TABUK CITY, Kalinga – A veteran tribal conflict mediator was conferred by the Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency (PNVSCA) the 2016 National Outstanding Volunteer Award individual adult category for his inspiring commitment to volunteer service in the field of peace and development.
Andres Ngao-i, who is the chairman of the Cordillera Bodong Administration – Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army (CBA-CPLA) and chairman of the Regional Council of elders for Indigenous Peoples Education (IPED), was cited for his leadership in advocating for indigenous people’s education, preservation of indigenous practices and nurturing a culture of restorative justice, especially for the Kalingas and for his staunch advocacy for voluntarism for peace and development.
The 60-year old Kalinga elder was actively involved in conflict mediation not only among feuding tribes inside and outside the province but also in no tribal conflicts that prevented the escalation of violence and promoted a reign of peace in Kalinga through the years.
He is described by his colleagues as ‘the man’ in tribal conflict resolution as he was able to negotiate more than 100 tribal and non-tribal cases involving 46 tribes of Kalinga, 10 sub-tribes of Mountain Province and 6 sub-tribes of Abra of which about 90 percent were successful.
“My ultimate goal is to put an end to the tribal wars for the sake of the next generation,” Ngao-i stressed.
On the other hand, Ngao-i is also a strong advocate of the indigenous peoples education (IPEd) and was instrumental in the formulation of a memorandum of agreement between the Department of Education and Kalinga Province in the promotion of the Kalinga culture, tradition and practices.
Part of the affirmation of the commitment to IPEd is the inauguration of a ‘pakedian,’ an indigenous space for coming together among the Kankaney peoples of Benguet where a ritual was conducted together with the IP community representatives from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The inauguration of the “pakedian’ symbolizes the recognition of indigenous learning within the education system.
Ngao-i remains committed to the continuous reign of peace and order among all tribes and sub-tribes in the different parts of the region because he believes that peace is one of the drivers of economic growth in the remote communities not only of the province but also of the region.
He added that he will continue to engage tribal elders in various parts of the region to ensure that conflicts among the tribes will not escalate to violence because it will be the image of the Cordillerans that will be at stake once tribal wars will erupt between feuding tribes regionwide.
Ngao-i was among the CBA officials that represented the group in the historic Mount Data peace talks between the CPLA led by the late Fr. Conrado Balweg and the Philippine government under the leadership of former President Corazon C. Aquino that resulted to the eventual signing of the Mount Data peace agreement on September 13, 1986.
By HENT
