Isolated IP village uncovered
The Ata-Manobo community was discovered by accident by troops of the army’s 60th Infantry Battalion last 25 February while in pursuit of remnants of the New People’s Army
KAPALONG, Davao del Norte — The discovery of a hidden indigenous people community of 110 families deep in the mountainous area of this town came as a total surprise to Mayor Ma. Theresa Timbol.
“We were shocked that all this time, people are still out there without any contact with the outside world,” Timbol said Friday.
The Ata-Manobo community was
discovered by accident by troops of the army’s 60th Infantry Battalion last 25 February while in pursuit of remnants of the New People’s Army (NPA).
It is located in Sitio Tapayanon, along the edge of Kapalong’s Barangay Gupitan along the Pantaron mountain range that borders the provinces of Davao del Norte, Bukidnon and Agusan del Sur.
It is so geographically isolated that
government services are unknown to the villagers.
Lt. Amadeuz Celestial of the 60th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army said the indigenous people (IP) living on the area told him that, “we thought before we met you that the NPA is the government.”
“This community of six hundred residents could sound irrelevant at first to the government’s campaign against insurgency,” Lt Celestial said, “but this area is the refuge of three regional commands of the NPA.”
No roads lead to the area, making it inaccessible to the military that when NPA from the different provinces surrounding
the area is under attack by the military, they ran and sought refuge in this area.
Mayor Timbol said that learning about the existence of Sitio Tapayanon, which all barangay officials and workers from Gupitan failed to report to her, made her decide to take care of the area. She sent food, fruits and medicine for the community.
“We are taking care of the IP in our town. In fact, in Barangay Gupitan we have thirty elementary schools, eight high schools, and a college with a special program for the IPs.
“The college offers an agriculture course,” said Mayor Timbol, “knowing that the area is an agricultural one.”
Barangay Gupitan is represented in the Municipal Council by an IP as a mandatory representative, which shows that IP are who are a majority in the Barangays are well represented in the local government.
But in the case of Sitio Tapayanon, the IPs were neglected and backwards.
The National Anti-Poverty Commission headed by Secretary Noel Felongco will lead an inter-agency service caravan on 30 September in Sitio Tapayanon to strengthen the delivery of government services.
Due to lack of road access, the caravan will be ferried by air force helicopters in batches.
This will be participated by national government agencies in the region like the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of the Interior and Local Government, National Commission of Indigenous Peoples, Department of Labor and Employment, private organizations such as the Rotary Club of Tagum, the New City Commercial Center and the provincial government of Davao del Norte and municipal government of Capalong, Davao del Norte.