The city government of Koronadal has allotted one day solely for the indigenous peoples (IP) community during the Hinugyaw Festival held on Jan. 10.

The "8th Indigenous Peoples Day,” aims to honor the contributions of the indigenous people to the culture, history, and progress of the city of Koronadal and report on what the city government has accomplished in the past year.

“Isa ini ka indikasyon nga kamo importante sa aton community [This is an indication that you are important to our community],” Councilor Grace Subere-Albios told members of the IP community in attendance. 

“Even at the barangay level and in the sitios and puroks, damo ang naka-appreciate sa [many have appreciated the] contributions sang [of the] IP community,” she noted.

Indigenous people of the Blaan tribe have long inhabited the Kalondatal valley before it became the Marbel Resettlement District some 84 years ago; the resettlement site became what is now called the city of Koronadal.  

Antonio Abing, Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR), told the Philippine Information Agency that Blaans, including a few resettled Tboli, Tagakaulo, Teduray, and Manobo, consist of about 10 percent of Koronadal’s current population.

Albeit considered a minority, the concerns of the indigenous peoples are always at the forefront of the city government’s development plan, Abing added. 

“Mahalaga po ang IP community para sa development ng Koronadal. Una, kung maiiwan ang IP community doon papasok ‘yong poverty. Kapag mayroong poverty, lack of education, bababa ang economy, then problema natin ang peace and order [The IP community is important in the development of Koronadal. First, leaving out IPs could result in poverty. With poverty and a lack of education, the economy goes down and problems arise in peace and order],” Abing said.

Abing cited the city government’s Barangay Empowerment Program (BEP) as among the significant legislations that have benefited the IPs.

BEP provides funds for programs, projects, and activities of the 27 barangays and the remotest sitios as one program that ensures progress is felt in the hinterlands, including the IP communities.

Concerning developments in the IP community, Abing noted that 12 of the city’s 27 barangays have already selected their village IPMRs and have already installed their respective Indigenous Peoples Structures (IPS).

“IPS refers to the organizational and cultural leadership systems, institutions, relationships, patterns, and processes for decision-making and participation identified as Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs),” according to the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.

Barangays with IPMRs and IPS are Assumption, San Roque, San Jose, San Isidro, Magsaysay, Mabini, Esperanza, Saravia, Topland, Cacub, Paraiso, and Rotonda.

In 2024, Abing, with help from other Sangguniang Panlungsod members, hopes to push for the issuance of a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title for the Kalondatal area as well as establish an Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan (ADSDPP).

He also plans to capacitate the barangay IPMRs and strengthen the IPSs; identify relocation sites for IP families affected by calamities; establish an IP cemetery; expand livelihood assistance; and request street lighting, agricultural inputs and mechanization, and farm-to-market road projects for IP villages.

In his message during IP Day on Jan. 9, Mayor Eliordo Ogena said that the concreting of a farm-to-market road to Ulom-Lao, the last sitio of the highland barangay Assumption, could be implemented in 2024.

The celebration of an IP Day as part of the Hinugyaw Festival, which started in 2017, also made sure to recognize new professionals among the city’s IP community. (DED - PIA Region 12)