“This time is an opportunity to learn from one another. Today, join us as we go to the beautiful mountains of Benguet,” Ms. Florita Paragas, Board Member of the Cordillera Network of NGOs and POs (CORDNET), welcomed everyone to the e-tour session. Arat na pasyal tayo sa Benguet!
This e-tour to Benguet is part of a series of educational travels to provinces and communities. The series aims to enhance participants’ understanding of networking and empowerment as applied to building communities and enabling them to participate in local public governance. CODE-NGO and its members like CORDNET offer this learning series on new ways to network, empower, and transform for effective social change.
The Benguet e-tour video presents the magnificent Cordilleran province, its rich cultures, traditions, and tourist attractions. “So proud to be a Filipino,” wrote Ms. Aida Maria Talavera-Commission on Audit in Zoom chatbox. Cristy Aban-CORDNET shared, “Sad to say, some adjacent areas to Mankayan (site of mining operations of Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co.) now have sinking areas.”
The video presentation includes the history of the IGOROTA Foundation, Inc. (IFI), its vision, mission, programs and strategies, and an office tour for the participants.
IFI is a non-stock, non-profit, non-government organization established to recognize the “right and responsibility of women to fully develop their God-given potentials.” They embody the core values of Spirituality, Gender and Development, and Women in the Cordillera in their programs and activities.
Ms. Ronalyn Butil, the executive director, also explained that the foundation is a member of the CORDNET, an established network of development organizations and people’s organizations in the Cordillera Region. Currently, the regional network has more than 50 members and advocates for the development of social enterprises and sustainable farming through culturally appropriate programs.
IFI featured its long-running program, “Passing on the Gifts” (POG), or Patawid in their local term, its good practices, challenges, solutions, and testimonies from the partner communities.
POG is a values-based approach to community development. Every family that received animal gifts, livelihood inputs, and training is encouraged to pass on the fruits to another family in need. This maximizes resources and helps families overcome their state of poverty. Principles like accountability, sharing, caring, sustainability and self-reliance, genuine need and justice, and improving the environment are promoted and practiced in this program. It was implemented with support from Heifer International in 2008-2012.
The positive results of POG, indicated by the number of passing-on ceremonies to this day even when the project had ended, encouraged IFI to replicate this in other barangays. IFI found out that the POG values and principles are traditionally practiced especially in the Kankana-ey part of Benguet and Mountain Province through binanes, a similar system of sharing and caring in the communities evident in times of hardship, abundance, and celebration!
Watch the video here.
Highlights during the Q&A with IFI and other participants who have similar programs:
Q: How do you obtain support to ensure sustainability of your activities?
A: Through our active partnership with the local government units (LGUs) on agriculture and livestock raising. Veterinarians are very important in this project. Our beneficiaries are now partners of the Philippine Dairy so they now have a market for their cows’ and goats’ milk every day. We NGOs go to areas but we don’t stay there so partnership building is needed.
Q: Does the group participate actively in government meetings and policy decision-making?
A: One of the project components is participation in local governance. The beneficiaries are visible so they are identified and invited by the LGUs.
Q: How is the first batch of program beneficiaries? Do they still have the gifts today?
A: Some of them still have the gifts with them. Some of them have reached the fourth or fifth cycle of passing on; it’s not the same pace for all. Sometimes, sustaining is challenging because the people may not like goats as animal gifts (goats destroy their vegetable farms). But the concept of POG could really transform people’s values. What’s important is that it is continuing. The tangible ones may have gone, but the intangible gifts like training and ceremonies stay with them. Those are the best experiences.
Q: How do families save their income?
A: The women organizations already practice saving. They have policies like how much and how often they will save and for what purpose, ex. for emergency, livelihood, educational assistance. Fund management is also included using the self-help group concept.
Reflection and Moving Forward
“Allow me to introduce another Kankana-ey term: Kasiyana,” began Ms. Cristina Segnaken-Aban, president of CORDNET. “I will share three (3) instances when we use this term:
- We say Kasiyana to an orphan or a bereaved member of a family as a way of expressing our hopes and well-wishes.
- We say Kasiyana to a victim of injustice as our way of consoling, accompanied with non-verbal prayers.
- We say Kasiyana when we experience difficulties in implementing projects like POG, which needs patience and determination in order to achieve its goals.
Kasiyana is used to express a belief and reliance on the blessing of Kabunian, the Creator. Kasiyana is hope-filled and faith-based.
I believe that for more than three decades of existence, IFI had passed through a lot of challenges and meaningful experiences that made them stronger and resilient. So, where do we go from here?
Through its different programs, IFI and CORDNET shall continue to empower its staff, management, and community partners with Kasiyana as an inspiration and to remain open to possible local, national, and international partnerships that will enhance our cultural values and heritage. Let us continue to support each other. My appreciation goes to all of you who participated, who listened, who shared, and who traveled to Baguio-Benguet in this e-tour session. Let’s keep climbing mountains and crossing rivers – Kasiyana! Namaw et sa. Thank you very much!”
By: Georgina Boaging Atipen, IGOROTA Foundation, Inc.
Photo courtesy of: IFI