The Philippines is lived with a culturally diverse community where various group of people embrace different customs and traditions, but are all bearers of the national brand “Mga Pilipino/Pinoy.” This includes the indigenous people communities who have unique cultural identities that significantly need preservation and protection and have been labeled as marginalized due to lack or limited access to education, health facilities, and other economic opportunities. Also, they are usually subjected to discrimination. Concerning to this, the Department of Social Welfare and Development has reached out the indigenous peoples and has helped them improve their level of well-being through access to internal and external resources and social services.

Completing the three meals everyday has been difficult to most of the members of the Bukidnon Tribe as most of them are only laborers of the haciendas, earning limited pay practically inadequate for their daily sustenance. This is also one of the factors why only a few children in the Bukidnon Tribe of Bgry. Kabulakan Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental were able to go to school.

With the goal to protect, preserve and develop traditional indigenous skills and cultures, the DSWD has seen education as a significant step or foundation in empowering indigenous people to participate more in their communities. Recognizing the crucial role of education in people empowerment, the Department improved its provision of social services by bringing this to the communities where indigenous peoples live.

“Before, we could barely eat thrice a day because most of the people from the tribe are only laborers of haciendas. That is why, we are happy that there is now the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) who has supported us and organized our tribe. We are also grateful of the DSWD’s Modified Conditional Cash Transfer (MCCT) and Pantawid program for making us capable of sending our children to school,” Bukidnon Tribe Chieftain Dionesio Valor recounted.

Tribu Bukidnon IP Community has now access to public schools in the vicinity. There are 2 Day Care Centers accredited under the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office in the Municipality of Santa Catalina, which are the Kabulakan Day Care Center and the Mansanagan Day Care Center. The Kabulakan Elementary School serves their primary students while Obat High School for the Junior and Senior High School students.

“Previously, only a few children in our tribe are sent to school, but now almost all of the children of the tribe are enjoying the privilege to be in school. We are hopeful that this very few number of children (non-Pantawid) who are not yet in school will soon be granted a chance to education with the convergence of the efforts of the DSWD and other agencies,” Chieftain Donision Valor further said.

As of December 2018, there is zero record of IP eligible children missing classes and non-compliant in school, while there are no reports raised on students enrolled to Alternative Learning System (ALS) and case managed constantly skipping classes or non-compliant. According to the report of the Cluster Compliance Verification Officer Marline Gutang, there is 100% compliance of MCCT monitored children in Day Care Centers and in Elementary School as of the school year 2017.

The Local Government Unit of Sta. Catalina, Commission on Higher Education, Tamayo Foundation and the NCIP have also been cooperative in empowering the people of Bukidnon Tribe through provision of Scholarship Grants for the Tertiary Education of selected children of the Tribe.

“The most that we are trying our best to sustain are these scholarship grants (from different agencies/NGOs) and the regular attendance of our children in school, because we believe that soon when these children will graduate, they will be capable of offering a great help and support to our tribe especially when they’ll be able to land a good job,” Tribe Chieftain Valor said.

Among the other economic opportunities provided to the indigenous peoples are the health and sustainable livelihood services that currently benefit the indigenous people of Sta. Catalina.

There has been improved access to preventive health care services and facilities in Kabulakan Health Center among pregnant women and children 0-5 years of age and there is also zero record of IP Eligible Pantawid households unable to avail the key health services for the periods one to four of 2018.

These indigenous people of Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental have also shown a significant involvement in establishing sustainable livelihoods in their community through the support of different NGAs, LGUs and NGOs.   Among the livelihoods sustained by the group are Swine Production, Banana Plantation of Brgy. Manasanagan, Mini Sari-sari Store and Carabao Dispersal Livelihood Project.

Bukidnon Tribe are also actively involved in different People’s Organization/Association like Katribu Association, Manasanagan Water Association, Farmers Association, Sugar Planters, Kabulakan Water System Association, Women’s Association, Farmer’s Association and Planter’s Association that engage them in social, cultural and educational activities and help them continuously organize and mobilize their community for its progress and promotion.

Chieftain Valor also narrated that other members in their tribes have used to feel hopeless and were confused on how they should deal with their financial and family difficulties wherein most of them had just resorted to drinking and would eventually throw tantrums.

“But currently, there are no more tribe members who would resort to drinking because with the aid of the resources and opportunities given to them by the different government agencies, they have already learned how to strive and feed their families. Family problems that used to cause burden to some wives and husbands have been curtailed too and we are hopeful that this will be sustained,” the Chieftain amusingly recounted.

Having received social interventions from the DSWD and its partner stakeholders that aim to continuously establish an inclusive community that opens opportunities to all, Chieftain Dionesio Valor and his Tribe have seen a silver lining not just for their tribe but to all Indigenous People groups in the community.

“We are indeed grateful. Today we already have mini-stores for our livelihood, we were helped with our backyard garden, we are also engaged in handicrafts made of drift woods and are well supported with materials needed for such handicrafts. As of now, we could say that we are no longer struggling in our daily living. When talking about income, we already have small or even big income-generating livelihoods. It also helped other people in the tribe because they would no longer go to the downtown to buy goods because there are already small merchandising stores in the vicinity that could provide our needs which also helped the group owners of our store to collect bigger funds/profit,” Chieftain Valor expressed.

With the complete adherence of Bukidnon Tribe to the program conditions and their excellent performance in developing their communities through and in partnership with the different stakeholders of the program they are chosen as one of the top two Model Indigenous People Communities during the Indigenous People’s Summit conducted on November 28-29, 2018. The other Model IP Community is the Tribu Aeta of Mabinay, Negros Oriental. ###

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