Google Map of Talaingod, Davao del Norte.
DAVAO CITY -- The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) has vowed to support the reforestation initiative of Talaingod town in Davao del Norte.
MinDA Secretary Emmanuel Piñol described Talaingod as a tribal town in the Pantaron Mountain Range between the provinces of Davao del Norte and Bukidnon that serves as “a painful reminder of how tribal lands were stripped bare of forests trees by logging companies owned by the rich and powerful then abandoned leaving behind an impoverished people”.
“MinDA will support this undertaking by introducing the Green Mindanao Project, a family-based tree farming program with high-value crops as intercrop,” Piñol said in a statement Friday.
The program will involve a financing package from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to establish nurseries and fund livelihood programs such as high-value vegetable farming.
An off-taker of the lumber produced from the tree farms will also be engaged to ensure the sustainability of the Green Mindanao Project, he added.
“When the logging company, C. Alcantara and Sons (ALSONS) which operated in the area for decades pulled out in the early the late 1990s, the communist New People's Army (NPA) exploited the tribal people's anger and penetrated the area, establishing the controversial Salugpongan School,” Piñol recalled.
He said that freeing the town from the grip of the NPA did not come easy "as it took the sacrifices of many lives," among them the former mayor of the town, Datu Jose Libayao.
Recently, Gov. Edwin Jubahib, Mayor Jonnie Libayao, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines led a team of volunteers in a tree-planting activity to reforest the town with endemic species such as Narra, Molave, and Dao.
High-value vegetable farming has also been introduced to tribal families who are now selling their produce to high-end establishments in Tagum and this city, Piñol said.
“Mayor Libayao, with the help of Governor Jubahib, is developing the tourism potentials of the town starting with the Uraya Peak, a high point near the highway which connects Talaingod to San Fernando town in Bukidnon,” he added.
Piñol noted that from the Uraya Peak, tourists could see the vast span of Davao del Norte, including the Island Garden City of Samal across the Davao channel.
Talaingod was created as a town in 1991 and has an area of 74,000-hectares with a population of only 27,000 living in only three barangays, majority of them Ata-Manobo tribesmen. It has a poverty incidence of 56.4 percent. (PNA)
