A Fil-Am finds roots in Mindanao

A Fil-Am finds roots in Mindanao

Anthony Navarro, Salupongan International
Executive Director (Photo: S. Salise)

By Lui Queaño

One of the reasons for Anthony Navarro’s visit to Toronto after his trip to Detroit in the U.S. was to engage Toronto community organizations and connect them with his group Salupongan International, or SI. This non-profit, non-stock organization derives its name from the word “salupongan” – which means “unity” or “solidarity” in the native language of the Manobo, one of the 18 indigenous tribes in Mindanao – and is now a global organization. Navarro says the organization takes inspiration from the fact that decades ago, the Manobo of Talaingod united their villages and defended their ancestral land and rainforest from being ruined by corporate loggers.

SI has continuously been supporting Lumad communities in Mindanao since Navarro joined and headed the organization three years ago through various projects that has helped Lumad communities particularly the lumad children.

Navarro says his area of work is in Southern Mindanao and, according to him, the work of Salupongan consists of three urgent tasks: 1) education; 2) health; and, 3) agriculture.

Schools for the Lumad

Transformation in print by Bert Monterona

Through the efforts of Salupongan International there are now 80 schools other than those Salupongan community schools already constructed in the indigenous community, since it built its first community school ten years ago. Its first batch of high school students are also graduating next year and the community are all excited to celebrate the achievement of the lumad children. But equally more exciting for the community is the new vocational agricultural school that will soon rise in Maco late or early next year through the financial support from various local and international organizations.

Schools in Mindanao have been initiated by Lumad community organizations, with assistance from support groups and non-government organizations in response to addressing the high illiteracy rates in the rural communities. Every 9 out of 10 Lumad children are illiterate and have limited access to education. Salupongan’s READ Program (Right To Education, Autonomy and Dignity) provides scholarships, school supply donations and capacity building for its indigenous school partners.

As for the health issues, through its Community Development Program, SI is now engaged in building sanitation programs, potable water systems and sustainable agricultural farms in areas that lack access to decent basic social services.

Hospital for the Lumad community

Anthony Navarro (second front left, in white beret: “In his story, a beautiful event came to be: the Lumad people in return embraced him fully as their own, without hesitation.”
(Photo: AN)

The bigger project is that In July this year, the St. Genevieve Hospital will rise in Tagum, Davao City. This will be their first charity hospital that hopefully will be able to address medical needs of the poor people of the Lumad community. The project plans to provide for a three-story hospital however the current budget is only limited to a two-story building. SI is hopeful to add additional floor in the near future through donations from its local and international partners.

“That is why we need all the help that we can get from all who want to donate and even those who intend to provide medical missions in the Southern Mindanao area (SMR). We’d need medical equipments and donations and even monies to be used for the transport of these equipments,” Navarro said.

Food Security and sustainability

Regarding agriculture in the region, Salupongan International has also been an active advocate for the protection of the environment from the effects of extractive industries such as large scale mining and logging in the region. Its project called Seeds for Life provides agriculture education to peasant farming communities to counter the effects of climate change that have caused landslides and flooding due to regular typhoon visits to the region.

“The vastness and richness of their land is enough to sustain the community, “ Navarro pointed out, “but what they need are the seedlings to plant so they can cultivate the crops and harvest in time.”

A $10 donation, according to Navarro, is enough to plant one square mile of sustainable agriculture and ensure livelihood for the lumad farmers and their families.

Transformation: “back to the roots”

Lumad children are taught to plant seed as part of Seeds for Life Project of Salupongan International for a sustainable agriculture and education for the Lumad community.
(Photo: A. Navarro)

The interesting fact about Navarro is that he is what sociologists usually call a “second generation” Filipino-American, which means he is the second generation of his family to reside in the United States, but is the first generation of the family born and raised there. His mother came to the States to work as a nurse in the 60’s – part of the “brain drain” of the time, as Navarro quips.

In California, Navarro worked as a public school teacher, and was quite involved in the issues of the immigrant communities there. Then he began to take numerous trips to several places in the Philippines. Although he was previously aware of the situation of the indigenous peoples in America, especially those in California, he was not even the slightest bit aware of the conditions of the indigenous in the Philippines. In 2010 he made his first visit to the Cordillera and saw the conditions of the Igorot peoples.

But it was his trip to the Lumad communities in Southern Mindanao that, as he readily admits , finally “changed” his life. He was so moved by the children’s desire to learn and the enthusiasm of the communities to provide school for them that he decided to go back there and become a teacher.

Today, at 36, he teaches media arts, film and video production at a Lumad technical school while continuing to hold the post of executive director of Salupongan International. Salupongan became Navarro’s connection to his roots in Mindanao.

Living with them and experiencing the indigenous way of life have created a great impact in Navarro’s life, as he readily declares, both as a Fil-Am and as a Filipino, and he invites everyone he meets to explore this exceptional “back to the roots” experience.

In his story, a beautiful event came to be: the Lumad people in return embraced him fully as their own, without hesitation.

(For secure online donation visit www.salupongan.org/donate or contact Salupongan International at salupongan.intl@gmail.com)