Banging Poverty through the Bangbang System

By Rogerson Dennis R. Fernandez

Regional Social Marketing Officer

TINEG, Abra – Through the implementation of the KALAHI-CIDSS Project, indigenous practices of ethno-linguistic groups in the Cordilleras have been employed in pushing the people’s development agenda. The utilization of customs such as the at-ator (the highest decision-making body of a community), ub-ubbu (the local bayanihan spirit), and the man-ili (self-governing cluster of households) – all have proven their effectiveness in mobilizing people for change in underprivileged areas of this mountainous region.

Adding to this tradition is a unique socialization activity for the Adasen people of Abra – the bangbang. While the bangbang, as a term, would generally refer to the land cultivation or making excavations, used to build rice paddies or terraces and even roads, KALAHI-CIDSS through a social inclusion project created a new denotation to it – enhanced participation.

The Adasen have prioritized agricultural work for ages to ease their poverty. With the geographical location, the remoteness of the barangays has hampered the delivery of social services thus, their lives solely devoted to forms of subsistence. This, in one way or another, has affected their attitude towards development. Due to distance from the farm to their settlement, a one-day meeting could delay their work in the fields for three days. And although they wanted to grow as a community, they were left with no choice but to stay in their pakarso (usually, temporary shelter in a farm). As Tineg farmers would say, they would rather go to their kaingin (slash and burn farmland) than to just sit and attend meetings.

With the social inclusion project now being implemented in four barangays, the bangbang is seen as a strategy to facilitate the inclusion of the sectors in community development work as it helps reduce poverty. Through mutual cooperation in agricultural works such as the bangbang, the community is given the chance to gather and talk about community issues towards their growth. The creation of new rice fields also lessens the destruction of forests in the old kaingin system.

In the past, the bangbang, being a heavy agricultural work in nature nearly excluded sectors in the community such as the women and the youth. Today, however, the bangbang creates a mechanism in mainstreaming gender and development by involving these sectors in a range of activities and interventions designed in the social inclusion project. This include the procurement of farm tools, construction of foot bridge, human resource development through series of trainings and other capability-building activities, establishment of livelihood programs among others, and advocacy for the revival and enhancement of the indigenous bangbang system. Also, the activities shall further involve the different sectors in the decision-making process, work distribution, and project management.

The bangbang does not stop in cultivating the farmlands and yielding rice for the Adasen tribe. By bringing people together, the system allows the community to work as one. There would be no more unattended meetings because the bangbang provides a venue for all – an activity where the women, the men, and the youth gather to till the soil for their town’s development and, a place where they can share their thoughts and spend quality time with their folks. The people of Tineg believe that lessons of KALAHI-CIDSS and the social inclusion principle shall help them hasten development in their lives. More so, through social inclusion, the people realize their contributions a great fraction in a community effort that is aimed at easing the hard life in this hard to reach town. With a renewed confidence, the barangays of Tineg shall continue banging their poverty through their own bangbang system. #

Development Story

Of Conflicts and Adversities:

Chronicles of Hope for the Walitan Tribe

Rogerson Dennis Fernandez

Sadanga, MT. PROVINCE – Cultural communities account for the insurmountable character of the Filipino in all facets of human existence. The indigenous fiber is seamed deeply within the weaves of the tribal civilizations in the mighty Cordilleras. As development makes it ascend in the lives of these communities, there are the critical slopes that will define the entire climb – challenges brought by age, by living traditions…

The Tribal Sadanga

The Municipality of Sadanga is home to four indigenous tribes that have persistently preserved their ethnic heritage. Nestled in the Mountain Provinces, Sadanga remains to be an underdeveloped town, with resources hanging in scarcity and its barangays living in near isolation.

Sadanga is inhabited by the Awangan tribe in the barangays of Bekigan and Belwang, the Mason-ay in the barangays of Betwagan and Anabel, the Ayuma in Poblacion, Demang and Sacasacan, and the Walitan of Saclit. The existence of these tribal groups embodies the rich cultural heritage of the municipality. Moreover, it serves a light to the present Sadanga community with the cultural practices still aflame in the hearts of its people. While the community undergoes rapid change brought by technological and social exchanges, there are practices, traditions that have evolved to create difficulties in people’s quest for true progress. Challenges continue to unfold in the town’s history, like those of conflicts and adversities in the chronicles of the Walitan tribe.

