Farmer Alliances for Resource Strengthening and Marketing

Farmer Alliances for Resource Strengthening and Marketing, commonly known as FARM, is another one of Kapwa’s project dedicated to develop and improve the lives of the Filipino people. It started in 2012 with three objectives; increased yield, increased income and improved services of the farmers. It is concentrated in six municipalities in Davao del Sur, namely; Sta. Cruz, Bansalan, Matanao, Magsaysay, Hagonoy and Sulop.

The project focuses on five crops composed of rice, cacao, coffee, eggplant, bitter gourd and one livestock which is the native chicken. Farmers practice the clustering approach where they market their products together to generate more income and lessen their delivery expenses.

On May 19, 2014, the latest turnover of the FARM project was held at the Municipality of Sulop. Together with Mr. Art of the Catholic Relief Services and Mayor Jimmy Sagarino of the said municipality, Alma dela Paz, executive director of Kapwa, signed the certificate of project turnover. The project turnover is the passing of all the responsibilities – from production to marketing – of a particular crop or livestock to the beneficiaries.

Integrated Rural Development Program

Upon the request of the 4 Tribal leaders of 4Bs (Biangan, Batasan, Buenavida, Buhay) in Makilala, North Cotabato to continue their assistance in the Bagobo-Tagabawa community, Kapwa started the Integrated Rural Development Program for IP (IRDP) in 2011. IRDP is a 4 year program that aims to increase the income and to improve the well-being of 500 household of the tribe.

There are 4 components under the program namely; Agroforestry, Governance, Marketing and Women, Children, Sanitation and Livelihood.

Agroforestry

Agroforestry is a practice that combines production of agricultural crops and trees on the same plot of land. Compared to traditional arable and forestry systems, it allows diversification of farm activities and makes better use of environmental resources and would let the farmers generate continuous revenue (Montpellier.inra.fr, n.d).

Kapwa’s agroforestry assist Bagobo-Tagabawa farmers in three ways; grant, loan and dispersal of planting materials and farm tools. Under Mr. Jonathan Baja, this component aims to improve the farming style of the said farmers with the appropriate use of natural resources based on integrative and holistic science for sustainable agriculture in mind.

Marketing

Marketing is under the supervisory of Mrs. Amy Bacalso – Sidayon. It aims to help the farmers in marketing their products, effectively. Kapwa encourage them to venture into the so-called collective marketing, wherein they work together in selling their combined crops. Through this, they would have the time to search for a buyer that offers higher prices and would eventually generate higher income.

Governance

After the ancestral land has been successfully claimed, Kapwa have been conducting trainings and workshops for the tribal leaders on local governance and leadership to develop their skills. Kapwa believe that good governance would help the leaders in managing their ancestral domain, properly, as well as their people. It is handled by Mr. Rick Paulmitan, the project coordinator of IRDP.

Women, Children, Sanitation and Livelihood

Headed by Estar Platil, the Women , Children, Sanitation and Livelihood concentrated on the development of women and children and to improve the health and sanitation of the tribe. For the health and sanitation, Kapwa provide sanitary toilets and ensure that everyone has access to potable water. They also advised them to practice proper waste segregation, build blind drainage facility and adopt family planning method. Pregnant women are encouraged to have their pre-natal visits and do their delivery in hospitals.  Immunization of children is also included in the program and lastly, they are advice to plant herbal plants in their backyards. Children from 3-5 years of age are encouraged to enroll in day care.

The livelihood program for women, like in the agroforestry, also offers grants, dispersal and loan for animals (hog, carabao, horse, etc.) and plants (anthurium & Sibudying). All in all, there were a total of 202 beneficiaries of the livelihood program.

Bagobo-Tagabawa Culture and Arts

“Whenever I have some spare time, I try to use that time to make beads and clothes. I don’t want our traditions and our culture to disappear.” Limen Antala

Limen Antala lives in sityo Tudaya together with her husband Ricardo. They have 7 children, most of whom have grown up and moved out of the house. Whenever someone enters the house while Limen is stitching beads onto the clothes and bags she made, she quickly takes off her glasses. “Moulaw ko” – “I’m embarrassed”, she says. “My eyes are getting old”. The clothes that Limen makes are not the same as the hand-woven garments that dazzled the Spanish and the Americans when they first came into contact with the Bagobo-Tagabawa. Those traditional clothes were hand-woven from colourfully dyed abaca fibre. Limen’s mother, Ina Esot Ayap, is one of the elderly women from Tudaya who have continued to practice the traditional art of weaving. This art, however, has not reached the younger Bagobo-Tagabawa generations. It is a time-consuming and labour-intensive craft that is hard to combine with more pressing livelihood needs of these poor farmer communities. The influence of mainstream lowland culture has also strongly diminished the outward expressions of cultural identity. Nonetheless, Limen feels that it would be a great loss if these traditions disappeared altogether.

Limen’s sentiments are not uncommon among Bagobo-Tagabawa communities. When the Bagobo-Tagabawa formulated their ancestral domain development plans, they expressed the desire to breathe new life into their tribal traditions. While certain customary laws were to guide the tribal communities’ social organization, the Bagobo-Tagabawa also felt it was important to revalue tribal arts. This, however, also meant coming to terms with what had changed over time. Kapwa’s executive director Alma de la Paz remembers one particular moment when this tension surfaced most clearly:

               “We once took a group of Bagobo-Tagabawa from Bansalan on a trip to the Davao Museum. One of the most beautiful pieces in the permanent collection of that museum is an old dress made by Bagobo weavers. We thought that seeing the artefacts in the museum would inspire the people and show them how precious their culture is. On the way back from the museum, however, they were very quiet. It seemed that the trip had made them sad. Seeing their traditional art behind glass made them realize what they were losing.”  (Alma de la Paz, executive director Kapwa)

With financial assistance from the National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCCA) and other supporting agencies, Bagobo-Tagabawa communities have started to organize annual tribal days to celebrate their traditions. Kapwa helped to facilitate the contacts between the NCCA and the Bagobo-Tagabawa communities that wished to access funding. Many of these tribal communities, however, have had to experience the reality that many of the instruments and clothes needed for tribal performances are no longer found within their own communities. Some barangays, therefore, have also established a School of Living Tradition to teach traditional arts to new generations of Bagobo-Tagabawa. The Schools of Living Tradition are currently limited to teaching dances and instruments, but people hope that traditional crafts can be taught as well. Datu Buenvenido Macalos from Makilala is currently leading a School of Living Tradition in barangay Batasan. According to him, the School of the Living Tradition is a way to initiate a broader understanding of Bagobo culture:

                “It is about more than just dancing. The dances that we teach our students are stories that tell something about our history and culture. We want to pass that on to young people, but we also want others to understand it. People are often unaware of what Bagobo culture is about. To me, the dances are one way of opening up our culture to other people. It is something serious to us.”

Some of datu Macalos’ students confide that their generation tends to feel a certain shame about their cultural background. They feel that a lack of understanding of indigenous cultures is a main obstacle to the acceptance of people with a different cultural tradition than mainstream culture.

