MAMANWA TRIBE IN AGUSAN GETS LIVELIHOOD PROJECTS FROM AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT
by Jonathan L. Mayuga
02-Nov-2006 BusinessMirror
For most Mamanwa living near Lake Mainit in Jabonga, Agusan del Norte, fishing is a way of life. Even if their small farms are unproductive, they manage to survive on their own, with a little help from the local government, because of the lake's abundance.
Over the past few years, however, even the lake is becoming unproductive. Soon enough, the Mamanwa tribe found themselves needing help more than ever.
Datu Randy Catarman, a tribal leader of the Mamanwa, describes his fellow Mamanwa as diligent.
But he says food is getting harder and harder to find nowadays in Mindanao.
The good news about biotechnology could not, therefore, have come at a better time for them.
Basically hunters, the Mamanwa eventually turned to farming and fishing in Lake Mainit after hunting became increasingly less productive. But to survive, they decided they needed the government's help. And to do it, they need to do it the biotech way.
Despite its abundance, the lake had been unable to sustain the needs of the increasing number of people.
"We are not lazy people. We cultivate our land and we go fishing in the lake everyday if we had to. Before, it takes us just an hour, even less, to catch a fish; now, it takes us four hours or more and yet sometimes, we go home empty-handed," he says.
A recent visit of former Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban in Butuan City last month to attend a three-day stakeholders' forum titled, "Economic opportunities in biotechnology in Caraga Region," an hour's drive from the old town of Jabonga, Agusan del Norte, came at a very opportune time for the Mamanwa.
Panganiban met with some 20 tribal leaders led by Datu Randy, who appealed for government support. While saying farming has never been better, they said the food they produce is barely enough for their subsistence.
"What we produce in our farm and what we catch in the lake are just enough for our daily consumption. Although we are not experiencing hunger, our people remain poor," Datu Randy said.
The Mamanwa said the great Lake Mainit is no longer as abundant as before. The Mamanwa were once considered a Negrito group, but now are thought to comprise an older group entirely distinct from other Filipino populations.
But like all Negritos, they have adopted the language of a dominant nearby group. In Mindanao, they are concentrated primarily in Kitcharao and Santiago in Agusan del Norte.
They are quite mobile and have continually relocated until recent years. As hunting has declined in importance, the Mamanwa receive some of their subsistence from other groups with whom they have labor arrangements.
But the major economic activities of the Mamanwa are farming and fishing in the lake.
Lake Mainit, the country's fourth largest lake, has totally become their life-support system since time immemorial.
The lake, with a total inland water of 17,000 hectares and, with a depth of 180 meters and an elevation of 37 meters above sea level, the deepest lake in the Philippines, provides them food and drinking water.
The unspoiled teardrop-shaped lake is one of the most untouched ecosystems in the region; it has unique and diverse potentials among the largest lakes in the country.
It has the most pristine water surrounded by numerous cold and hot springs in its tributaries. It is home to some rare freshwater fishers.
The terrestrial ecosystems feature some of the rare and endangered species of palm, orchids, fire orchid and hardwood premium timber species. The presence of wildlife species, such as migrating birds in season, that depend on the lake is attributed largely to the shallow marshland and estuarine areas.
Panganiban, during the dialogue, promised a package of livelihood projects for the Mamanwa. He likewise ordered the DA's regional executive director Ricardo Regis to immediately craft a proposal on how to provide the Mamanwa with livelihood.
In response, the DA official in Caraga said that initially, 55 goats will be given to the Mamanwa. The DA Region XIII also shouldered expenses for procuring supplies such as the interlink wire for fencing, biologics and pasture grasses as planting materials.
The municipality of Jabonga will provide other logistics needed, as well as the labor requirement to build the goat house.
For its part, director Alauya Olama of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) - Caraga will provide fish cages for the establishment of mariculture park in Lake Mainit. He said BFAR's amazing breed of freshwater tilapia would fit in the lake.
Panganiban also directed DA-Caraga to purchase one pump boat for the Mamanwa.
More important, he urged them to join the biotech revolution and farm for natural ingredients. He noted the economic opportunities in biotechnology, such as supplying the world's natural ingredients industry, with raw materials.
For instance, papaya, which is traditionally grown by the Mamanwa, can become a major source of income. He urged them to plant papaya and become a major supplier of papain.
Panganiban also urged them to plant hybrid corn and pest-resistant and high-yielding Bt corn instead of the regular corn they usually grow in their farms, and experience the wonders of agricultural biotechnology.
