Remote Mandaya community enjoys PRRD, SAP aid
DAVAO ORIENTAL – Carrying heavily-loaded packs containing rice and other goods, the men, women, and children from Sitio Butay, the farthest sitio of Barangay Pichon in Caraga town, wear contagious smiles as they say words of thanks for the goods and food packs they received Saturday morning.
About 200 families received food packs containing 6 kilos of rice, 8 cans of canned goods, and 6 sachets of coffee while some 260 school children received school supplies which all came from the Office of the President through Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Bong Go.
Residents said they are truly overwhelmed of the aid provided to them by the government which they described as “precious blessings”, adding that these goods are important to them since they are very hard to come by given with their community’s remote location. The journey With no other means of access to their community, the residents of Sitio Butay headed to the next sitio of Sangab on foot. Sitio Sangab, nestled atop another mountain facing Sito Butay and is the center of the 13 Pichon sitios (including Sitio Butay) that comprise the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT-01), is the nearest community from Butay with an accessible road and therefore the only appropriate area for the distribution.
Amidst the biting cold of the dawn, residents started to hike as early as 1 o’clock in the morning, enduring the grueling seven to eight hours trek through dense forest, muddy and steep, almost 90-degree downhill footpaths then crossing the perilous Caraga River aboard a makeshift cable car made of rattan only to scale, yet again, another extremely steep uphill hike to Sitio Sangab. This lengthy and dangerous trek would be endured again by the residents upon returning home with their loads of goods.
Against the odds, the Mandaya community of Sitio Butay, with their fervent spirits filled with hope, is eager to reach Sitio Sangab anticipating not only the goods waiting for them there but the good news coming from the Office of the President which is set to change their lives forever.
This assistance, said Ms. Edith Caduaya from online news agency Newsline Philippines who was tapped by the Office of the President to deliver the goods, is only the initial aid coming from the President through SAP Bong Go as they are set to conduct a medical mission by the end of the month. Given the difficulty in accessibility, volunteers and medical teams will be taken to Sitio Butay via helicopters.
Aside from the food packs and school supplies from the Office of the President, Newsline Philippines also provided a printer, various educational charts and maps for Butay Integrated School.