Batasan. School of Living Tradition

In Bansalan, the School of Living Tradition is taught by datu Molino Oguit. He is recognized by the NCCA as a master-dancer and has a license to officiate tribal weddings. He has been the municipal tribal chieftain of Bansalan for a long time now. His father, too, was a tribal chieftain. Datu Oguit points out that Bagobo culture has undergone many and rapid changes. The migration of Cebuano settlers and the spread of Christianity were two main causes of that. Datu Oguit thinks that the Bagobo-Tagabawa have to find a balance between change and tradition:

“What I try to teach is that some of our traditions should continue if we want our culture to go on. It is normal that there are changes, but there should also be a continuation of some of our traditions.”

Datu Oguit, however, also points out that much will depend on choices that individuals make: “Sometimes, I meet children who no longer speak Bagobo although both their parents are pure Bagobo. It makes me wonder why some children are no longer taught our language at home. It is up to parents to pass culture on to their children.”

               “I think the most important task for us is to teach our culture in the schools. As of now, there is no book that document our history, our customary laws and our traditions. Imagine that Bagobo culture, history and language would be a one-hour class in school every week.

 

Bantay Bukid

Datu Jaime Odo

Matibugo River runs through Buenavida, an upland Brgy. in the Municipality of Makilala, North Cotabato. The source of the river is located up in the virgin forests of the ancestral domain. It is a sacred place for the Bagobo-Tagabawa  wherein Bagobo hunters come to rest. Before the area was recognized as part of their ancestral domain, no one felt responsible for protecting it. But after it was approved, the local tribal communities took up forest protection as priority. They linked with the local government, the DENR and the Philippine National Police to coordinate the protection of the forest. There is still a lot of biodiversity in the forest and many of the natural sites are sacred places to the tribe.

Like many other areas in Mt. Apo, the uplands of Makilala were opened up for commercial logging in the late 1950’s. The unpaved roads that run through the upper parts of Buenavida is an old logging road, used to transfer timber. After logging operations had officially ended, the NPA moved into the area and many farmers were forced to abandon their farmlands. When the insurgency was past its height, second-growth forest had already started to grow. This, coincidentally, created the opportunity to control the land use in this area as farmers moved back to their lands. During the ancestral domain planning workshops, the tribal leaders identified which zones could and couldn’t be tilled.

To monitor the forests for logging and other illegal activities,the tribal councils of Makilala organized forest guards, commonly known as bantay bukid. Each of the four brgys. in the ancestral domain has a group of at least 15 forest guards. They organized monthly patrols in the strict protection zone of the park. Their work is difficult and unfortunately, often goes unrewarded.

“Our forest guards report violations. When the reports are not followed by action from the local authorities, it can be very discouraging. Violations still go unpunished. The Bantay Bukid work voluntarily and the work can be dangerous. We coordinate our actions with the local authorities so that we are not mistaken for intruders, but we are not insured for accidents that may happen during our patrolling in the mountains,” said Datu Jaime Odo, one of the tribal leaders who have been actively involved in protecting the remaining forests of this easternmost part of the Bagobo-Tagabawa ancestral domain. He is the chairman of the Municipal Federation of Tribal Chieftains.

A strict implementation of environmental laws has raised consciousness among IPS and non-IPs about the importance of environmental protection. No trees can be cut inside the ancestral domain without permission from the office of the Federation of Municipal Tribal Chieftains. Yet, even though the tribal leaders are very strict in implementing the law, they also signal that the problem of illegal logging cuts deeper than that. The protection of the ancestral is also connected to the poverty in upland communities.

“Illegal loggers often hire people from the tribal communities as contract laborers. Logging is a lucrative business and the people, unfortunately, are very poor. If we want to enforce the law, we should also address the needs of the communities,” he added.

The need to make a living and provide for household needs, understandably, often takes priority over environmental concerns. People in search of farmlands may be tempted to till protected lands. Farming practices, too, are strongly determined by the livelihood challenges of small-scale farmers. Kapwa assists farmers inside the ancestral domain of Makilala with establishing agroforestry farms with Ricardo Paulmitan, Kapwa Project Officer.

Close to the Matibugo River is the Matibugo tribal Settlement, an ecotourism project initiated by the tribal councils of Makilala. Since the government does not provide budget for forest protection, the council have started to explore the possibilities of generating income from ecotourism projects. It is their hope that forest protection may become a source of income so that the Bantay Bukid can continue and professionalize its work. The project also aims to raise awareness about the importance of Mt. Apo’s environment to the cultural heritage of the Bagobo-Tagabawa. People fear that sacred places will not be preserved.

Another concern for the tribal communities is the encroachment of migrant settlers and corporate businesses. The ancestral domain borders a large commercial banana plantation. The plantation provides jobs for people from the community, but the use of chemicals adversely affects the environment and the health of the people. When the company started to operate within the ancestral domain, the Bagobo-Tagabawa had to assert their rights.

According to Datu Buenvenido Macalos, the head claimant of the ancestral domain of Makilala, the company had started to tap water from inside the ancestral domain for its banana plantation without consent from the tribe. When they had no intention to compensate for the communities, they filed a petition at the NCIP to protest. The company has now pulled out of the ancestral domain, but the damage that was done during the construction of their water system has not yet been restored.

The protection of the ancestral domain is continuous concern for the tribe. The tribal leaders are trying to balance environmental protection with respect for livelihood needs and the cultural heritage of the tribe.

Little Gagpang

                                   

Halfway between Balutakay and Centro Managa, a narrow path diverts from the main road and leads steeply downhill towards the Miral River. At the other side of the river lives a small community of farming households in a place called Little Gagpang. There are only few houses amidst the farming lands and remaining patches of forest. Some fifteen households try to make a living from cultivating vegetables, abaca and coffee.

Little Gagpang is a peculiar place. Unlike many other areas in Managa, the population is almost entirely Bagobo-Tagabawa. The community of Little Gagpang lives somewhat secluded. One has to walk or ride on horse back on a narrow and steep path and wade through the Miral River to reach it. Some years ago, Kapwa provided the community with tools to widen the path so that horses could more easily carry farm products to the main road on the opposite side of the valley. Back in those days, the farmers from Little Gagpang cultivated only vegetables. The steep slopes of Little Gagpang, however, are not well-suited for developing vegetable gardens. Few trees were left standing to keep the soil from eroding and the vegetable gardens were easily damaged by landslides that occur frequently in the area. Today, large areas of Little Gagpang are covered with abaca plants and coffee trees. Kapwa helped the farmers of Little Gagpang to gradually shift their production to crops that are more in harmony with what the landscape of Little Gagpang allows.

In the course of the years, most farmers have switched from short term cash-crop farming to a combination of vegetable farming and abaca and coffee production. It was difficult for the farming households to make a living from vegetable farming alone. Traders offered low prices and costly fertilizers further reduced whatever small profits the farmers could make. The quality of the soil suffered from the use of chemicals. Kapwa project officer Samuel “Sammy” Toraya remembers that it took some courage for the farmers to switch their production:

At first, the farmers were reluctant to make a switch because it takes time to harvest from abaca plants and coffee trees. The farmers had always depended on short-term crops. That was what they were used to. It started with only a handful of farmers. We provided trainings and supplied them with abaca and coffee seedlings. When some farmers started harvesting, others were also convinced of the benefits.  Over time, the landscape of Little Gagpang changed profoundly.”  (Samuel Toraya)

The introduction of abaca and coffee trees has improved the livelihood of the farmers in Little Gagpang. They have become less dependent on high-input vegetable farming and can now harvest different crops. The farmers have reintroduced trees in an area that is largely deforested. In the long run, hopefully, this will also lessen the occurrence of land slides and counter erosion.