The Foshor

Tribal communities narrate records of foshor (tribal conflict) which in the past resulted to full scale tribal wars in the absence of a resolution by peaceful means. The Sadanga culture has raised its men to be warriors; a belief that has survived to the present times. In the current Walitan-Ayuma foshor, two lives were claimed from each of the conflicting tribes due to a violation of an existing Pagta (peace pact). The agreement was made from an earlier water conflict in the last decade. The Pagta, which ended the tribal hostilities, provided that no further damages should be committed by both sides. Early this decade however, with a murder of an Ayuma man allegedly by a Walitan, a foshor rose anew.

Research conducted through the participatory assessment in 2006 revealed “there is existing perception on Walitan (the Saclit tribe) being different – that is, it does not belong to Sadanga.” Historically, this tribe has engaged war (with the other three) more often than any of the Sadanga tribes. “This created the marginalization of the barangay, at least from how the Saclit people were perceived by the other tribes,” Former Mayor Gabino Ganggangan said. Because of the conflict, people of Saclit could not enter Poblacion (and vice versa). The people’s social and economic lives faced no hope as the two tribes remained estranged. The geographic location of the barangay has greatly aggravated the people’s stature. And while the foshor lives on, the people of barangay Saclit remained deprived of social services, its development hampered.

KALAHI-CIDSS and the Seeds of Hope

In 2003, Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (The KALAHI-CIDSS Project) made frontiers in bringing the seeds of hope for the Sadanga communities. Identified as one of the poorest in the Mountain Provinces, the municipality went through the community-driven development process, an action that has contributed to the mitigation of the growing foshor amongst the Walitan and the Ayuma.

Measures to control the foshor were reflected in the venues and activities of the Project. Municipal inter-barangay forums (MIBF) were held in neutral grounds at first and then, finally in Poblacion. At a gradual pace, the hostility of the conflicting tribes started to be pacified. The capability-building activities enabled the participants from both barangays to start mingling with each other again, setting aside the issue. Volunteers from both barangays even said in a training, “Uray a nu agko-conflict tayu, bay-an tay pay lang.”(Let’s set aside the conflict and work.) From being aloof to each other, the Walitan and Ayuma people were able to fill the cracks in their relationship.

KALAHI-CIDSS started to bring the barangays together in one goal – that is to bring to their homes the development they need. Non-prioritized for two cycles, the Walitan has started to win back the faith of their fellow Sadanga tribes. Without losing hope, they were able to implement a drainage canal, the first cycle three project to be completed. The KALAHI-CIDSS process diverted their attention from the foshor to community development work. Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer Beatrice Farong-ey said, “the Project played a big role in mitigating the worsening scenario of the Walitan-Ayuma conflict.” It (KALAHI-CIDSS) improved the relationship of the barangays with each other, and the barangays with the municipal officials. Inter-tribal consultations were also conducted to help facilitate the peace process. “The MIBF was an avenue for inter-tribal ‘meeting’,” Farong-ey added.

Social Inclusion and the Way to Peden

The circumstances involving the Saclit people with their fellow Sadanga tribes and the participation of its people in the community gave way for the approval of a Social Inclusion Project in their barangay. Under the Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF), the barangay is set to promote inter-tribal harmony for mutual development. The Project’s components include values formation, women empowerment, capability-building, income generation, establishment of a community rice mill, and establishment of communication technology systems. These components reveal how the people of Saclit struggle to regain confidence. Moreover, the Project shall again provide a venue for the tribes to undergo the process of conflict resolution – they way to Peden (peace process/pact). According to the MSWDO, the conflict resolution hinges in the arrest of the Walitan suspect on the latest fatality. From thereon, further negotiations would take off.

With the Social Inclusion Project on-going, the Saclit people continue to bring hope for their barangay. This intervention which started with KALAHI-CIDSS will not only create opportunities in bringing peace to Sadanga but will begin the process of change. By establishing structures such as rice mills and tribal centers, truly, the Walitan tribe is on its way to genuine peace and development. #

(His)tory, (Her)story

Change doesn’t always begin from the top, at the center…

It was a long struggle for women across cultures to have their stature built. An age-old patriarchy has defined the society’s working on how sexes interact in Philippine landscape. And while Filipinos continue to do utmost in order to cope with the fast-paced global exchange, the battle has gone far indeed, as gender concerns enter the road to progress.

Now, the battle is nearly won.

From dark years of marginalization and subordination posed by gender stereotypes and biases, the struggle made its way to identify roles of women and men, both integral in all aspects of societal change. Gender concerns have slowly been integrated and recognized in the country’s development agenda. The government has started efforts to bring these changes in the periphery, where the real battle happens and where development is a must.

