The Dream Lives On

The women of the Matigsalug tribe, in the early years, stayed at home while their husbands worked on the farms. But decades later, more women have started to join the workforce with their small businesses to help augment the family income.

Sustainable livelihood is what Matigsalugs have been dreaming of and need. The ingenuity to integrate their culture into their hand woven tribal costumes, handicrafts, and accessories is a gift their tribe is proud of.

But their indigenous products lack the essentials to make them more competitive, marketable, and sustainable. The Matigsalug women want to improve their skills in handicraft making to improve their livelihood as a tribe to end the cycle of begging and loitering in the streets.

Hence, the Uplifting of the IP Women Project in Davao was established in 2021 as an opportunity to enhance their products to the highest quality standard, securing a sustainable livelihood to provide a better and brighter future for their children.

Despite numerous policy reforms being introduced to alleviate poverty in indigenous communities, it remains a fact that IP groups all over the country still suffer from high levels of poverty as well as illiteracy and unemployment.

For the Matigsalugs of Davao, they are an admirable group that have proven to be resilient and self-sufficient over the past decades, solely relying on age-old methods while receiving little to no help from the outside world. But it doesn't paint the whole picture that an underlying problem needs to be solved- people within the tribe not having a sustainable source of livelihood to combat poverty.

The "Uplifting IP Women Project of Davao City" aims to become a long-term solution for a long-standing problem. Funded by the New Zealand Embassy in the Philippines in partnership with Zeald, Go Negosyo, Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 11, and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) 11.

The project is built on sustainability by utilizing the IP women's skills and competencies.

Stakeholders agreed that the project's sustainability efforts will focus on online selling and marketing. And with technology driving e-commerce solutions today, it's only fitting that it also plays a vital role in the IP women project as well.

Technology, social media and website development in particular, creates an avenue for the Matigsalugs to showcase their products to more people using less resources. This allows them to tap into different online platforms to reach different customer segments while maximizing earnings. With more users now shopping online, it's crucial for the Matigsalug Davao Crafts to be accessible.

For several months, the IP women underwent rigorous training that boosted their abilities in technology, manufacturing, inventory management, quality control, and accounting.

Although the project mainly focuses on enriching the lives of the Matigsalugs, it also aims to protect natural resources that the tribe has relied on for centuries. An influx of migrants causing physical alteration to forest and watershed areas has caused great concern not just for the Matigsalugs but also for other indigenous groups living in the mountain regions of Mindanao.

With the tribe expecting to use resources grown and developed in their own district, the project also sets its sights on calling for immediate reforms to limit the negative impact (often irreparable) caused by these migrants.