ROXAS City – Indigenous Peoples (IP) community in Capiz Province is asking for a better water system and livelihood opportunities.
Pastor Elias Valencia, chieftain of the Ati and Panay Bukidnon in Dumarao town, said the Ati community’s primary water supply in the IP’s ancestral domain in Tagaw has inconsistent water sources during the day, particularly during the dry season.
Valencia also shared that the main livelihood of the Ati community is selling herbal medicine and making brooms or walis ting-ting while the members of the Panay Bukidnon community sell native products such as baskets made of rattan, hammocks, and the same kind of broom.
“Even if the rain is heavy or the heat is intense, the IPs still sell their products because this is where they get their everyday needs,” Valencia said in Hiligaynon, adding that the IP has no other choice because if they stop they will have no other source of income.
He also noted that teenage pregnancy is also one of the problems faced by the IPs, wherein three high school students in their community are already with children.
Moreover, the IP members were able to voice out their concerns during the Community Life Competence Process (CLCP) with Gender Conscientization Training of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Capiz in Barangay Aglalana, Dumarao.
The CLCP is part of the agency’s Community Empowerment through Science and Technology (S&T) (CEST) Program.
Provincial Science and Technology Office (PSTO) Science Research Specialist Gesselle Marcon said the conduct of CLCP will aid the DOST Region 6 personnel, especially the PSTO staff in identifying appropriate S&T interventions.
“It can help address the community’s identified problems while also assisting to boost and develop the current strengths through an efficient and successful implementation of the CEST program,” Marcon added.
Marcon said that despite some concerns of the IP community that were not related to the S&T, the training could at least help in identifying what government agencies to reach to address their various concerns. (Philippine Information Agency)
