BONTOC, Mountain Province – Retired National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) provincial officer Thomas Tawagen, Sr. was chosen as the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) of this landlocked province during the selection process conducted by IP representatives from the ten municipalities recently.
Tawagen earned the votes of the IP representatives from the nine municipalities of Barlig, Besao, Bauko, Natonin, Sabangan, Sadanga, Sagada, Paracelis and Tadian while his rival former board member Florence Taguiba get the vote of the IP delegation from the capital town only.
Five IP delegates from each of the municipalities were part of the selection process whereby they voted in consensus on who will be the province’s IPMR considering that each municipality is allotted a single vote in the counting of votes.
Because there was no consensus among all the IP representatives to ensure the unanimous vote for Tawagen, the issue was then elevated to the panel composed of competent representatives from the NCIP, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the provincial board which agreed that both the aspirants possess the qualifications of the IPMR but most of the delegates were in favor of Tawagen and thus declared him as the province’s IPMR.
For his part, Tawagen expressed his gratitude to the IP delegations from the ten municipalities for their active participation in the IPMR selection process and for bestowing unto him their trust and confidence to represent them in the provincial board, saying that he will work double time to make sure that all IP-related issues will be ventilated in the proper forum for the appropriate action of concerned government agencies and local governments.
“We assured our IPs in the different municipalities that we will always consult them relative to the various issues and concerns affecting the welfare of the IPs in the countryside. We have to uphold our time-honored tradition of consensus-building among IPs before we will be making a stand relative to sensitive issues in both the national and local levels,” Tawagen stressed.
He is optimistic that his rival in the quest for the province’s IPMR will be part of the pool of IP leaders whom he will consulting on various local, regional and national issues that may crop up in the future, saying that the selection process has been done pursuant to the prescribed guidelines and it is now time for everyone to work in accordance to their promises for the welfare of IPs in the different parts of the province.
Tawagen rose from the ranks from being an accounting clerk in Tadian, to a public information officer of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) in Bontoc before holding the position of NCIP provincial officer in Mountain Province prior to his retirement a few years ago.
The newly elected IPMR appealed to the different IP groups in the province to support his leadership which he promised will be transparent and accountable, for him to be able to bring to the attention of national and local leaders important issues in their respective domain which must be given appropriate action and to give IPs the necessary voice in whatever fora.
By HENT
