Digos City, Davao del Sur – The Revitalized Pulis Sa Barangay (RPSB) team Sibulan received praises and cheers from LGU and Indigenous People after they succeeded in facilitating the mass special wedding ceremony of 66 Bagobo Tagabawa couples at Sitio Tudaya and Brgy. Site of Brgy. Sibulan, Sta Cruz, Davao del Sur.
The said event which took place in two consecutive days starting December 11 to 12, 2020 officiated by the municipal mayor of Sta. Cruz town in the person of Honorable Jaime Lao Jr, and were witnessed by PCOL. ALBERTO LUPAZ, DSPPO Provincial Director, Bae Norma O. Rivera the Provincial IPMR, Brgy. Captain Hon. Danilo U Abe, Tribal Chieftain Datu Gideon Tolentino and personnel from PTV 4 and GMA 7 who covered the colorful event.
The 66 Bagobo Tagabawa couple and the local tribes folks were amazed and at the same time grateful after experiencing the extraordinary fusion of their tribe’s culture and tradition and a glimpse of a semi-military wedding due to the presence of saber parade that served as the honor guards to the celebrants while marching down the aisle wearing their colorful traditional Bagobo Tagabawa attires.
The success of the memorable event was made into reality through the effort of RPSB Team Sibulan Batch 2 led by PLT JUNMAR PASOBILLO, PLT REY T SOTOMAYOR and PLT LOPE PRADO who diligently processed the papers of every spouse such as birth certificate, Cenomar and other Local Civil Registrar’s prerequisites. Same three RPSB Sibulan Lieutenants also served as the “ninong” or the godfathers of all the newly wed.
Prior to the mass wedding program, Bae Norma O. Rivera and Hon Jaime Lao Jr praised the efforts of PNP especially the RPSB Team Sibulan for initiating the mass wedding that at the same time show cased the culture and tradition of Bagobo Tagabawa tribe from the couples wearing colorful tribal costumes, sounding of the tribal gong, blessing of the newly wed in Bagobo Tagabawa way and the tribal wedding dance that was witnessed by the attendees during the wedding event.
Upon the deployment of these RPSB teams in the far-flung communities in the province, basically living and immersing with the people there, doing social and cultural studies, it was found out that many of our fellowmen usually Indigenous coupes have been living in for a considerable time without being legally married. That prompted the Davao sur Police Provincial Office leadership to launch the mass weddings. The wedding at Sitio Tudaya was actually the 4th batch of mass wedding in the province benefiting over a hundred IP couples to date.
The Police Provincial Director Police Colonel Alberto P. Lupaz congratulated the newlyweds and further pledged to deliver more impact projects and programs to the Bagobo Tagabawa community.
“Your place maybe far from the cities and town centers, your roads maybe challenging and difficult, but I assure you that through the Revitalized Pulis Sa Barangay, the long hand of the government will not stop in reaching out to you, para maramdaman ninyo na may totoong gobyernong nagmamalasakit sa inyo.” The Davao Sur top cop assured the Bagobo Tagabawa people.
The Revitalized Police sa Barangay of the PNP is the counterpart of Retooled-Community Support Program of AFP in adherence to Executive Order number 70 issued by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte mandating the AFP, PNP, DILG, DSWD,DEPED,TESDA and other significant government offices to work together to end Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) in the country employing the “whole of the Nation Approach” which put major emphasis in bringing the basic government services to the Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas in the country which were exploited by the CPP-NPA-NDF for the longest time in the past.
(PRO XI | OIC Michael Manguhig, RPN DXKT Davao)