Since abaca and coffee require less input from the farmers, the switch in production has created some space to address other issues. Although Little Gagpang is a small settlement, there are many challenges. Especially the poor condition of the road is a cause for concern:

The road often gets damaged by landslides. After rainfalls, the road is slippery and becomes difficult to travel. For the children who have to cross the river to go to school, it is dangerous. The community has requested the local government to provide budget for a hanging bridge across the river. It will be difficult, I think, since they are so few. (BTC member Marcelo Loma)

The access to basic social is also hampered by insurgency in the area. Being so secluded, Little Gagpang has since long been a place of transition for members of the New People’s army who, from time to time, have stayed overnight in the village. Perhaps, this has also made it harder for the remaining households to request support from local governments. Notwithstanding the improvements that have been made in the area, the population in Little Gagpang has slowly but surely decreased as some households have moved out of the village. The BTC from Managa, however, has continuously supported this small Bagobo community in its day-to-day challenges. Together with Kapwa, the BTC assists the community with the maintenance of the path to secure farmers’ access to the market. Through the Barangay Tribal Council, the community also requested Kapwa to help them with the water supply for the community. Kapwa provided them with pipes to tap water from the Miral River. The remaining households in Little Gagpang now have access to running water.

 

Abaca Marketing in Malupo

In Malupo, a sityo of barangay Anonang, a small group of farmers have started a community cooperative to market locally harvested abaca fibre directly to a big trading corporation in Davao City. The cooperative is called MAFAMCO – Malupo Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative. The cooperative was officially registered in 2008 and is still in an early stage of its development. The following story catches the Malupo farmers in their transition from individual trader-dependent sale to collective marketing.

Bundles of Abaca fibers being loaded onto the MAFAMCO – motorcycle.

It is now a common sight in Malupo: a few days before MAFAMCO makes a delivery, the road that passes through the sityo is lined with freshly harvested abaca fibre. Bundles of abaca are piled in front of farmers’ houses to be loaded onto motorcycles. Yet, abaca is a new product for many farmers. When Kapwa project officers started to assist the communities in Malupo, they noticed that farmers tended to focus on only one or two crops. Different farmers cultivated different crops – mostly rubber and fruit trees-, but only few diversified production in a single farm. In the words of kagawad Cristobal Sarabia, a local farmer from Malupo:

“Before, if a farmer had coconut trees, then that was often his sole source of income. If he had a cornfield, then he would focus on corn. The agroforestry workshops of Kapwa taught us how to combine short, medium and long-term crops in our farms.” 

Anonang is an area well-suited for agroforestry, so Kapwa tried to stimulate farmers to diversify their production and thereby maximize yields. During the first phases of the PEACE program, Kapwa field officers facilitated a series of workshops on agroforestry and helped the farmers establish and maintain nurseries and draw up agroforestry farm plans. Abaca was identified as an economically profitable medium-term crop well-suited to the area. Through project officer Renato “Renren” Lumba and Project Coordinator Ronilo Bajenting, Kapwa partnered with the Fibre Industry Development Authority (FIDA) to stimulate abaca production in Malupo:

“We suggested the farmers in Malupo to integrate abaca plants in their farms. Abaca fibre is in high demand and the government supports its production through the Fibre Industry Development Authority (FIDA). Like many other government agencies, however, FIDA has only limited funds to meet its targets. We facilitated a number of FIDA workshops on abaca production in Malupo and took a group of farmers on a field trip to FIDA’s office. FIDA also provided seedlings to establish abaca nurseries. Because abaca was a new crop for many farmers, the workshops helped to convince them that abaca fibre is a good product.”

In the second phase of the PEACE program, when abaca harvests yielded good results, the idea of putting up a marketing group slowly came to fruition. A persistent problem of farmers in Malupo is that even if production is good and market prices are high, the actual income often remains low. Kagawad Florito Bernales explains why:

“Most farmers depend on financiers for the marketing of their farm products. Financiers offer contracts to farmers to finance their production expenses, buy their harvests and sell them on the market. Farmers receive cash-advances to live through the periods in between harvests. This system makes farmers very vulnerable, especially when the harvests turn out lower than expected. Farmers get into debts. The prices we get from traders are also much lower than what we could make on the market, but as individual farmers we cannot carry the costs of marketing our products ourselves.” 

One long-term goal of Kapwa’s interventions in Malupo was to create space to gradually move away from individual trader-dependent sale towards collective and direct marketing. Farmers had already organised themselves into farming groups to collectively develop their area. The establishment of a marketing group, therefore, seemed to be a logical next step. Yet, it also meant a big change for the farmers who had always depended on traders for the marketing of their products. They had no experience with marketing. In the words of Jun Monicar:

“When we still depended on local traders, we did not know much about the fibre industry. We received modest prizes for our fibre. Poor quality was sold for 12 pesos, good quality would earn us about 18 pesos. It was only when we went on field trips to FIDA and to an abaca corporation in Davao City that we saw how fibre is classified, what determines the price, how the quality can be improved… Good quality fibre can be sold for over 50 pesos. It opened our eyes. When Kapwa staff told us about a vegetable cooperative they had helped establish in Malabog, we became confident that we could also put up a cooperative.” 

The initial challenge for the marketing group was to make the jump towards that first independent delivery. There was little budget. The original 29 members of the Malupo marketing group collected a modest starting capital from what individual farmers could contribute. Eventually, the Malupo marketing group made its first collective delivery of locally harvested fibre to the Ching Bee Trading Corporation in Davao City in the latter half of 2007. With every next delivery, they have seen their starting capital steadily increase. Continuous technical assistance from Kapwa and FIDA have helped to improve the quality of the fibre. Being closer involved in marketing than ever before, farmers have become more skilled in handling the abaca plants and judging the quality of harvested fibre.

A visit to MAFAMCO is an interesting occasion to see the organization in its early steps and appreciate some of its challenges. Going up to Malupo, one has to walk or ride habal-habal because the access road is in a very poor condition. This is the farm-to-market road via which farmers have to transport their goods to the main road of Anonang. The road is narrow, full of pebbles and rocks and slippery after rainfalls. According to Veronica Geronimo, the secretary and bookkeeper of MAFAMCO, the difficult access is a major obstacle:

Classification of fibre

“For our abaca marketing, we spend an extra 2 pesos per kilo to get the fibre to the truck on the main road with motorcycles. It doubles our transportation expenses. But the road is also a problem for the education in Malupo. When the road is flooded, teachers and children cannot make it to school. Plans for a new road have already drafted, but we are waiting for the construction works to begin.” 

Opposite the Malupo elementary school is the house of Jun and Elizabeth Monicar. Their house functions as temporary workspace andas an improvised ‘bodega’ for harvested fibre. There is a need for a real bodega, though, since harvested abaca often suffers from rain and humidity when left outside. This house is the centre of activities of MAFAMCO. This is where the fibre is classified, bundled, weighed and loaded onto motorcycles. Abaca production and marketing has become a collective business. According to Kapwa project officer Renato Lumba, the marketing experience has changed the way farmers handle their products:

“MAFAMCO has developed a strict policy for classifying fibre. Before, poor and good quality fibre was often bundled together, but the farmers now know that this affects the price in the bodega. They classify fibre beforehand. Really poor quality is not included in the delivery; the rest is bundled by quality. The classification sometimes leads to conflicts, especially now that farmers who are not cooperative-members have started to sell their fibre to MAFAMCO. There is sometimes disagreement on the price. 

