Neglected sector
Let me share with you my experience last Feb. 15, outside the Gaisano City Mall, La Paz, Iloilo City.
I was about to board Jaro CPU jeepney when I noticed a mother with her two kids preparing for sleep at the gutter. I let go the jeepney and stayed behind upon noticing that the mother was trembling and her two kids were coughing. I did saw the older child vomited after he coughed. I suspected they were all sick.
I called up the Iloilo City Police Office asking them to contact the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to respond at the scene. Alleging that it was a holiday, the ICPO referred my concern to Emergency Rescue of the Iloilo City Government.
Indeed, a few minutes later, the Iloilo City Emergency Rescue (ICER) arrived at the scene and then the personnel took vital signs of the mother and her two kids. I have talked with the personnel of ICER and asked them if, other than getting the vital signs of the subjects, they could also provide medical check-up for the kids. They simply told me that the subjects were “Ati” (Aetas) and no hospital in Iloilo City will be willing to admit them for treatment. They further alleged that the ICER has no capability (financial) to provide the necessary medical interventions for the concerned Ati.
While I could not insist to send the Ati to the hospital, I asked the ICER if they have the facility to temporarily accommodate the mother and her kids to avoid them from exposure to cold weather that night. The ICER personnel said they didn’t have the space.
Thus, I am worried for the following reasons:
1. The contentions of ICER personnel simply disclosed that the Iloilo City Government is incapable of providing immediate interventions in cases where the victims need medical assistance. All it can do is to gather the Atis, load them in the bus and send them back to the mountains, a scenario we usually observed a week before the Dinagyang Festival.
2. There is no agency or non-government organization in Iloilo City that provides tangible assistance (such as medical assistance and temporary shelter) to indigenous people, like the Ati, who by nature are vagabond.
3. The Iloilo City Government and other concerned government agencies seem to be negligent (based on my experience with the present case) with the needs of the indigenous people despite their campaign for promotion and preservation of our cultural heritage, through the world-renown and grand slam best tourism event DINAGYANG FESTIVAL.
While I still fear the health (and the future) of that mother and her kids to get worse, I called up today (Feb. 16) the National Commission for Indigenous People Regional Office VI and asked them if they could do something for the concerned Ati. I was also told that the agency doesn’t have budget for such undertaking.
My experience and discoveries caused me to worry for these marginalized people. I see the need for us to lift a finger to save not just their culture but also to bring them back their dignity as human being.
And, these questions came into my mind:
1. Does the Iloilo City Government thru its Dinagyang Foundation, Inc. ever allocate a little fraction of the proceeds of its fund raising projects to help alleviate the lives of the Ati or at least providing them assistance, such as medical care? In our desire to make the Dinagyang Festival better and greater every year, we may not forget the people, whose culture, tradition and heritage give us the reason to celebrate and earn millions.
2. Does the NCIP, in line with its mandates to protect and promote the interest and well-being of the Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) with due regard to their beliefs, customs, traditions and institutions, also make their presence felt by the ICCs/IPs sojourning the urbanized localities, like the Iloilo City ? Does it have also the specific budget allocations for the delivery of basic services (e.g. education, medical care, and livelihood) to this sector?
3. Does the DSWD haven’t yet realized that their functions are needed not just from Mondays thru Fridays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but also even during holidays and in the wee hours of the night? I believe there are functions solely attributed to DWSD that can’t be discharged by other agencies and for such reason that its personnel must be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
-- PO3 Francisco B. Lindero Jr.