Approaches employed in community-driven development projects such as Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) attest to this ‘winning battle’. Its gender and development mainstreaming in the Cordilleras went deeper from a mere effort to include women and the youth in its implementation to further teaching the people to innovate, organize, and ultimately empower themselves as people looking beyond their sex.

For three years, KALAHI-CIDSS operated in Tinoc, a once disadvantaged municipality in Ifugao. The agricultural community has been nearly isolated from the rest of the mountainous region – farmers finding no market for their harvest, women confined in domestic monotony.

Nemesia Calexto, a woman-volunteer narrated how the project opened their eyes to development alongside their assertion of women empowerment. Leading a small group of women in her humble barangay of Ap-apid, she would hike around villages to motivate people to attend barangay assemblies. Meeting dubious faces and hearing inhospitable remarks were never a disappointment though. She would trek back and forth until the people learned the value of participation and belongingness.
“And women were just on the outside edge”, she added retelling the earlier days. But, after three years, the people, especially women, are now witnessing the changes brought not by the Project but, by them.

“We felt like everything started to change and we are just so grateful!”, she exclaimed. With women comprising majority of most assemblies, Nemesia recognized the need to federate and her dream of having an assembly for Tinoc women was finally brought to reality. With her displayed leadership, Nemesia was elected to being president. Founded in 1996, now composed of different barangay women’s groups, the Tinoc Federation of Women’s Organization, Incorporated was revived and was registered in 2006 under the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission as a non-stock, non-profit organization. From a small group, the organization grew to include over 200 women. They were the same number that made witnesses to the sub-projects’ implementation which served prize of their struggle. “Men made fun of us at the start. They would even say ‘so, that’s empowerment?!’ whenever we (women) stood up during the assemblies”, Nemesia narrated. And while the communities worked, the women did double. Proving they could do help in every step, even in sub-project implementation workforce; they won that due admiration and respect from the rest of the community.

Tinoc Federation of Women’s Organization is part of a cultural metamorphosis in a male-dominated Cordillera society. This change however doesn’t clash or discriminate any part of its rich culture. The context in which this change happens is a manifestation that all parts of Philippine society are ready for developmental efforts and its approaches that include gender concerns. Decentralizing development doesn’t mean divergence of direction. It is in fact a great step in bringing about significant lessons for the grassroots communities. From the bottom, from the edge, we could see topmost solutions to age-old problems.

For Nemesia, KALAHI-CIDSS taught them to work as one. Moreover, it has instilled upon them that being together means having the power thus; it was during the KALAHI-CIDSS implementation in Tinoc that they have formally built their organization. They have recognized the many valuable lessons they have gained from their experience with it. As her organization gathers more and more women, they clamor for more of development to come. As for these women, it was not only a battle for equity and equality but, it is a battle fought for change, for progress – a battle against poverty – soon to be won…

A Song from an Unsung Hero

“I will continue working to change the people’s attitude… I may cry again but I know that when I finally look back, I have my chin up, knowing I have made a difference. At least, in my own little way…”
-Lucia Tafaleng Adchang
KALAHI-CIDSS Area Coordinator


The best songs we hear usually knock our hearts in melancholic feelings of love and pain.

Lucia would make regular rounds in barangays of Tinoc, a poor agricultural town of Ifugao. Being an area coordinator, she would monitor how things progress in the Project’s implementation. Several times, she could pass through groups of women in mid-morning, searching lice on each other’s heads. She finds it irritating to see women complaining about their hard life and yet would do such. Without hesitation, she would go straight to them to begin her litany…

Lucia embraced her life as a servant-worker in Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS). Her responsibility to her community mirrors the inspiration she draws from her past.

Life was not a hand to mouth existence in her youth. She spent simple living with her family in Bontoc, Mt. Province. Her family lived in tilling the soil as most middle classes in the Cordillera. There were hard times though and a many; those she made motivation to strive. After taking her education in Baguio City, she recognized the cracks in her community. There was a clear line that separated the rich from the poor. In occasions, she noticed how the uneducated and poor were treated; served with the smallest portions of the meat, fed on the edges of the feast table. “Why can’t we give the same treatment while we belong to the same community?”, she would ask. That question, she continuously asks, up to these days.