As the cooperative is evolving, it also needs to develop its management. George Quijada, the program director of the Lutheran World Relief who monitors the projects in Bansalan, hints at some of the challenges he thinks MAFAMCO needs to address in order to survive as a cooperative:

“It is very important that the cooperative develops a good financial management system. In our experience, a lack of good financial management is a major cause for cooperatives to fail. MAFAMCO will also have to diversify its products. Abaca may be in high demand now, but what if prices drop? They should think of marketing other products too.”

In October 2008, a considerable group of farmers from MAFAMCO participated in a three-day financial management seminar facilitated by Kapwa in the Agroforestry Resource Centre. Bookkeeper Veronica Geronimo was one of them. She also took the initiative of contacting Kapwa to ask whether Kapwa’s own bookkeeper could come up to MAFAMCO to have a look at the books and advise them on how to improve it. According to Renato Lumba, the cooperative is slowly turning into a real business, but MAFAMCO still needs to grow.

The switch to direct marketing has also triggered a few other interesting effects. Kagawad Cristobal Sarabia tells about how one challenge later turned out to be an unexpected opportunity:

“For our first delivery, we lacked the budget to pay for helpers to load and unload the bundles of fibre. We could only afford a driver. So, we decided to do the work ourselves. For those who helped delivering the fibre, it was an opportunity to visit the bodega and see how the corporation works. We decided to make use of this opportunity. We now take turns in riding the back of the truck towards Davao. It saves us money and every one has now had a chance to visit the bodega.” 

In the meantime, the marketing group of Malupo has over 50 members. They have started to inspire farmers in neighbouring barangays to explore the option of organizing marketing groups or establishing cooperatives. The experiences of MAFAMCO may guide them in doing so.

Kapwa People

“Every challenge is an opportunity for change”

Ronilo Bajenting belonged to that very first group of young development workers that pioneered Kapwa’s work in Malabog. After finishing his college education in agricultural science, Nilo worked for a number of years as an employee in the agricultural branch of a private enterprise. This first job, however, left him with a desire to work not for company profits, but for the improvement of the livelihood of poor farmers. The Malabog Comprehensive Livelihood Promotions Project marked Nilo’s first steps in development work. He has stayed on with Kapwa as the organization moved through almost 30 years of upland development programs. His longtime service in Kapwa has earned him the nickname ‘manoy’ (elder brother) among his colleagues. No longer a full-time field worker himself, Nilo now coordinates the implementation of Kapwa’s programs and guides new field staff in their first steps in Kapwa and – very often – in development work in general.

Nilo has worked with many different communities in many different areas. This experience, Nilo says, has taught him the importance of understanding the challenges of poor rural communities from their own perspective:

“As a development worker, I had to learn how to leave my personal cares behind and completely emerge myself in the community. There are many things that can only be understood when seen through the lens of the people you are trying to help. If a development worker is not careful, he may run the risk of offering solutions that do not match the needs of the community. It is like handing out shoes that do not fit. Development is as much a process of learning as of un-learning. Sometimes we assume we know so much about the communities. But in the process we also change. We are invited to shed our assumptions and embrace the perspective of the community.”

When asked what has brought him most fulfillment as a development worker in his 23 years of service in Kapwa, Nilo doesn’t hesitate to answer:

“Seeing the communities creatively solve their problems and overcome their challenges long after you have left the area, is what is most inspiring for a development worker.”

*****

“There is nothing more valuable to a development worker than to have patience.”

Rosalina Geurrero – fondly called ‘Rose’ by her colleagues – has been working with Kapwa for almost 25 years. What Rose initially regarded as a job to help sustain her family eventually inspired her to a lifelong commitment to the rural poor with whom she had always had a close affection. Rose was born and raised in Cotabato Province. A child of upland farmers, she grew up with similar challenges as those faced by the communities she would later assist as a development worker. After a brief period in Malabog, Rose was assigned in Bukidnon, now her home province. Being exposed to different project areas, Rose argues, made her realize that many of the problems she knew from her own community are in fact realities shared by many upland communities:

“Growing up in a specific place, we tend to think our problems are limited to our direct environment. Yet, many problems go far beyond that. I noticed that poor communities often share a feeling of powerlessness. They find it hard to face their problems on their own. Yet, realizing our shared challenges opens up opportunities for hope and change. Empowering people to make those changes is what development is all about.”

Rose has always had a particular affinity with the plight of women in poor communities. Although traditionally marginalized in decision-making, Rose argues that women are an invaluable contribution to community development. As a field worker, she has assisted many women’s groups in establishing their own livelihood projects. Through seminars on gender sensitivity, she continues to raise awareness on gender-sensitive development among Kapwa’s partner communities.

Today, Rose is in charge of the day-to-day management of the Agroforestry Resource Centre where she also facilitates workshops and seminars, particularly on gender and development. She is also a member of Kapwa’s Board of Trustees. Looking back at Kapwa’s work throughout the years, Rose believes that the efforts of Kapwa have kindled what she calls ‘sparks of hope’ in the communities:

“Slowly, we could see sparks of hope and optimism rise up in the communities. The people came to realize that it is only with their persistence and determination that things can change for the best.” 

The Managa Water Project

 

Travelling through barangay Managa towards the upland sityo Balutakay you will see a chain of potable water systems along the main road. You will see people carrying buckets of water, children bathing before and after school, and women doing laundry. If you stop along the way to ask people what recent changes have positively changed their lives, few would hesitate to mention the new water system that provides potable water for every purok. In the words of datu Rogelio Oguit:

“The people from Managa have been dreaming of a water system for a very long time. It was also a personal dream of mine as member of the tribal council. All of us know how difficult it used to be to get water.”

Before the water system was installed, people used to fetch water down by the river. Women would carry laundry to the Miral River and spend a large part of the day on the riverbank. People who lived close to the Poblacion would ride habal-habal to the market to buy plastic containers of mineral water. It was a tiresome chore to collect relatively small amounts of water for daily needs.

The water system in Managa has a long and somewhat troubled history. A water system had already been installed during the Southern Mindanao Agricultural Program (SMAP) from the Department of Agriculture (DA). This original system, however, did not function for very long. Soon after it had been completed, people at the lower end of the water supply noticed that the water pressure gradually decreased until some reservoirs eventually ran dry… There were a number of reasons for this. The pipes that led from the source down to the water reservoirs had to pass along the many vegetable gardens of upland farmers. Some of those farmers were tempted to insert water hoses into the pipes to spray their vegetable gardens. This, inevitably, reduced the water supply for people further down the line. The pipes were also vulnerable to soil movements and farming activities. A lack of maintenance eventually left Managa with a leaking water system. It had stopped to serve its original purpose: to supply potable water to the people of Bansalan.

The story of the SMAP water project illustrates how strongly the lives of the people in Managa are connected through a shared need for potable water. The water system intended to connect the communities to a common source, but individual usage of the system disconnected some people from water supply and destabilized the system. There was no real policy governing the water use and the issue was left unresolved. In a more general way, the SMAP project also showed the profound impact of upland life for people downhill…

The SMAP project was a disappointing experience for many, but fortunately the story does not end here. The community kept its dream of a potable water system alive and when Kapwa started working in Bansalan, its project officers started to explore the possibility of breathing new life into the project. From the onset, however, it was evident that participation of the entire community would be vital for the success of the project. The current water system is the result of a complex and sometimes difficult collaboration between the different stakeholders in the area. Kapwa assisted the tribal council in gathering the necessary documents and permits for the project through the National Council of Indigenous Peoples. The local government units provided budget for the building of a reservoir; Kapwa provided the pipes and contributed both financial and logistic support for the implementation of the project. The community, in turn, provided the labour on the ground.

