150 tribal leaders hold 'Kahimunan' gathering

From the Philippine Information Agency (Dec 10): 150 tribal leaders hold 'Kahimunan' gathering

 PROSPERIDAD, Agusan del Sur -- Around 150 tribal leaders who are members of the different tribal councils in the province gathered in the capital town to participate in the two-day Provincial Indigenous Peoples (IP) Conference dubbed as “Kahimunan to Konseho to Manigaon" spearheaded by the Provincial Tribal Council of Agusan del Sur held at the Provincial Learning Center on December 8-9.

The activity started with a traditional ritual called the “Panawagtawag” to seek the guidance of the highest God called the “Mambabaya” which was jointly solemnized by the different Baylans or Spiritual Leaders of the Tribe.

401st brigade commander Col. Alexander L. Macario, one of the speakers, discussed the security situation in the IP Communities of the province.

He emphasized on the current statistics based on the profile of former rebels that three out of four New People's Army (NPA) members are lumads.

He then cited the monetary expenses on counter-insurgency, which close to trillions of pesos annually that if only utilize for education can hire more than 300,000 teachers and can construct thousands of classrooms.

“This is our challenge, we will convince our NPA victim lumad brothers and join us in our peace and development efforts for the Lumad communities,” he said.

Provincial Tribal Chieftain Datu Makahinlo Gubat Marcos Gonzales was very emotional while delivering his remarks during the opening day.

He relayed the result of their special meeting with President Benigno S Aquino III in Malacañang Palace on the midweek of November mentioning the proposed budget for the IPs in the province, which is close to 200 million pesos.

“This is the vision of the late Datu Malampuson Mayor Dario Otaza, to improve the life of the lumad communities,” Datu Gubat said.

"We will continue his fight; be not discouraged because the whole government is helping us, especially our President," he added.

One of the highlights of the IP Conference was the ceremonial acceptance of Congressman Jose Panganiban Jr. of ANAC-IP Party List as an adopted son of the Higaunon Tribe on the second day - December 9, 2015.

“I feel blessed on this opportunity, I’ll prove my worth and help them,” he said.

The legislator discussed various programs for the IP communities such as scholarship grants for the IP children, free hospitalization, and livelihood projects

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/1701449735083/150-tribal-leaders-hold-kahimunan-gathering