By Ivy Q. Palec, Area Coordinator
It had been raining, turning the dirt path into a sticky slippery walk with young banana plants sticking out of the tall grass. Still, the village – just a few hundred meters hike from the highway, remained quite accessible.
A sound system was set up, makeshift tents were in place, with plastic chairs arranged in front of a stage. There was to be a wedding here. There was even a ribbon, both ends tied to short poles at the entrance of this small village in Brgy. Caw-I, Batad ready for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. But the streamer welcomed guests to the Kalahi-CIDSS Sub-project Inauguration. Was there really going to be a wedding here?
Brgy. Caw-I, Batad is a recipient community of the Kalahi-CIDSS NCDDP project. During the Municipal Forum participated by volunteers that represented twenty-four barangays in Batad, Brgy. Caw-I was allocated Php 604, 684.73, which the community decided to use to address two priority needs – concreting of thirty-five linear meter road leading to the barangay proper; and a housing project for the IP community in their barangay.
On June 29, 2016, the road and IP houses were completed and turned over to the community. IP leader Turko Ascuna took time to introduce the families who are recipients of the 5 pre-fabricated bamboo huts.
Together with several other newly constructed houses donated by Solidar, a Swiss NGO, there are now 12 new houses in this part of the barangay. With the communal toilet on one end and a water pump under a mango tree at the other end, it was starting to look like a proper village. A far cry from the clump of makeshift huts it used to be.
Punong Barangay Elmer Francisco donated more than 1 hectare of land he inherited from his parents to be used by the IPs. These Aetas migrated from their tribe in Nagpana, Barotac Viejo, Iloilo in search of other sources of living. Slowly, their number has increased in Batad. To date, there are at least 23 families. And the number seems to be growing.
“Bilang kapitan, gusto ko man nga mabuligan ang mga ati. Nalipay man ako nga diri nila napilian mag-istar sa Caw-i. Pwede sila katanum sa bukid, sila man gani kuhaon ko nga maobra sa talamnan ko kung tigtalanum,” (As the Brgy. chairman, I also want to help the Aetas. I am happy that they chose to live in Caw-i. They can cultivate plants. And I may hire them as farm workers) said PB Francisco. He also said that the Aetas are allowed to till the land owned by his cousins living abroad. The Aetas use it to grow vegetables that they eat and sometimes sell in the market. They plant eggplant, ampalaya, squash and okra, among others.
All Roads Lead to Caw-I – A Convergence Area
Non- IP volunteers and Brgy. Kagawads already gathered in the venue. Staff from the Kalahi-CIDSS Regional and Sub-regional Office were also present. The Area and Municipal Coordinating team were busy helping the community set up the stage and serving snacks to the arriving visitors. Pantawid and SLP staff of Batad were also present to assist.
As a strategy for improved delivery of social services, the DSWD pushed for convergence of its core poverty reduction programs – Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program, Sustainable Livelihood Program and Kalahi-CIDSS NCDDP, also known as the “Tatsulo” ( a condensed term for “Tatlong Sulo” or “Three Torches”). At the municipal level, DSWD project staff are organized so that their services complement, support and optimize each other’s efforts. Thus, the staff can plan joint community activities where the participants are served by at least two of the Tatsulo programs.
The Kalahi-CIDSS volunteers of Brgy. Caw-I were preparing for a big celebration. While planning for the turn-over program, some IP members suggested that since it was a big event, what if they can make use of the occasion to have a mass wedding. They noted that since the Pantawid requires its members to be legally married and school children to have proper documents, cohabiting couples can be wed in a ceremony during the turn-over.
Since it would be beneficial to all, the program staff concurred with the plan. Among the families in Caw-I, only one was a beneficiary of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. Others were not yet residents of the barangay when the Pantawid targeting was conducted in 2010 so not all of them were beneficiaries. But they were included in the 2015 targeting. Although the result of the said targeting survey was not yet finalized, they are hoping to prepare their documents in the event they are included in the DSWD official list of Pantawid beneficiaries. And they wanted to start with their marriage contracts.
This Kalahi-CIDSS sub-project turnover became a convergence activity. DSWD Regional Director Rebecca P. Geamala, who was scheduled to have a monitoring visit of DSWD BUB projects in Batad on that day, was invited to grace the occasion. Upon hearing about the wedding cum inauguration program, RD Geamala obliged and agreed to be godmother to the couples.
The wedding ceremony was officiated by the Municipal Mayor of Batad, Hon. Pedro Alarcon.
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, RD Geamala gave a speech. “Gusto nakon nga ang mga Ati man ang mabulig sa iban nga tawo sa ulihi. Sa kapareho nila nga ati. Kag bisan sa indi Ati,” encouraged Geamala, speaking to a throng of IP children intently listening to her.
Mayor Alarcon then delivered his speech. “Kay damo na kamo di subong nga nagaistar, ini nga lugar pagatawgun na naton nga Sitio IP, “ declared Alarcon. People clapped their hands in delight as the previously idle land is now a Sitio of Brgy Caw-I. Mayor Alarcon promised to formalize this declaration by talking to the Sangguniang Bayan which should pass a resolution.
The sub-project was then formally turned-over to the barangay Operation and Maintenance (O and M) volunteers. The Kalahi-CIDSS BSPMC volunteers, an ad hoc implementation committee, shall turn over the operation, maintenance and functionality monitoring of the road and housing SP to the O and M volunteers, a group who are committed to implement an operation and maintenance program with contributions from the barangay and the individual recipient families.
The Wedding
IP Leader Turko Ascuna and his wife Gilda were wed with 5 other couples. It was a civil ceremony. To stand as witnesses, RD Geamala, with regional and sub-regional staff as well as non-IP members of Brgy. Caw-I joined the ceremony. Mayor Alarcon stressed the importance of legalizing the civil union and said that the Municipal government supports all couples who wish to legalize their partnerships and process their documents.
After the ceremony, municipal LGU staff took time to complete the marriage contracts prepared. Some of them signed their names, some used their thumb marks as they are unable to write. The ceremony formally ended with the couples kissing for the first time as married couples, with the happy crowd cheering them on.
No one among the couples enjoyed this western wedding tradition. Husbands were so uncomfortable kissing their newly wedded wife. The wives kept their heads low, avoiding the reluctant kiss. With the community egging them for more kisses, cheering and cameras at the ready, Turko Ascuna, being the leader that he is, held his wife and exclaimed “ te, cge na ah,” then swooped down for that first kiss. The other men followed suit. It was a riot. The women bent lower and the crowd cheered louder. Godmother RD Geamala was having the time of her life.Everyone was laughing, echoing everyone’s happy hearts.
The day ended with a hearty lunch. Everyone went home with a smile on their faces and a sweet memory of the IP wedding in a turn-over ceremony, something new, something nice.
The Next Wedding
On the second Municipal Forum in the Municipality of Batad, Iloilo, they decided to allot a block grant for Sitio IP in the amount of Php 300,000. They are proposing to use the grant to provide household solar panels for the houses provided by Kalahi-CIDSS and Solidar. With this, the IP will enjoy electricity harnessed from the power of the sun, will not pay any bills and have a chance at a more improved quality of life in their little bamboo huts. Although this project is still at the proposal stage, they are already looking forward to its project turn-over. More than the completion of the project, they are already identifying young couples who may be wed during that ceremony.
It seems that the June wedding set a good precedence. A precedence in convergence effort. A collective step in legalizing civil unions. And an IP community making choices to improve themselves. Everyone is happy about how positive the future of Sitio IP is forming. And everyone was looking forward to the next wedding. (Kalahi-CIDSS/DSWD)