Orientation Raises Rights Awareness of Bajau Youth

To educate the Bajau youth on their rights and prevent their  exploitation, the Bajau Integrated Area Development Project (BIAD-P)  of Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) initiated an orientation on  Republic Act 8371 or Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997 and  Anti-Mendicancy Law or City Ordinance 1631 to 29 Bajau  student-scholars of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary last  July 6 at Nano Nagle School in Sitio Puntod, Alaska, Mambaling, Cebu  City.

The orientation was delivered by Susana Y. Ramirez, Tribal Affairs  Assistant II of the National Commission on Indigenous People-Cebu  Provincial Office (NCIP-CPO).

“As Bajaus, it is important to know what your rights are,” Ramirez  said, stressing that these rights will be useful to Bajau youths as  they shape their own future.

She discussed the intentions and importance of IPRA.

The main goal of IPRA is to provide equal protection and recognition  of all human rights of indigenous peoples in the Philippines. It was  passed into law to correct the mistakes and injustices committed  against the indigenous peoples for more than 300 years.

The activity also advocates the city ordinance on Anti-Mendicancy Law  to mitigate alleged exploitation of some Bajau children and infants in  some streets of Cebu City.

During the discussion on the Anti-Mendicancy Law’s provisions and  penalties, participants were asked if they had experienced begging in  the streets. Most of them did, saying that their parents made them to  so that they could help earn money for the family.

Some of them play music with improvised drums from PVC pipes or cans  along streets or inside jeepneys in exchange for a few coins. Others  paddle to the port area to dive for coins thrown by passengers of  docking ships.

After the orientation, the Bajau students shared that they have  appreciated the inputs and are more aware of their rights.

They were also encouraged to participate in the city governments’  advocacy to stop Bajaus and indigents from begging in the streets.

BIAD-P continues to employ strategies towards transformational  development of mitigating poverty. The project also aims to  effectively transform the Bajau community into a progressive,  self-reliant, and assertive community through education, capacity  building and empowerment, and improvement of their standard of living  with better access to basic social services.

The activity is part of BIAD-P’s youth formation under capacity  building and empowerment development. It hopes to strengthen the  project’s partnership with the National Commission on Indigenous  People (NCIP) in their programs and services for the indigenous people.

For more information about BIAD-P, please call 418-7234 local 515 and  look for Mark Joey Bautista, or visit www.rafi.org.ph or
www.facebook.com/rafi.org.ph, or follow @rafiorgph on Twitter.