He easily comes to mind whenever the topic on indigenous people surfaces.
He is the late Utod Vero (Severo Elucindo), a pillar of evangelical Christianity among Negritos in the region if not in the country.
He was the chieftain of his village and pioneered the preaching and sharing of God’s love to his constituents.
Just how did this Ati leader discover the way to the Cross and abandon his tradition animistic beliefs on spirits ruling the universe?
“Your father and an American missionary led me to the knowledge of God and His Kingdom,” he told me in Hiligaynon some decades ago when I went to his village – Nagpana, located in the hinterlands of Barotac Viejo, Iloilo for my major academic project, a requirement for my Master of Science in Journalism degree. The village was then a 5-km. walk on a very rugged terrain.
My father was a young church minister at that time who accompanied the missionary in his work in remote areas in Iloilo.
Impressed by the power of the telescope of the missionary, who showed him how it works, Utod Vero was fascinated by the nearness of the distance through its lenses.
He then did what became the turning point in his life. “I trained the telescope on the ground,” he recalled.
“What for?” I asked.
“I wanted to see the ‘loled’ (spirits) underground but I could not see them,” he replied.
Little by little, the seed of Christianity sown growing, eventually leading him to study at Duane Baptist Bible Seminary in Iloilo City, a major leap that turned his faith and that of his fellow Negritos, leading them to abandon their nomadic life, especially after the government awarded them stewardship rights to their present community in Nagpana.
Utod Vero passed away about 15 years ago but his pioneering work and influence continues in the mind of many.
Truly, his legacy lives on in Nagpana, which is now a recipient of a number of social development projects.
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The global community observes this week – on Tuesday, Aug. 9, – the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples as a tribute to these communities and the wealth of knowledge they can share.
UNESCO said that IPs live in all regions of the world and occupy about 22 percent of the global land areas.
IPs represent a greater part of cultural diversity in the world, UNESCO said adding that they have created and speak the major share of nearly 7,000 languages spoken across continents today.
Among the issues constantly confronting IPs, UNESCO further said, are marginalization extreme poverty and violation of their human rights.
Similar concerns are faced by many Indigenous People’s in our country, which has about 15 million IPs, including those who claim related ethnic roots.
UNESCO and the United Nations shared the following facts to highlight the observance:
– 47 percent of the world’s employed IPs have no education compared to 17 percent of their non-IP counterparts.
– More than 87 percent of IPs in the world work in the informal sector economy compared to 66 percent of their non-IP counterparts.
– IPs are almost three times as likely to be living in extreme poverty compared to their non-IP counterparts.
The world body said it seeks to support IPs in “addressing the multiple challenges they face, while acknowledging their significant role in sustaining the diversity of the world’s cultural and biological landscape.”
The celebration this year is focused on the theme, “The Role of Indigenous Women in the Preservation and Transmission of Traditional Knowledge”.
UN, in highlighting the celebration, has underscored that women serve as the backbone of IP communities and play a vital role in the preservation and transmission of ancestral knowledge.
They are also considered as “conservers of natural resources and keepers of scientific knowledge.”
They have also been noted to be at the forefront in efforts to defend lands and territories and advocate collective rights.
“Despite the critical role IP women play in their communities as breadwinners, caretakers, knowledge keepers, leaders and human rights defenders, they often suffer from interesting levels of discrimination on the basis of gender class, ethnicity and socio economic status,” UN also underscored.
Sadly, UN added, IP women suffer higher levels of poverty, low levels of education and literacy, limitations in the access to health and basic sanitation, credit and empowerment, limited participation in political life and domestic and sexual violence, UN further said.
In addition, UN said, their right to self-determination and self-governance and control of resources and ancestral lands, have been violated over centuries.
It acknowledges, though, that changes have gradually taken place in some communities, where IP women have started involvement in decision making, leadership and other empowering roles.
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The theme of the celebration finds as much relevance in the country as it does elsewhere.
While the enabling R.A. 8371, or the IP Rights Act of 1997, ensures the enjoyment of equal rights and opportunities between IP men and women – particularly along social, economic, political and social spheres, apparently there is still much to be done in the empowerment of IP women.
R.A. 8371 created the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, which is tasked to address IP concerns as well as work with appropriate agencies in collaborating for reconciliation and operationalizing of building blocks to promote the welfare of these people.
We are glad that local efforts are being done to improve the lot of IP women and their communities in the province.
The Capitol’s Gender and Development program under its Focal Point System has health and education initiative for IP women.
Also at the forefront of IP empowerment programs is the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples in Southern Negros Occidental which celebrated on Tuesday the IDWIP in Bago City.
In emphasizing the significance of the theme, CIPOSNO said in a statement:
“There are indigenous female leaders who have contributed a lot to the fight for the rights of the whole tribe. They play a larger part in preserving and passing on traditional knowledge to the next generation.”
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We trust that the IP issues and concerns in the province and the country will be substantially addressed by newly-appointed DSWD Undersecretary Alan Tanjusay, a native of Barangay Isio and my fellow Cauayanon.
As undersecretary, he is in-charge of the DSWD Office for Inclusive and Sustainable Peace.
Usec Tanjusay, whom we featured as spokesman of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines just days before his Aug. 2 appointment by President Marcos, told me that his office is providing an “extensive range of welfare services and deradicalization programs.”
Among the target clients are rebel returnees and their families, the vulnerable and conflict-affected IP communities, including women and children and residents of geographically-isolated areas.
Negrenses are confident that Usec Tanjusay, with his long years of service to the trade and labor sector as well as the media industry, will respond to the challenge with proven vigor and determination.
Among those who congratulated the Undersecretary is Cauayan Mayor John Rey Tabujara. The mayor said, “we take pride in congratulating you for your appointment as DSWD Undersecretary… In behalf of all Cauayanons, may I extend our most heartfelt congratulations as you start your new journey to serve the underprivileged and vulnerable sectors of our society.”
Best wishes to Usec Tanjusay and also to lawyer Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, our former NW columnist, who has also been appointed undersecretary – of the Department of Information and Communications Technology.
She is the co-founder and chair of the board of the Bacolod – Negros Occidental Confederation for ICT.
She was installed on Aug. 4. A passionate ICT industry leader, she is also past president of the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines.
Again our best wishes to the two Negrense undersecretaries.
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For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. (Ephesians 2:14) – NWI