Kapwa project officer Samuel “Sammy” Toraya remembers that the people from Managa were somewhat sceptical at first:

“The people from Managa could not believe that we could really build this system together. They had had some negative experiences with broken promises and unfinished projects in the past and some feared that this too might turn out to be a disappointment. Kapwa was new in the area and we were still building trust with the communities. We spent a long time organising the community to collectively shoulder this project and people sometimes felt things were moving too slowly. Kapwa consciously chose not to supply materials before the communities had finished preparatory work on the ground. This strategy was meant to emphasize the community’s role throughout the entire project, but it also put pressure on the relationship. Sometimes it led to conflict. The initial distrust, however, gradually disappeared in the course of the construction. The communities would prepare the channels for the pipes, and for every distance they covered, Kapwa would supply the matching distance of pipelines. Slowly but surely, the pipes connected the different puroks to the source. The people grew confident that their dream would finally be realized.”

It was a long process. All in all, the construction took more than one year. Although the Barangay tribal Council initiated the project, people from the entire community contributed to its completion. The practical implementation of the project almost entirely depended on the labour provided by the people who would later benefit from the water system. In the course of the project the community initiated the Managa Community Waterworks and Sanitation Association (MCWSA) to shoulder the maintenance of the system. The association consolidated the collaboration between the tribal and migrant communities who both have representatives in the association.

Ronilo Bajenting, project coordinator of Kapwa, remembers that the construction of the water system was a very stressful period for both Kapwa’s field staff and for the Managa communities. From time to time, Kapwa and the community would have strong disagreements about parts of the implementation:

‘I remember that one time we hiked up to the source to have a look at the intake box that had just been constructed. The community was a little nervous about us going up to see the progress of the  work. When we arrived at the intake box, we saw why… the original design of the intake box allowed for only two outlets, but we could see three! The community had unilaterally decided to install an extra outlet to allow for more pipes to be attached. We at Kapwa, however, were concerned that this might get them into trouble because the permit from DENR stated that there would be only two outlets. We feared this violation of the permit might jeopardize future projects.

The community had wanted to attach the old SMAP system to the new intake box, allowing farmers to benefit from the water supply to irrigate their vegetable gardens. The permit, however, did not allow for anything else than potable water. After months of discussions in the barangay tribal council, the third outlet was eventually closed off.

However tiring the process was, the eventual completion of the water system was no less than a dream come true for the people of Managa. Over 12 kilometres of pipelines connect households to potable water from upper Balutakay as far down as Centro Managa. Tribal Chieftain Berna Malang, who lives across one of the water taps, stresses the fact that the project succeeded in reaching across the different communities:

“The beauty of the project is that it benefits everyone, not just the Bagobo-Tagabawa. It was a positive sign that we were able to complete this project with both the tribal and the migrant communities. Everyone can now use the water.”

The water system has triggered many changes. A project of this scope naturally has a great impact on the community. Some of the changes are immediately visible. Visiting Managa, you will see how the water system has become a central part of people’s lives. There is always a lively activity near the taps with people bathing, doing laundry or collecting water. The water system has made life easier for people who used to travel long distances to access water. Yet, other changes are more subtle. The collective experience of building the water system has started to connect the community around a common concern and has raised the awareness of the shared responsibility of the community to keep the project alive…

The Managa Community Waterworks and Sanitation Association

Now that the dream of a potable water system has become a reality, the people in Managa face the task of monitoring and maintaining the system to keep it functional. It is a continuous challenge and, perhaps, the most difficult part of the project. The water system not only connects the people to potable water, it also connects people to each other. Over 500 households have joined the Managa Community Waterworks and Sanitation Association (MCWSA). Each household pays a small contribution to allow the association’s officials to monitor and maintain the water system.

“Hinay ang tubig” – the water runs slowly – people tell Edgar Longaza as he passes by some of the water taps in the lower portions of Managa. Edgar is one of the officials of the MCWSA in charge of monitoring the water system. Since the entire water system is connected to a common source, any obstruction, leakage or illegal tapping in the upper portions is noticeable in the lower parts of Managa. The water pressure is the pulse of the system. Whenever pressure drops, this is a sign of a possible problem.

Edgar Longaza, a son of migrant settlers from Cebu, tells about his experiences as official of the MCWSA:

“The MCWSA is now officially registered at the Security and Exchange Commission. It has a legal personality. We have developed a policy for the use of the water and we elect officials to monitor and maintain the system. The majority of the officials are Bagobo-Tagabawa. Because of IPRA law, the tribal community is sometimes favoured with projects, but the migrant communities are also represented in the association.  I inspect the pipes three times a week. The pipelines are long, so it is a big task. There are still many problems with the system and we are trying to improve the functioning of the association and the implementation of the policy. Now that water is available for the households, we have also started to distribute toilet bowls to the households of Managa.

Perhaps the best way to appreciate the challenges of the MCWSA, is to accompany some of the association’s officials on their way to the source to inspect the status of the water system. On the way up, we pick up the chief of maintenance Marcelo Loma and MCWSA member Rosilo Acquio. They are both members of the Managa Tribal Council.

Problems with the water supply are always a cause of tension. The water is precious and people keep a close watch on the taps. The system is vulnerable to illegal tapping and people are still tempted to insert injections that damage the pipes and reduce the water supply. Moreover, the officials of the MWCSA are in the process of building their technical capacities to maintain the system. Therefore, officials sometimes question each other’s maintenance work… Lately, the people in Centro Managa have experienced low water pressure, whereas the water flow in puroks higher up is normal. Since Edgar Longaza has been working in that area, some wonder whether his work might have caused some kind of disturbance of the water supply… Kapwa field officer Vicky Calit Yayag, however, spurs the MWCSA to work systematically to tackle problems:

“I think it is important that the maintenance team first tries to define the problem before asking who is responsible… I always suggest them to inspect the system, analyze the problem and then discuss it in an official meeting. If the pressure is low, someone should go up to take a look at the source.”

The source of the water system is up in Balutakay. Balutakay is, in a sense, the place where upland and lowland life connects. It is a place of social and economic interaction. Farmers gather in the centre of Balutakay to load their harvests onto trucks. Traders then sell the farming products on the market of Bansalan Poblacion. Vendors from downhill, in turn, travel up to Balutakay to sell products like fish, but also fertilizers and pesticides, to local farmers. Since Balutakay is located close to the source of the water system, the farming activities here directly affect the watershed. Kapwa has been advocating the introduction of crops that can revitalize the soil and counter erosion. Abaca plants and coffee trees have sprung up in quite some vegetable gardens.

