Davao City – The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), along with three national government agencies and the local government of Davao del Norte, will lead the launching of the “Adopt-a-Tribal Family” Program in the mountain village of Barangay Gupitan in Kapalong town on October 12.
Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said in his official Facebook page that at least 150 families from the isolated tribal village of Tapayanon, Gupitan will be the first beneficiaries of the program which aims to provide decent homes, sustainable livelihood projects, education for the children, and basic services which they never received from the government since birth.
“The launching of the “Adopt-a-Tribal Family” Program, which was conceptualized and designed by MinDA, comes less than a month after the first engagement between MinDA officials and members of the Ata-Manobo community which was never served by government and called the ‘lost tribe’,” he said.
He said that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rolando Bautista, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Secretary Isidro Lapeña, Indigenous People’s Commission Secretary Allen Capuyan, and local government officials of Davao del Norte will grace the said launching.
The said agencies are also expected to join the ceremonial signing of the Memorandum of Agreement for the “Adopt-a-Tribal Family” Program.
During the launching, initial assistance will be given to the beneficiaries which include farm tools and seeds, along with food supplies and clothes.
“The private sector, including big corporations, are expected to join the program by adopting tribal families. The program of reaching out and caring for marginalized and neglected tribal families is planned to be replicated in other areas in Mindanao,” Piñol said.
He also recounted that the so-called ‘lost tribe’ were discovered by a Long-Range Patrol team of the Philippine Army in 2019 deep in the forests in the tribal-boundaries of Davao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, and Bukidnon while pursuing communist rebels belonging to the New People’s Army (NPA). When found, he said the community was controlled by the NPAs.
The MinDA chair described that many of the houses were made out of round timber and tree barks and there was no symbol of government in the area, not even a school.
“Only able-bodied men of the village served the community’s link to the outside world and this happened only when they walk through the forests for two days carrying 15 to 30 kilos of abaca fiber on their backs and coming back with salt, sugar, tobacco, and rice,” Piñol added.
On the other hand, he also bared that a California-based Fil-Am Supermarket chain has signified support for the “Adopt-a-Tribal Family” Program by buying “ube (purple yam),” “saba” bananas and aromatic coconut produced by the tribal communities in Mindanao.
Piñol said that Island Pacific Supermarket Chain Founder and Chief Executive Officer Niño Lim, messaged him looking for suppliers of “Ube,” “Saba,” and aromatic coconut from the Philippines.
“When informed that these products could be sourced from tribal communities now being assisted by government agencies led by MinDA, Lim said his company would be very interested to source the supplies from the tribal farms,” he added.
“That’s amazing Sec. That would be an excellent program that Island Pacific would definitely want to take part in. I’ll communicate this with our marketing team as well,” Lim said in his message according to the MinDA Chairman.
“The demand here now is very strong but the problem is the supplies of “Ube” and “Buko Pandan” have been limited for several months now,” Piñol added.
The “Adopt-a-Tribal Family” is expected to provide a template for a well-planned and sustainable intervention for the development of tribal communities in Mindanao.
(Press Release – MinDa & OIC Michael Manguhig, RPN DXKT Davao)
