The National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) in the region extended educational assistance to 300 IP school children belonging to the Matigsalug tribe on Saturday.
The assistance was launched in Datu Salumay Elementary School and is part of the “Tabang Paeskwele Tribu” project.
The agency partnered with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for the project to deliver basic educational needs to the students of the school in line with its mandate to support, promote, and protect the rights of the IP children.
“I am happy to see the smiles of the children. For the parents, let us guide our children. Let’s do our best to help them graduate because they are the keys in shaping the future,” BSP regional director Rogel Joseph Del Rosario said.
On May 5, 150 students, ranging from ages 7 to 12 years old, belonging to Bagobo-Tigabawa tribe in Barangay Daliaon Plantation, Toril District were also given basic educational needs in preparation for the upcoming school year.
Datu Docris Daug, the indigenous people’s mandatory representative of Bagobo-Tagabawa, commended the NCIP’s commitment and sincerity to public service, saying it has served as an instrument in pursuing its mission despite the “rocky, slippery and bumpy roads” going to their barangay.
The NCIP XI started the project back in 2015 to help the Lumads, “who are one of the most vulnerable sectors in the community.”
