Mt. Province Town Begs Off From Relief Packs?

April 5, 2020 Provincial

Mt. Province – Not that they do not need it but…. they can… on their own, they said. Sadanga, Mountain Province said his town will not be availing of the food packs intended for the people having difficulties going out to look for something to eat during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
Mayor Gabino Ganggangan instructed the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) to relay to the Provincial Disaster, Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) in Bontoc, the capital town of Mountain Province, of his decision. “Its not that we don’t have poor and needy families but I believe that we as tribal communities still have and should sustain our “built in” and homegrown or indigenous social structure, values, and practice of taking care of our respective relatives or kins, neighbors ,or “kailyan” (townmates) in distress during hard times or economic crisis,” he said confidently.
Ganggangan claims that during times of economic difficulties such as “food shortages”, hunger and famine, the “Kadangyans” or (the richer or better off among clans and village of tribal communities like Sadanga) are expected to aid their needy relatives by lending their surplus.
He also said that should the ongoing crisis extend longer to the extent that the needy families of the Sadanga tribe really run out of their rice supplies, he shall mandate the “kadangyans” of every barangay to open up their “agamangs” (rice granaries) to sustain the community through to the next harvest season.
He assured no family shall go hungry in Sadanga even during these hard times. ”Let the national government feed those more needy urban poor and those less fortunate in other areas who can’t sustain themselves, while we sustain ourselves while we can,” Ganggangan said.
Though the Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance (CPA), an indigenous peoples organization commended Ganggangan for instilling in the minds of the people of Sadanga the importance of such values and indigenous socio-political systems at this time of COVID-19 crisis, “to refuse relief packs from the government even if the crisis lasts longer means that Mayor Ganggangan is also denying the poor members of the Sadanga communities of immediate relief. Relief food packs not only contain rice and vegetables but also groceries,” Wyndle Bolinget, CPA chairman said.
Bolinget though acknowledging that collective work, mutual cooperation and assistance are traditional practices of the Cordillera indigenous peoples collectively called as “Igorots” (people of the mountains) especially in times of crises and disasters, “with the changing times, these practices, values and other indigenous socio-political systems continue to exist in different communities but in varying degrees.”
“But are the Sadanga people really not in need of relief?” Bolinget raised. He said, “there is a danger that this kind of Public Advisory poses because it gives the impression that any mayor or politician can just declare that people within their jurisdiction do not need relief just because indigenous communities observe traditional values and practices. He added that this is wrong and it is the people who will suffer from such unilateral actions.” “Decisions must come from the people.”
Sadanga remains a 5th class municipality with around 8,799 residents. Bolinget continued,  “the people deserve economic relief from the government during this time of crisis and it is not right to deny them of this. Relief includes medical needs like medicines and vitamins.”
He also noted that “most, if not all, of the remote communities in the region are no longer able to practice subsistence agriculture.” Agricultural products are no longer enough to sustain the food needs of families for a full year since these are sold in order for the families to buy or pay for other needs, such as health and education, the CPA chairperson stressed.
Artemio A. Dumlao/ABN