2011 Annual Report - PhilDHRRA-Mindanao

Palo Para sa Bantay-Gubat, Gully Tree Planting,
Alay Para sa Bantay Gubat and Support for the
Multi-sectoral Forest Protection Committee
(MFPC) and the MMPL-PAMB.
The Livelihood Enhancement and Enterprise
Development Program aims to increase the
income of target communities by helping improve
their productivity through the adoption of
environmentally-sound utilization and
management of local resources. Projects under
this program include the Sumbakil PEACE
Project and Botika ng Bayan.
The Cooperative Development and Institution-
Building Program is designed to help build
people's competence and confidence in their
chosen field of endeavour. Under this program,
Mahintana currently implements the T'boli
Cooperative Development Project and the
Maasim Integrated Area Development Program.
The foundation's undertakings under its Basic
Social Services Program are mostly related to
the provision of health care and education
services. The activities under this program are
usually conducted in partnership with the Local
Government Units (LGUs) and other private
sectors operating the identified communities.
The projects under this program are: South-
Eastern Philippines Health and Economic
Alternatives (HEAL) Project, Adopt-A-School
Project, ComDev Project (which includes other
reciprocating projects such as Chairs for Trees,
Books for Trees, etc.), Grassroots Initiatives for
Peace (GrIP) Project, Polomolok Task Force
Kalusugan, and Kapit Bisig Para sa Kabataan
Program.
A major initiative under MICADEV were the
Enhancing Community Investment on Trees
andEnvironment (ECITE) Projects I & II which
was completed in August 2008. The projects
were initiated as part of the reforestation
initiatives along the Buffer Zone communities of
the Mount Matutum Protected Landscape
(MMPL). ECITE Projects facilitated the
establishment of a total of 393.2 hectares of
Agro-forestry and 320 hectares of Reforestation
areas along the Buffer and Multiple Use zones of
the MMPL.
Mahintana considers the setting-up of a
functional PAMB and MFPC for the MMPL as
one singular achievement that the concerted
effort of the stakeholders of Mt. Matutum
through the MICADEV.
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A major challenge of the PAMB which now
administratively supervises the programs and
activities of MICADEV is how it can assure the
security of tenure of qualified protected area
occupants. Further, it will have to sustain the
collective efforts of the MICADEV players,
maintain the planted trees, continue its vigilance
against poachers and encroachers, up-scale the
community's livelihood enterprises, and nurture
community organizations.
Nonetheless, while the battle will continue to be
uphill, the incline, however, may not anymore be
as steep as it was before. There are ground-level
indications that the relentless campaign to
awaken people's concern for environmental
nurturance is beginning to bear fruits. In Purok
Ocho, a village that is probably farthest from
civilization as it is closest to the top of Mt.
Matutum, Bong Mara Buan, the village chieftain,
has issued a couple of kitabs, B'laan tribal
ordinances, that are supportive of the
environmental campaign. Bong Mara Buan has
prohibited the killing of the civet cat on pain of
banishment from the tribe for those caught
violating the kitab. Also, only those who plant
coffee will be allowed to pick droppings of the
civet cat from the coffee farm of the tribe.
Mahintana, itself, lists the following as the
challenges in the years ahead: the acquisition of
technical and scientific monitoring tools,
sustainability of initiatives and of organized
communities, official and continuing funding
support for the Protected Area Security Units
(PASU), and the issuance of tenurial
instruments.