To reach the source, one has to hike some distance uphill from where the road bends towards Kapatagan. Before reaching the intake box, the monitoring and maintenance team stops by a patch of grassland with wooden pickets. The pickets mark the spots where tree seedlings were planted last August. As counterpart for the budget provided by Kapwa, the community has committed itself to reforest the grasslands at the source with indigenous forest trees to protect the watershed area. If the pipelines are the veins of the water system, the source is its heart. The maintenance of the pipelines is essential for the passing through of the water, but ultimately the water supply depends on a healthy source. The watershed area of the source covers some 15 hectares, half of which no longer has forest cover. The community has committed itself to reforest 7 hectares with Tinikaran, an indigenous tree species. The wildlings were collected during a hike to the pristine forests of Mount Apo. Kapwa field officer Samuel “Sammy” Toraya went up to Mount Apo together with local farmers. The seedlings that were planted in August have started to shoot and the remaining seedlings are kept in a small nursery next to the planting site. Edgar is somewhat disappointed, though, to find that the nursery is overgrown with grass and weeds…

Close to the nursery is the intake box of the water system. A message carved in the cement reads: “Managa Community Waterworks and Sanitation Association, Assisted by Kapwa Upliftment Foundation and Funded by the German Development Service”. It was German volunteer Karl “Charlie” Jaeger who secured the funds for the project. Looking at the intake box, Rosilo Acquio points out that the source provides more water than is currently being used:

“It is a pity that part of the water is not yet being used. With extra pipes, we could provide water to people who do not yet benefit from the system. We are trying to convince the local government to support us for this.”

There is a great desire on the part of the MCWSA to extend the system to include more households. The water system is dynamic, it allows for changes and it can respond to new needs. Rosilo’s remark also illustrates how strongly the supply of water has become a common concern and shared commitment.

Some 500 metres downhill from the source, water squirts from the pipelines. This is, perhaps, the leak that has caused the water pressure to drop in the taps downhill. It doesn’t seem like anyone has consciously pierced the pipelines, rather the pipe has cracked under pressure of the water or because of people trampling it accidentally. The leak reminds the maintenance team of the fact that the pipes should better be protected from this kind of damage by burying them underground. The MCWSA is also still organising the monitoring team to assign limited distances of the pipes to different people who live close by. Problems like these trigger new challenges. Edgar, Marcelo and Rosilo fix the crack with rubber tape, allowing the water to flow through again. In a while, people in the lower parts of Managa will see whether this leak was truly the problem that decreased the water supply. If not, then the maintenance team will have to look for other possible causes.

Ancestral Domain

Mount Apo has a particularly important value for the indigenous communities that live on the mountain’s slopes. Mount Apo is the ancestral domain of three indigenous groups, namely the Manobo, the Klata and the Bagobo-Tagabawa. These indigenous peoples have lived in Mount Apo since ‘time immemorial’, long before the state took control over its natural resources. Their beliefs, customs, traditions and livelihood practices are inherently intertwined with the landscape of Mount Apo.

The major changes in the physical and social landscape of Mount Apo have had a great impact on the culture of the indigenous peoples. The wave of logging operations went at the expense of communal lands and traditional hunting grounds. The influx of more affluent settlers tended to push indigenous peoples to more remote and more marginal territories. In many areas, traditional livelihood practices gave way to single-crop farming under the influence of migrant settler who trickled into Mount Apo. As the population in Mount Apo steadfastly grew, mainstream lowland culture caused tribal customs and traditions to fade. As long as the indigenous peoples were not recognized as the rightful owners of their ancestral lands, they had very little control over these rapid changes. The rights of indigenous peoples have only recently begun to be recognized.

In 1997, the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) passed through the Philippine congress. IPRA law marked a decisive step towards the recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights to self-determination. A National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) was established to protect the rights of indigenous peoples and to help IP communities process ancestral domain claims. IPRA law recognizes indigenous peoples’ right to their ancestral lands on the basis of long-term occupation.  Different indigenous communities in Mount Apo have successfully claimed large parts of the natural park as their ancestral domain. The Manobo tribes from barangays Ilomavis and Balabag, Kidapawan City, were awarded an ancestral domain title covering 3,177.199 hectares.The Bagobo-Tagabawa from Makilala laid claim to 2,973.10 hectares at the foot of Mount Apo. The Unified Bagobo-Tagabawa from Bansalan, Digos City, Sta. Cruz and Davao City jointly claimed 40.733 hectares. The latter two ancestral domains were titled with the assistance of Kapwa.

 

The Bagobo-Tagabawa Ancestral Domain Claim

‘Amo na gyud na’

 On the morning of the 22^nd of October 2005, the tribal leaders of the Bagobo-Tagabawa gathered in Digos City. They had come together to present their plans for the management of their ancestral domain to the NCIP. After morning prayer, the tribal leaders sat down and prepared for what promised to be a lengthy discussion of their plans and projects. Before turning to the order of the day, however, NCIP chair Janette Serrano stood up and said she had important news. Silence hung in the air. The tribal leaders hoped the news would turn into reality what had long been their dream. And there it was: NCIP commissioners had recently approved the ancestral domain claim of the unified Bagobo-Tagabawa covering no less than 40,733 hectares of Mount Apo Natural Park. For those present that day, it was a moment of outward joy and inward relief:

“Dili nako mahubit sa pulong ang kalipay nga among gibati nga amo na gyud ang among yutang kabilin”. [“I cannot put into words our joy upon hearing that our ancestral domain is now finally and truly ours.” ]  (Datu Rogelio Manapol)

Many months had lapsed since the Bagobo-Tagabawa had submitted five thick volumes of historical and ethnographic data to the NCIP to prove that they are the rightful owners of the south-eastern part of Mount Apo. The volumes compiled the work of years spent in documenting the culture and history of the tribe, tracing back genealogies to times immemorial and delineating the borders of traditional Bagoboland. It was a long and tedious process. The Bagobo-Tagabawa had travelled a long way from being dispersed communities uncertain about land and livelihood, to a more united tribe claiming ownership of its ancestral domain and presenting its plans for Mount Apo.

 

Challenges

A few years prior to that October 22 of 2005, few would have thought that the Bagobo-Tagabawa would one day jointly claim such a large portion of Mount Apo Natural Park. True enough, the ties of common identity and history that still bound the tribe had become fragile. Tribal customs and traditions were quickly fading. On the turn of the 21^st century, however, several smaller Bagobo communities had begun to explore the possibilities of reaffirming their tribal identity and claiming parts of Mount Apo as their ancestral domain. Things did not look prosperous at the outset, however…

The tribal communities were seriously hampered by a lack of information and scarcity of resources to apply for an ancestral domain title. In the words of tribal chieftain datu Rogelio Manapol:

“Una, wala mi igo nga kahibalo sa mga balaod. Ika-duha, wala mi mga ‘technical knowhow’. Ika-tulo, wala gyud mi kwarta… kay pobre kaayo ang mga Bagobo-Tagabawa.”  [“Firstly, we did not have enough knowledge of the laws. Secondly, we lacked technical know-how. Thirdly, we did not have any money… because the Bagobo-Tagabawa are very poor.”]

