upi that can only come fromwithin – from a deep satisfaction in thepresent and an abiding hope for thefuture. There is a sense of security as onewalks in the streets or plaza well into thenight, owing mainly to a culture of peacethat has taken root. In taking the bravestep of mainstreaming the people’s respectfor, and celebration of, diversity throughthe tri-people Advisory Council, Upi iscarving the path toward a peaceful andprosperous Mindanao.

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73

The Teduray

At work and at play: Two boys in the market, one still at his task of carrying bananas

and the other finishing off the reward for his efforts, a slice of watermelon;

Teduray children being children in their home○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


CIDA Programs CoveredPHILIPPINES-CANADA DEVELOPMENT FUND (PCDF)

1988-2005The PCDF has been generated from the sale of selected Canadian goods covered byCanada’s Commodity Assistance Program since 1988. The program is managed by aboard composed of representatives from the National Economic and DevelopmentAuthority (NEDA) and CIDA, as well as civil society. Its priorities are: basic socialservices, peace education and development, livelihood and micro-enterprise development,community development, governance, and infrastructure support. PCDF finances, inpart, the Local Government Support Program and the ProPeace.

GENDER EQUITY FUND (GEF)1995-2005

The GEF supports initiatives proposed by CIDA, NGOs and other civil society anddevelopment-oriented organizations to increase women’s participation in economic,political, social and environmental decision-making, and eliminate gender-baseddiscrimination against women’s participation in development. The GEF was establishedalso to complement CIDA’s capacity to integrate a gender perspective in its policies,programs, projects and activities. It supports projects geared to dialogue on policies relatingto gender equality, research to deepen the analysis of women’s issues, piloting and modellingactivities addressing concerns such as violence against women, and networking amongcivil society organizations.

CANADA FUND FOR LOCAL INITIATIVES (CFLI)RENEWED ANNUALLY

The CFLI extends financing and technical assistance to nongovernmental organizations,people’s organizations and cooperatives for projects addressing local human security andsocial development issues. In focusing on the smaller local-level organizations of theurban and rural poor, and indigenous communities, CFLI complements CIDA’s otherprograms by adding flexibility and timeliness to the disposition of Official DevelopmentAssistance. CFLI’s overarching criterion in the approval of support for a certain proponentis compatibility with CIDA’s two broad goals of sustainable development and povertyreduction.

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT SUPPORT PROGRAM (LGSP)1999-2006

Now in its second phase, LGSP provides technical assistance to partner Local GovernmentUnits (LGUs) to enhance their capabilities in: (i) local government management, (ii)service delivery, (iii) resource generation and management, and (iv) participatorygovernance. A major thrust is support to an LGU’s formulation of local executive andlegislative agenda that identifies an area’s priorities, unites the development thrusts andpriorities of the local chief executive with those of the Sangguniang Bayan, and mobilizesthe various stakeholders for a more participatory planning process. Building on the resultsof Phases I and II, CIDA supported the Local Governance Support Program in theAutonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (LGSPA) in 2005.

PEOPLE COLLABORATING FOR ENVIRONMENTALAND ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT (PCEEM)

1995-2005The PCEEM seeks to promote a multi-stakeholder approach to watershed managementin Metro Cebu and Metro Davao. In both areas, it has initiated the formation of awatershed management board whose members represent the different sectors with stakesin the rehabilitation and preservation of the Kotkot, Lusaran, Mananga and smallerwatersheds in Metro Cebu, and the Talomo-Lipadas watershed in Metro Davao. PCEEMaims to encourage long-term, ecosystem-based planning and decision-making in watershedmanagement, and the design and implementation of innovative projects and activitieson issues addressing resource use, management and regeneration, biodiversity, water supplyand waste management.

MINDANAO PROGRAM FOR PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT (PROPEACE)2001-2004

ProPeace was the follow-through of an earlier project called Program for Peace andDevelopment in the SZOPAD Areas (PPDSA), which supported the communitylivelihood initiatives of Muslim rebel returnees. PPDSA was envisioned to contribute tothe peace dividend and commenced a year after the signing of the final peace agreementbetween the Philippine Government and the Moro National Liberation Front in 1997.In 2001, with the region reeling from the devastation of a total war declared the yearbefore, PPDSA was expanded into ProPeace to include Christian and Lumad territories.Both ProPeace and PPDSA were implemented by the Philippine Development AssistanceProgram (PDAP), a consortium of Philippine and Canadian NGOs.

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PCCO coverfinal 2

The Philippines-Canada Cooperation Office (PCCO) provides program supportto the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in the Philippines.

Touching Lives: CID

A’s Encounters w

ith Indigenous Peoples in the PhilippinesISB

N N

o. 971-92662-5-2

Level 7 Tower 2, RCBC Plaza, 6819 Ayala Avenue, Makati City, PhilippinesTelephone: +632 8579001 • Fax: +632 8431083

CIDA Website: http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca • Embassy of Canada Website: http://www.manila.gc.ca

Philippines-Canada Cooperation Office9/F, Salcedo Towers, 169 H. V. dela Costa Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City, Philippines

Telephone: +632 8138255 • Fax: +632 8928913Website: http://www.pcco.org.ph

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