Core Staff Visit Mangyan Community as Outreach Activity

Members of the SDRC core staff headed by Research Associate Dr. Melvin Jabar visited the Hanunuo Mangyan community in Umabang, Barangay Binli, Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro on June 29-30, 2012 as part of the Center’s outreach program. The team—including Assistant for Administration and Budget Relly Limliman, Disbursement and Operation Liaison Officer Lyndia Navarro, and Coordinator for Research Dissemination and Publication Connie Maraan—was assisted by former Pundasyon Hanunuo Mangyan School teachers Roselyn Mapalad and Glenie Rivas in preparing materials to be given to students and families in the community. PHMS Board Members Bapa Anhing Maligday, Bapa Nicolas “Atok” Mabuhay, and Bapa Lunggan Udoro, teacher Liling Madrigal, and Bulalacao Councilor Laurel Malucon accompanied the core staff in taking the trail to Umabang, which has been travelled by the Center’s researchers since 1983.

For two decades, the Center was in charge of implementing a culture-sensitive basic education program for the Hanunuo Mangyan. Through the said program, SDRC’s researchers and staff were able to foster solidarity and friendship with the indigenous people in Umabang, and in the neighboring communities of Bailan and Amindang where extension schools were established.

The visit to the Mangyans in Mindoro is part of the activities being held in celebration of SDRC’s 33rd year anniversary as the University’s longest-running research center. The visit was also made possible through contributions provided by the Kaagapay Oita Filipino Association, a women’s organization established for Filipinos and by Filipinos, in Oita City, Japan. As Filipinos, members of Kaagapay take the lead in promoting the Filipino culture among their families in particular, and within the Japanese community in general.