The requirements for a successful claim are many and the resources of the tribe were few. The NCIP, tasked with guiding ancestral domain claims, also had a troubled start. In 1999, NCIP saw its working budget suspended by then President Estrada shortly after the constitutionality of IPRA was questioned for the Supreme Court. For almost two years, all ancestral domain claims seemed to hang in the balance. The NCIP could collect claims, but it could not process them. IP communities began to fear their hopes might have been in vain. However, there were also those who firmly believed in IPRA and were confident that it would hold strong in court. Attorney Leonor Oralde, then Legal Officer of the NCIP in Davao del Sur, for instance, passionately defended IPRA. She convinced CADT claimants to push through. In 2001, she was proven right when IPRA’s constitutionality was upheld in the Supreme Court. NCIP, however, remained an agency troubled by limited staff and budget. With the passing of IPRA law, the responsibility of processing ancestral domain claims passed from DENR to NCIP, but the technical know-how and the budget were scarcely provided. In the words of Lilibeth Malaban from NCIP region XI:

“The Bagobo-Tagabawa ancestral domain claim was one of the first we had to process. We were given guidelines about what data indigenous peoples needed to collect, but we were not given technical trainings on how to collect it. We are limited in terms of staff and budget. Kapwa provided the technical know-how and time-management for the work that needed to be done. They also helped with the budget.”   

For Kapwa’s field staff, the social preparation activities for the CADT claims were a real challenge. The Bagobo-Tagabawa live in small settlements scattered across Mount Apo. Many communities live out of reach of public transport; they can only be reached on foot. Arleen Honrade, who was part of Kapwa’s staff in those days, vividly remembers the challenges of her work:

“The bad condition of the roads made our hearts leap to our throats every time we went to the barangays. Some areas had no roads so we had to walk long distances, cross several rivers and climb mountains to reach the areas. It also took us quite some time to gain the trust of the people.”

The tribal councils were the ones who mobilized their communities to attend the seminars on IPRA law and participate in the genealogy and ethnography workshops to document the culture and history of the tribe. This was a challenge in its own right. In many areas, the tribal councils hadn’t been functional for a long time and needed to be reactivated to tackle this work. In some areas, crises in leadership surfaced, which hampered collaboration.

 

Unification of the Bagobo-Tagabawa

What eventually became a unified claim started with a number of separate claims to smaller portions of the natural park. As the information campaigns on IPRA law progressed, more and more petitions for CADT landed on the desks of NCIP officers. A first petition was filed in December 2001 by SITRIBA, an IP organization from the municipality of Bansalan. Around that same time, the tribal chieftains of barangays Binaton and Kapatagan in Digos City also filed a petition. A number of barangays from the municipality of Santa Cruz soon followed in the course of 2002. Barangays Goma and Balabag later unified their claims with those of Binaton and Kapatagan. Most of these petitions, however, lacked historical proof of long-term occupancy to back up the applications. NCIP, moreover, preferred not to process several claims for what was, after all, a single tribe.

Although a sense of common identity still bound the Bagobo-Tagabawa, new generations had – throughout time – somewhat lost track of the common origins from which they descended. Glimpses of that common origin began to surface during the genealogy workshops jointly organised by NCIP and Kapwa. A detailed genealogy is one of the most laborious requirements of a complete CADT claim. In December 2002, Fr. Alejo – an anthropology professor from Ateneo de Davao University – facilitated a first series of genealogy workshops in sityo Tudaya and barangay Tibolo, Santa Cruz. During elaborate group discussions, the Bagobo elders recounted from memory fragments of the long history of the Bagobo-Tagabawa in Mount Apo. Their stories linked generations of Bagobo who had, in the course of time, put up settlements in different parts of Mount Apo. NCIP and Kapwa subsequently conducted genealogy workshops in all other barangays who had filed a petition at NCIP and who requested assistance. As the pieces of the genealogical puzzle slowly fell into place, the Bagobo-Tagabawa started to rediscover their relatedness.

 On July 24 and 25, 2003, a historic meeting or ‘Panagtagbo’ took place in sityo Tudaya. Tudaya is the heart of the ancestral domain and the place from where the history of the Bagobo-Tagabawa unfolds. The elders from Tibolo, Tudaya and Sibulan gathered to recount the history of the first Bagobo-Tagabawa chieftain Pawa. According to tribal mythology, his son, Datu Banog, was the first to settle in Tudaya. His descendants spread throughout Mount Apo in the course of centuries. Datu Apo Amman Anga, a 96-year-old elder from Tibolo, was one of the few elders who still knew this history. He had travelled on foot from Tibolo to centro Tudaya although he felt very weak. His story, however, would tie up the genealogy of the tribe connecting all Bagobo-Tagabawa in a territory stretching from Lipadas River in Toril, Davao City to the Saguing River in Makilala. Datu Amman Anga took the firm decision to attend the panagtagbo where he reminded the Bagobo-Tagabawa of their common roots. Unfortunately, datu Amman Anga died soon after.

Datu Amman Anga’s legacy gave a decisive push towards the unification of the Bagobo-Tagabawa ancestral domain claim. The awareness of a common history triggered the dream of a common future for present-day Bagobo-Tagabawa. The genealogy and ethnography workshops did more than fill in the blanks to complete the claim; it also brought the Bagobo-Tagabawa together in a joint effort to reclaim their lands and revalue their cultural heritage. In the course of 2003 the genealogies of the Bagobo-Tagabawa were further completed and the historical accounts and ethnographic data were meticulously documented by Kapwa’s staff.

The results of the genealogy workshops were eventually presented to the council of elders and tribal leaders of Digos, Sta. Cruz and Sibulan city side on October 13, 2003. They decided to unify their claims and appointed provincial tribal chieftain datu Rogelio Manapol as CADT representative. Shortly after, datu Monilo Oguit from Bansalan requested to also be included in the CADT claim. On November 14, 2003, the CADT petitioners passed a resolution to apply for a Unified Bagobo-Tagabawa Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title. From that moment onwards, the Bagobo-Tagabawa would go through the rest of the process as one tribe. A strategic choice, perhaps, since there was still a long way to go for the tribe to truly become united. By the end of 2003, the Bagobo-Tagabawa had collected sufficient documentary proof to submit their claim to the NCIP. On 13 December 2003, datu Avelino Danton and matanom Arthur Ayo went to the provincial office of NCIP in Digos and handed over 4 thick volumes of documentary proof along with a petition to start the delineation of the Bagobo-Tagabawa ancestral domain.

 

Ancestral Domain Management

Throughout the activities for the ancestral domain claim, the Bagobo-Tagabawa formulated Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plans (ADSDPP). These plans are the blueprint of the vision of the Bagobo-Tagabawa for the development of their ancestral domain. Apart from an overarching ADSDPP that covers the entire ancestral domain, each single barangay has a plan of its own, based on community-specific needs. A number of barangays requested Kapwa for assistance with the implementation of their plans. Out of the existing partnership between the Bagobo-Tagabawa and Kapwa grew three long-term poverty eradication programs for Mount Apo. The programs are similar in intention, but varying in content depending on the priority needs identified by the communities. The programs all aim to assist the Bagobo-Tagabawa with formulating and implementing their development plans in collaboration with the local governments, park management and supporting agencies.

                In 2003, Kapwa partnered with 8 barangays in the municipality of Bansalan for the implementation of a program called PEACE – Poverty Eradication through Agroforestry and Community Empowerment. The PEACE program is funded by the Lutheran World Relief. Some parts of Kapwa’s assistance to the Bansalan communities has been generously funded by the German Development Service/Deutsche Entwicklungs Dienst through the assistance of Karl “Charlie” Jaeger, a German volunteer who supported Kapwa for a period of three years.

In 2006, the barangays Buhay, Buenavida, Batasan and Biangan – together called 4B – in the municipality of Makilala requested Kapwa for assistance. With funds provided by the Schmitz Stiftung, the communities started the 4B Agroforestry and Livelihood Program.

