LUNA, Apayao –the National Commission of Indigenous People (NCIP) – Apayao recently conducted an inter-agency consultation meeting on August 16, 2024 at Lappa Gymnasium in Luna Apayao.
Said meeting centered on crafting programs in partnership with various National line agencies, which IP members can avail.
NCIP-Apayao Provincial Director Genesis P. Quiblado, who led the meeting, underlined the IP people need more government interventions and the partnerships would allow this.
The crafted programs shall assist the priority needs of IPs inside their respective ancestral domains as earlier identified during the early phase of the NCIP-funded Imallod Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan (ADSDPP) formulation project targeted to be finished within the year.
Meantime, the government agencies in attendance, including the Department of The Interior and Local Government (DILG), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Education (DEPED), Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), and Local Government Unit (LGU) Luna presented their respective programs and services that can be availed by the IPs and their corresponding commitments to help the IPs of Apayao.
The meeting was also attended by the Office of the Provincial Governor as a sign of continuing support to the IPs of Apayao. Approximately 70 elders and Indigenous People Mandatory Representative (IPMRs) attended the activity.
“The indigenous peoples (IPs) need the government more than ever”, said the new NCIP Apayao Provincial Director Genesis P. Quiblado. “There is no stand-alone government agency as our mandates are interlocked for a common cause,” he added.
Quiblado expressed his gratitude to the Provincial Government of Apayao headed by Governor Elias C. Bulut Jr. for recognizing the plight of his IP brothers and for always supporting the cause of the IPs, saying “We thank the Provincial Government of Apayao headed by Gov. Elias C. Bulut Jr. for recognizing the plight of our IP brothers and for always supporting the causes of the IPs.”
The NCIP Apayao plans to replicate this activity with an IP Forum as one of the highlights of the upcoming 2024 IP Month Celebration in October in partnership with the Provincial Government of Apayao, Office of the Congresswoman, and the League of yApayao IPMRs. By Joyce Arian Soria
