UI supports ECI-NCIP shelter project; initial phase nears completion
The initial phase of the Core Shelter Project involving the construction of 17 shelters for the indigenous agtas in Iriga, Philippines is ninety percent (90%) complete, according to the announcement made by the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP). The shelter project is sponsored by East Coast Iriguenos (ECI) pursuant to a plan by the NCIP.
The objective of the project is to provide shelters for about 280 agta families who lost their homes during typhoon Reming that devastated the Bicol region in November 2006.
The estimated cost per unit is $210.00. The project (please see project site here) is funded by ECI. Eilen Diamante, who filed this report Jul. 6, 2007, is the ECI overall coordinator of the project.
ECI is one of the independent community-based organizations that support many of UI’s activities. On the other hand, UI has partnered with ECI for a joint undertaking whereby UI, among other things, will disseminate information about the Core Shelter Project to obtain support from philanthropic individuals, charitable organizations and the donor communities.
To support a fundraising drive for the Core Shelter Project, please contact or send an email message to Eilen Diamante, or simply post a message here and we will be in touch with you.
Dios an magbalos saindo gabos!
ono tabi ana project na adi puro sa iriga o interong cam. sur
ana isi ko po kaya ana NCIP ana mga project ini-loloyap sa interong region-5…we should make sure that the project will be given to iriguenos (agtas) first before other areas….
(For those who are not versed in the Iriga dialect, what noni is basically asking in the two comments above is whether the Core Shelter Project that ECI is sponsoring extends to the province of Camarines Sur or even region-wide and not simply localized in Iriga. His preference is to give the shelter assistance first to the IPs in Iriga before other tribal areas.)
The Core Shelter Project site covers: Sitio Mampili (Santiago), Oyango (Sta. Terisita), San Pedro, Antipolo, Perpetual Help, Sagrada, Niño Jesus, Sta. Maria, Sta. Elena, Sta. Isabel, Cristo Rey, San Ramon, and Sitio Rombang (San Nicolas), Sitio Natabunan (San Nicolas), Ilian (San Nicolas.) All tribal areas are geographically situated within Iriga.
The project is sponsored by the East Coast Iriguenos (of the diasporic community of united Iriguenos) in partnership with the National Commission on Indigenous People (Region-V) but linkages includes: Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Disaster Coordinating Council (City of Iriga),Tribal officials, and Barangay officials.
As the name implies, NCIP is a national agency of the Philippine government and “the primary government agency that formulates and implements policies, plans and programs for the recognition, promotion and protection of the rights and well-being of IPs with due regard to their ancestral domains and lands, self-governance and empowerment, social justice and human rights, and cultural integrity.”
As far as UI is concerned, if the foregoing undertaking - aside from the opportunity to serve Iriga and its people - also presents as a model for similar alliances among other diasporic communities involving other regions all in the service of communities-in-need, then UI has also served one of its reasons for being.
noni, thank you for your questions.
NOTE:Eilen Diamante, the overall ECI project coordinator, is right now visiting the site in Iriga. She will give us more updates when she returns.