Councilor Bai Halila Sudagar says in a press conference Tuesday, March 7, that they are planning to set-up a help desk for the Lumad inside the Southern Philippines Medical Center in response to the request of Davao’s indigenous communities. (Earl O. Condeza/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Councilor Bai Halila Sudagar, an Indigenous People’s representative, said she is planning to set-up a help desk for the Lumad inside the Southern Philippines Medical Center in response to the request of Davao’s IP communities.
“The problem is, when an IP goes to SPMC, he/she do not know what to do, they will just stand there,” Sudagar said.
The Moro councilor said she would further study the proposal and look into the process before issuing an ordinance.
She said that the City Social Service Development Office would play a key role once the ordinance was enacted.
Due to language constraint, the IP help desk in SPMC was among the suggestions made by various tribal groups in the city back in 2015 during the IP Summit.
“Wala nay mo-assist sa ilaha kung asa dapat muadto og unsa privileges og benefits na ma-avail (no one assisted them on where to go and what privileges and benefits that they could avail),” Sudagar added.
The proposed IP help desk will be managed by a six individuals. She said that all six positions are open to all so long that they will be able to meet the required qualifications.
The six positions, according to Sudagar, will be for the six major tribes in the city such as the Ata, Klata, Kagan, Magtigsalug, Tagabawa, and Obu-Manobo.
“Kasi sabi ng taga CSSDO, daghan na daw mga licensed or registered na social worker officer na mga Lumad (because according to the CSSDO, there are a lot of licensed and registered social worker officer who are Lumad),” she said.
On the job qualifications, Sudagar pointed out that job applicant must be a member of Davao’s tribal groups duly certified by the National Council of Indigenous Peoples.
Apart from this, the applicant must be familiar with the culture and dialect of the various IP communities in the city as recommended by NCIP.
Sudugar also emphasized that the proposed ordinance would address the communication problem generally experienced by the Lumad.
“The difference (of IP desk) is to address the language and communication barrier of our Lumad brothers and sisters,” Sudagar said.
“(We are open to be told of being redundant but what we differ is that we will hire IPs that could communicate to the dialect of the six major tribes),” Sudagar said, reacting on the issue that her proposed program for IPs is “redundant.”
She said the draft of the ordinance is ready but funds are being checked if it could pay the wages of those who would likely to be hired to manage the IP help desk in SPMC.
“They say it is not easy to create that is why it is easy to create job order position,” Sudagar said. (davaotoday.com)
