30 IP students are helped by the tourist centre in Davao Norte
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EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT. The tourism center of the TATAG IP (Indigenous Peoples) Students Foundation Incorporated (TIPSF Inc.) in Talaingod, Davao del Norte, which supports the education of the 30 Ata-Manobo youth students. Its income sustains the educational requirements of 12 IP college and 18 IP high school students, including their day-to-day allowances and dormitory expenses. (Photo courtesy of 10ID)
MindanaoHerald | 30 IP students are helped by the tourist centre in Davao Norte | DAVAO CITY – The 10th Infantry Division of the Army said Wednesday that a tourist centre in the town of Talaingod in Davao del Norte has helped about 30 young Indigenous Peoples (IP) get a better education.
In a statement, 10ID Commander Maj. Gen. Jose Eriel Niembra said that the TATAG IP Students Foundation Incorporated (TIPSF Inc.) helps pay for the schooling of 30 Ata-Manobo youth students at the TATAG IP Students Tourism Centre in Talaingod town.
The money made by the centre pays for the schooling of 12 IP college students and 18 IP high school students. This includes their daily allowances and dorm costs.
Niembra said, “We promise to help the foundation and the IP students make their dreams come true.”
On August 12, this year, the tourism centre opened thanks to the work of the Army’s 56th Infantry “TATAG” Battalion, the 10ID, and the Philippine Air Force’s 7th Air Reserve Centre.
It has a swimming pool, a hall that can hold 400 people, a restaurant that can seat 200 people, a souvenir shop that sells handicrafts from the area, and five houses that are all different and named after Talaingod sitios: Sambulungan, Pongpong, Bagang, Peroy, and Nalubas.
The centre is open every day from 6am to 10pm.
Misiyang Dogiyon is an IP TATAG college scholar at the Kapalong College of Agriculture Sciences and Technology. She said that when she finishes her studies in two years, she will be the first person from her village to graduate from college.
“Before the foundation helped me, I thought that learning to read and write was the most important thing for me. But now I’m closer to my goals, and with their help I’ll be able to finish college,” she said.
“They gave us school supplies and even laptops for our studies,” she said.
Maj. Mark Anthony Tito, a spokesman for 10ID, said that the students used to be taken care of by leftist groups with known ties to the communist New People’s Army.
“They were saved by the Army’s 1003rd Infantry Brigade’s Balik Community Programme in 2021. This is the first group, and by 2025, we hope to have college grads,” he said.(via PNA)