“Educating people is one good way in empowering them. I wanted to enlighten them, teach them to work for their growth as a community”, Lucia adds. KALAHI-CIDSS was an instrument for Lucia to give education back to her folks. It was her chance. She did her best in explaining to the people the good that the Project offers. There were many times people doubted. It was never easy. Getting the support of the whole community, the local government units, and uniting them through the Project were such great sacrifices. Many times, she cried and raged. But, she remained.
The realities in the grassroots reflect the country’s similar problems. Local councils and government units divided by politics, envy amongst various groups and individuals, volunteers and the people hostile to one another in trivial matters– these factors served and are serving challenge not only for Lucia. “We can’t move forward. We can’t accomplish anything if we doubt each other and remain estranged. These I always reminded them”, Lucia explained. From these she also agonized on personal struggles. People tempted her with amounts of money in exchange of project priority and endorsement. She might have needed it too, but she stood firm.

Lucia realized that by helping the people, she elevates herself in a higher level of maturity. Her experience went through, making her grow as an individual as part of her cultural community. She walked hours to reach barangays and told them good news of project prioritization and implementation. She led the area coordinating team that taught women and men to make solutions to their own problems. With such dedication, she went beyond her functions as KALAHI-CIDSS area coordinator. Lucia was involved in saving a battered wife and a rape victim in her area. People went to her for help. She taught women to prepare good food for their families. She mediated in conflicts, defended what she thought was humane and fair. Even if some commented her to going beyond the limits, she believed more in her supervisor up there. There was responsibility. “I considered the people as my friends, my family so I became a lawyer, a nutritionist, a doctor, a counselor in my way. Because they were part of me I cared a lot for them, even if sometimes, it did hurt. I had to continue”, she added.

Now that various projects such as roads and water systems were handed-over to the Tinoc community, Lucia hopes that what she has exemplified during the implementation would at least serve as something to remind and educate the people. She doesn’t ask for more but for people to value the true lessons of life. Still, she dreams that more and more people would go to the grassroots and (re) educate. “KALAHI-CIDSS has all the good values to teach: honesty, unity, and responsibility. As for the community: empowerment, transparency, and good governance. I hope more and more will come”, she said.

Lucia Adchang is just but one of the many people who believes that there is hope for the Filipino people. And while rugged roads come, the road to our goals in bringing development is not lost. Indeed, she represents the heroes - the many unsung heroes working in the field. Heroes like those of KALAHI-CIDSS who are doing the noblest work for the greater good.

This one song might finally be heard. But there are more melodies that we all ought to hear and sing…

Young Empowered Voices Echo from Sadanga Mountains

By Rogerson Dennis R. Fernandez, SMO
(The essay was acclaimed 2nd best development story during the 2006 Kalahi-CIDSS national assessment)


“We were afraid of the elders… but we needed to stand for our school…”
– Sarah Chakiwag, Student Leader, Sadanga National High School

Sadanga, Mt. Province – It is when the young blood makes the difference that people look beyond age.

Hours of hiking under the heat of the sun or walking under the rain have become customary for students of Sadanga National High School. With the remote location of this learning ground, these young people have embraced their simple life studying with the crude educational resources their school offers. But these things did not stop them to dream for better education – for a better life.

With the entry of the Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) in Sadanga under the second phase of its implementation, the vision of these students is slowly being brought to reality. How these young people made a difference in their community is the same story that will be immortalized by the Makamkamamar-Sangey municipal road.

During the first Municipal Inter-Barangay Forum (MIBF), five sub-projects were ranked. Among these was the construction of the Makamkamamar-Sangey road. However, also included was an irrigation system rallied for by elders of the community. The school recognized the importance of the irrigation because most families in the area live in agriculture. On the other hand, the school has looked deeply in the future of hundreds of students waiting for development to come to their barangays and finally make its way to their humble classrooms. Student-leaders alongside their mentors pointed out that the school and the rest of the community have been long deprived with social services essential for progress due to inaccessibility. Moreover, it will not only be a paving for their school but will serve as an alternate route to some other barangays in Sadanga.

The second MIBF witnessed how the Sadanga youth re-defined their role in the community. Student-leaders made a room-to-room campaign encouraging all students to represent their households in voting for the road project. Upon their arrival, people started to question their presence: “Apay adda ti ubbing?” (Why are the children here?) But the voice of the students prevailed putting the project to top priority. Some were dubious of their participation yet, the effort of the students gained sympathy from the rest of the households who voted in favor of the road.

The students have indeed paved the way for development. Not only will the road lessen the mud prints from their feet but will definitely re-create their learning experience.

The influx of KALAHI-CIDSS in Sadanga signifies its empowering effect to all sectors of the community. Moreover, it has shown how this municipality looked up to the involvement of the youth in decision-making process, creating a significant impact for the greater good. With this experience, truly, Sadanga has recognized the role of the youth.

Ultimately, it has proven that development can start effectively through the young empowered voices echoing from Sadanga Mountains…