‘Lumad’ ready for gov’t services after mass wedding

COUPLE GOALS “Lumad” couples formalize their union in a mass tribal wedding sponsored by the Kidapawan City government. WILLIAMOR MAGBANUA

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Cotabato, Philippines — Forty-four “lumad” couples were wed in traditional rites here, one of the highlights of the weeklong Timpupo (harvest) Festival that ended on Sunday.

Datu Camilo Icdang, deputy mayor for the Obo Manobo indigenous peoples in Kidapawan City, said the mass wedding, a program of the city government, would pave the way for the couples’ access to government services, including cash grants under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, or 4Ps.

Icdang said most lumad here had been having a hard time availing of services for the poor, such as 4Ps and emergency health assistance under the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., for lack of documents like identification cards and marriage and birth certificates.

Icdang said the program initiated by Mayor Joseph Evangelista was an acknowledgment of the role of Kidapawan’s first inhabitants in the city’s development.

Evangelista urged all tribal leaders in the city to register more lumad couples to the program.—Williamor Magbanua