In 2007, Kapwa extended its work to include four upland barangays in the municipality of Santa Cruz. The barangays Sinoron, Jose Rizal, Zone II and Tudaya became the focus of a third long-term poverty eradication program named Kaabag sa Kalambuan – partners in Development.

Local Governance: tribal leaders participate in trainings and workshops on local governance and leadership. They develop skills to advocate the provision of social services and implement project to meet the needs of their communities. The tribal councils meet regularly to monitor and evaluate the progress of projects in relation to their goals and objectives.

Agroforestry and Livelihood: farmers are assisted with agroforestry techniques to improve their farm production, sustain the fertility of the soil and protect the environment. Kapwa’s project officers provide on-site technical assistance and help farmers to access planting materials; farmers are taken on field trips; communities establish nurseries and engage in collective area development.

Basic Services: communities assisted to build water systems and construct water-sealed toilets.

Gender Sensitivity: women are empowered to participate in all phases of the program; women’s livelihood programs enhance women’s income; gender sensitivity trainings raise awareness about gender-sensitive development.

Mt. Apo Natural Park

Mt. Apo is the place from where the most recent pages in Kapwa’s history are written. Towering over South-Central Mindanao at an altitude of 3143.6 meters above sea level, it is considered as the highest peak in the Philippines. It offers a compelling sight to anyone looking upwards from the lowlands. But, its importance reaches far beyond its aesthetic appeal.

Mt. Apo is many things at once. For Indigenous People (IPs), it has a rich cultural and historical value. It is the burial ground of Apo Sandawa, the great forefather of three distinct indigenous groups namely; Manobo, klata and Bagobo-Tagabawa tribes. For them, its landscape is an inherent part of their cultural heritage and identity.

On the other hand, for upland farmers, the mountain’s volcanic soil is their daily source of livelihood. It provides them with crops for household consumption and for market sale. Life is hard, however, for farmers trying to earn a living from small scale agriculture. The majority of them live in poverty and out of reach of basic social services.

It is the last block of virgin forest in eastern Mindanao. Its exceptional biodiversity makes it a unique piece of the world’s natural heritage. Home to a great variety of rare and endemic fauna and flora, the Association of South-Eastern Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations Environmental, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proclaimed Mt. Apo an international natural heritage site. . It is one of the last remaining habitats of the Philippines’ national bird, the Philippine Eagle. It is also a major source of freshwater for central and southern Mindanao. Its rivers, creeks and lakes provide water for domestic, agricultural and industrial use.

From early on, the lushness of Mt. Apo’s natural scenery and its unique biodiversity made it the object of state-initiated environmental protection policies. In 1936, it was declared a national park under the administration of Pres. Manuel L. Quezon. The national park initially covered some 76,900 hectares.

Unfortunately, looking at its landscape today, it is hard to imagine that it was once largely covered with forest. Mt. Apo has also become testimony to the rapid decline of the Philippines’ natural resources. Estimation has it that only 30% of the original forest covers remains. In the1950s, Pres. Diosdado Macapagal issued a proclamation allowing resource exploitation in Mt. Apo National Park. Big logging companies subsequently moved into Mt. Apo and clear-cut large tracts of forest.

Up until the 1990’s, Mt. Apo mainly attracted settlers interested in agriculture. In the late 1980s, it caught the eye of the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC). The company was looking for alternative sources of energy to compensate for the effects of an eminent international energy crisis. In 1992, a considerable portion of land – 701 hectares – was excluded from Mt. Apo Natural Park for the building of a geothermal plant in barangay Ilomavis, Kidapawan, on the north-western flank. The building of the PNOC geothermal plant was also a forebear of similar projects to be initiated and implemented in the near future. From 1992 onwards, privately-owned energy companies become a major player in Mt. Apo’s landscape.

Natural Park

The decline of the Philippines’ biodiversity became a global issue. In the same year that the PNOC embarks on its geothermal project in Mt. Apo, the Earth Summit was held at Rio de Janeiro. The summit brings together political leaders and environmentalists from all over the world to discuss the state of the world’s natural resources. In anticipation of the summit in June 1992, the Philippine congress passes RA 7586 – The National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) act. The law acknowledges the poor state of the country’s environmental protection and formulates a strategy to sustain what is left of the country’s dwindling biodiversity. In the duration of the said summit, ten natural sites, including Mt. Apo National Park, were identified as special priority sites because of their ecological value and the extreme urgency for environmental protection.

One of the factors that prompted the Philippines to formulate the NIPAS act was an unfavorable report from the World Bank in 1989. The report deplored the low standard of protection in the Philippines, the poor management of protected areas and the lack of budget and competence of the government agencies who are tasked to protect the environment.

The history of Mt. Apo and Kapwa eventually connected in 1994, when Kapwa was chosen as one of the seven NGOs to join the Mt. Apo Protected Area Management Board (PAMB). In accordance with the implementing rules and regulations of NIPAS, the PAMB, which functioned as the highest policy-making body of the park, was established. The members that were tasked in managing the park represent the different stakeholders in the area.

Although the landscape has profoundly changed throughout the 20th century, Mt. Apo is nonetheless proclaimed a natural park and full-fledged component of NIPAS in 1996 by Pres. Ramos. It is not until February 2004 that RA 9237 – the Mt. Apo Protected Area Act – effectively establishes Mt. Apo Natural Park covering a total of 54,974.47 hectares.

Since the park has been poorly managed in the past; the PAMB faced a particularly difficult challenge. The World Bank, on its part, provided for a 6-year Conservation of Priority Protected Areas Project to help get the management of Mt. Apo Natural Park on track. The project targets biodiversity conservation, protected area development, livelihood programs and the issuance of tenure arrangements for the residents.

Land and Livelihood: Tenure in MT. Apo

One major obstacle to an environmentally sustainable and socially acceptable management of Mt. Apo Natural Park is an almost complete absence of tenure arrangements for IPs and migrant settlers. According to a (unvalidated) cencus of 1997, there were 6,800 household inside the park. Their presence, however, is not formally recognized.

During that time, Kapwa was convinced that the issuance of tenure arrangements is an important key to a more sustainable land use in Mt. Apo. Since the people depend on its natural resources for their livelihood, IPs and migrant settlers have a crucial role to play in the management of the park. But as long as they are uncertain that the land they till will be theirs to keep, they have a little long-term interest in sustaining the natural resources on which they depend.

The fact that there is no tenure policy at that time, the area has been an open access where land is cleared, claimed, bought and sold illegally. Lack of tenure security gives free play to land competition and makes it hard to truly address poverty and environmental degradation. Kapwa, therefore, advocates that local and national governments should acknowledge the reality of widespread occupancy in Mt. Apo and implement policies and programs to address the rapid land use.

Because of its experience in tenure management, Kapwa is requested by the Protected Area Superintendent (PASu) of Mt. Apo to help disseminate information on existing tenure options to the communities inside the park. In June 1999, Kapwa embarks on its Tenure in Mt. Apo program with an ongoing fund from the Ford Foundation. Since tenure for IPs was supposedly taken care of by the CPPAP program, Kapwa initially planned to focus on piloting Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) for migrant settlers. With the help of the Local Government Support Program, Kapwa printed copies of the NIPAS law and CBFM to be used during the land tenure information campaign. As the newly gathered census revealed a large number of IP in the park, the focus of tenure in Mt. Apo program, therefore, eventually shifts towards the IP communities.