BALAY MINDANAW PEACE CENTER
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As it continues to empower communities towards equity, development and peace, Balay Mindanaw also facilitates the setting up of community centers and tribal halls in the areas where community organizers live and work. This has been a commitment of Balay Mindanaw to uphold cultural solidarity and regeneration as well as to promote community participation, consensus building and conflict resolution. In partnership with the Barangay Councils and Higaonon Tribal Councils, four community centers have already been established in the main areas of Balay Mindanaw: Barangays Ane-i and Minalwang in Claveria, Barangay Tabok in Lagonglong and Barangay Lawa-an in Gingoog City. Three tribal halls were also instituted as home of the lumad in the far flung barangays: Barangay Sangalan and Kalagunoy of Gingoog City and Barangay Madaguing of Claveria.
These tribal halls in Kalagunoy and Madaguing are newly established balay tulugan (February and May 2006, respectively), inspired by the ground-breaking Sangalan Tribal Hall in 2003 which has now become a landmark though nestled in the hinterland barangay of Gingoog City. The Higaonon tribe continues to have a significant presence in these barangays, as well as in neighboring areas. These community centers and tribal halls have become the venues of learning, planning, other capability-building activities and training, organizing and even networking. Conscious of the mission of helping build peace in the community, the centers have become gathering areas for peace builders, for training on peace building, for resolving conflicts in the community, for maintaining peaceful and harmonious relationships among members of the community. Thus the tag “local peace centers.” Tribal Hall or Tulugan: A space of resolving tribal conflicts and initiating peace
In Barangay Sangalan alone, the peace-building role of this tribal hall or tulugan (established in 2003) has been reacknowledged by the Higaonon tribe and their Dumagat (lowlander) counterparts. The Sangalan Tribal Hall still holds its purpose as a place where conflicts are resolved (husay), a venue for tribal meetings and planning, weddings, a place of worship for the lumad, and a venue for gathering lumad and non-lumad children as well. A documentation workshop for this indigenous tribe was conducted to help them record -- in words and in pictures -- their activities. Organized in 2005, this workshop was facilitated by Balay Mindanaw’s area-base team in Gingoog, Balay Mindanaw Peace Center and the Resource Center for Empowerment & Development. These documents have served as remembrances of their culture and parts of their history in the uplands of Gingoog, Agusan and Bukidnon, which have gradually begun to diminish through the years
Along with this aim of rekindling the role of the tribal hall as local peace center, an Orientation on Peace Building was conducted last September 28-29, 2005 at the Tribal Hall of Sangalan, Gingoog City. At least 30 community leaders attended the activity representing the Barangay Local Government Unit, People’s Organization and Tribal leaders. This was pushed through after a series of meetings with the barangay and lumad leaders and after a couple of documentation workshops with lumad volunteers. An initial plan on peace building was also formulated. The strengthening of the indigenous disputes resolution system of the IP communities was one of the major plans. Major internal conflicts of the community were also identified and subjected to conflict resolution and/or management by the tribal leaders and elders. A continuing learning (including documentation) of the lumad culture by the second generation and the next were supported and agreed upon by the elders of the tribe. |
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53-A,
12th Street, Zone 2, Upper Bulua,
9000 Cagayan de Oro City,
Philippines |
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Helping Build Empowered and Sustainable Communities in Mindanao. Helping Build Peace. |
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