𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆𝗮 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗮𝗼 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆

The Mandaya Tribe residing in the upland community in Barangay Manurigao, New Bataan, one of the farthest barangays in Davao de Oro, celebrated its two-day 15th founding anniversary on July 14 and 15, 2022. 

Villagers from the eight Sitios opened the first day with resonating cheers and yells as they participated in the tribal games such as busog, sumpitan, kadang, bagudan, lyul'lot, and ball games in the Al'law ng Tipanod and Kabataan activity. 

Barangay Captain Marcos M. Lino said in an interview that the annual celebration showcases the Mandaya's diverse culture, customs, and traditions through dances, tribal songs, and rituals. It also signifies how firm and unrivaled the tribe is as one community despite difficulties from the past two years brought by the pandemic. 

“𝐺𝑖𝑘𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑜 𝑛𝑔𝑎 𝑠𝑎 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑎 𝑖𝑘𝑎-15𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑔𝑑𝑢𝑦𝑜𝑔 𝑘𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑔𝑎 𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑦𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑔 𝑏𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑎 𝑔𝑖𝑘𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙, 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑢𝑔 𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎 𝑠𝑎 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑜. 𝐷𝑖𝑙𝑖 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑖 𝑘𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔ℎ𝑖𝑢𝑠𝑎 𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑛, ℎ𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑖 𝑠𝑎 𝑔𝑢𝑔𝑚𝑎 𝑢𝑔 𝑘𝑢𝑠𝑜𝑔 𝑠𝑎 𝑚𝑔𝑎 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑎", Lino said. 

He added that the celebration is part of thanksgiving to their “𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑎𝑦𝑎” for all the blessings and developments poured into their community from the local and national government. 

Through the government programs, from once a haven of communist insurgency, Barangay Manurigao is now a progressive and peaceful community. 

Capping off the celebration is the Hiyas ng Barangay Manurigao, an activity initiated by the teachers of the Department of Education (DepEd), and participated by the youth of the community. 

Present during the anniversary were Governor Dorothy Gonzaga represented by Board Member Albert Camana together with Julius Mabini of Regional NCIP as the guest speaker, Mayor Gerald Ford Balbin, PNP personnel, Tribal Leaders, and Chieftains, and barangay officials.

 (𝑅.𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑛𝑜, 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑠 𝑏𝑦 𝐽𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑒 𝐶𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑧 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑃𝐶𝑅𝑂 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝐵𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑎𝑛)

Government services bring hope to Mandaya Tribe in far-flung Sitio Uduan

 

Davao de Oro Province--- “Naibot gyud ang mga tunok nga among gidala-dala nga mura nag tag upat ka dangaw” said Rubelyn Kilam, a 38 year-old housewife when asked how she felt when government services started to reach her remote village, wherein for years, she was hopeless as their community resides in the farthest spot of New Bataan.

Rubelyn is among the estimated 316 individuals who resides in Uduan, Manurigao of New Bataan. The said sitio holds 43 households with 63 families in total who relies mainly on farming corn, kamote, and abaca for living. With Manurigao identified as one of the Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA) in the province, reaching the place is not an easy exploit.

With elevated grounds blessed with fertile soil and a good climate for crops, Uduan always has a good harvest. But way back then, they always have trouble exporting their local products in town due to the road situation. Even the residents before cannot easily access proper education, health-care services and other emergencies as the path to the capital deprives them. “Lisod kaayo ang dalan sauna, ang amung agi-an kanang mga gamot sa kahoy ug daghan pa gyud kaayog mga mananap. Masayang lang ang amuang mga produkto ug mahimomg walay bili. Usahay naay mga aksidente ug mangamatay nalang sa dalan tungod kay dili madali ug dala sa hospital.” said Rubelyn.

Now that the national and the provincial government of Davao de Oro continue to roll out its programs under the “Bayanihan 4Ps+” blueprint of governance headed by Governor Jayvee Tyron L. Uy, Sitio Uduan of Manurigao already have an easy access to the capital of New Bataan due to the continuing road infrastructure projects of the PLGU that targets the uplands.

Road infrastructures open a variety of opportunities and brings out the best qualities and potentials of a certain place. This opens an avenue towards progress in tourism, commerce and strengthen one of the golden pillars of the province, its agriculture. It also brings government services and programs closer to the people.

As one of the partners of PLGU-Davao de Oro in promoting sustainability and upholding lives of its constituents especially in GIDA areas, TESDA-Davao de Oro thru the Davao National Agricultural School and Regional Training Center will upskill a total of 135 Mandaya Scholars in Uduan Manurigao through various trainings that will help to them to acquire livelihood skills that fits their community. Being the lead agency of Poverty Reduction, Livelihood, and Employment Cluster (PRLEC), TESDA Secretary Isidro S. Lapeña, also visited Uduan, Manurigao last January 27, 2021 during the launch of the Capability Building cum PICO Hydro Power Project Groundbreaking. Together with Sec. Lapeña are heads of the National Government Agencies such as DSWD, DOST, DAR, DTI, DA, DOLE, DepEd, DENR, NCIP, LBP, AFP, PNP, NORDECO, Mayor Geraldford Balbin of New Bataan and Vice Governor Maricar Zamora who represented Governor Uy. The Department of Agriculture also donated corn seeds to the residents, while Vice Governor Maricar Zamora handed out hygiene kits.

“Nalipay mi nga niabot and programa dire sa TESDA ug sa gobyerno, kay wala gyud mi niasa nga maabtan mi ug serbisyo tungod sa kalayo sa amung lugar, imposible kaayo nga makita mi dire. Karun nagpasalamat mi nga nay training diri nga haum ug magamit namo sa amuang lugar.”said Rubelyn.

The daylight starts to unfold the greatness of Manurigao. Once a remote-area that has no access to government services now benefits and begins to develop the community. With the help of the provincial government in partnership with National Government Agencies, sooner, remote-areas will unleash their dormant treasures. (Jasteen P. Abella, Information Division, Davao de Oro, photos by Ronel Renz Alvarez)