Relief operations in San Luis

Updates on the APPEAL for FOOD and LAND of the Manobos of San Luis and San Nicolas, Don Carlos and Musuan, Maramag, Bukidnon Province, 27 August 2008.

RICE DONATIONS and BEYOND

Relief Operations

To provide immediate relief from the prevailing hunger situation, the Asian NGO Coalition (ANGOC) launched a fund drive starting August 6. As of August 27, 2008, around P90,000 was received from generous Filipino and foreign individuals and organizations. These funds have been used for both the food relief and the start-up for the gardening project mentioned later.

PAFID Mindanao, the NGO that has been assisting these Manobo communities in their ancestral land claims, delivered a total of 42 sacks of rice to 521 families or 4 kilos per family. To extend rice consumption, PAFID and the communities decided to issue rice gruel (lugaw) instead of rice grains.

Community meeting in San Luis

It is not however enough to sustain them and at best this solution is only temporary and palliative. Donors can only provide so much rice and food. A more sustained and sustainable strategy must be identified and implemented as soon as possible.

Manobos propose a Gardening project

The Manobo community of San Luis has identified the establishment of a communal vegetable garden as one such possible strategy. That will provide them livelihood and food while continuing the struggle for their collective CLOA (Certificate of Land Ownership) under the CARP.

PAFID immediately granted the request of the community. A total of 345 packets of assorted vegetable seeds were delivered on 01 September 2008 and the community is expected to begin planting as soon as possible. The table below indicates the number of seeds delivered to the community.

Seeds Delivered to the Manobo Community in San Luis
Kind	Quantity (packets)
Okra	72
Ampalaya	84
Eggplant (Talong)	84
Pechay	36
String Beans (Batong)	45
Squash (Kalabasa)	24

Struggle for Land, far from over

The contested Ancestral land turned pineapple plantation in Don Carlos,Bukidnon

After the series of Interagency Task Force meetings late last year and early 2008, there has been no movement of the CLOAs promised to the Manobos of San Luis and San Nicolas, Don Carlos, Bukidnon.PAFID met with the Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer (MARO) of Valencia to confirm the exact location of the promised CLOA for the two Manobo groups in Don Carlos, Valencia, Bukidnon. The MARO could not identify the area and said that the Manobos have not even filed an application for inclusion as CARP beneficiaries in the area. Apparently, the MARO has not yet informed the Manobo leaders the process for CLOA distribution. The IPs have no idea on this since they are more familiar with the process for the ancestral domain claim.

PAFID also reported that Bukidnon Governor Jose Zubiri alllegedly met with the Manobo leaders after the relief operations took place. The Governor offered a staggered solution to the tribes’ appeal for land in three stages. The first stage includes CLOAs for their barrio/homestead covering 5.5 hectares for San Luis and 19 hectares for San Nicolas. The second and third stage would cover more lands but the Governor said he would have to negotiate these with willing “land donors” or other beneficiaries.

The Manobos inside Central Mindanao University have a more winnable case with their application for ancestral domain still intact. A presidential Executive Order was already issued before to delineate the Manobo ancestral land inside the university but has not been enforced till today.