AdZU Launches PEACEPATHS, Empowers IP Communities
The
Ateneo de Zamboanga University, through its Center for Community Extension
Services and Ateneo Center for Leadership and Governance, ties up with Assisi Development Foundation Incorporation
(ADFI) to launch PEACEPATHS, a program empowering local Indigenous Peoples (IP) communities.
PEACEPATHS
or Partnership for
Economic and Cultural Enhancement of Peoples Actions Towards Harmony and
Self-determination will
enable IP communities to claim, promote, and exercise their
rights to peace and development within their territories.
The
program was launched in simple ceremonies last October 10, 2017 at the Sauras Hall of the AdZU Salvador Campus.
In attendance were University President Fr Karel San Juan, SJ, who gave the welcome
message; ADFI President Benjamin Abadiano, National Commission on Indigenous People
(NCIP) Regional Director Henrico Gumibao, and Executive Assistant on Barangay
Affairs Arturo Onrubia. Also present
were the Chieftains and Leaders of the Subanon and Sama Bangingi Tribes.
During the launch, trainees-students
and facilitators who will run the program were introduced, and the IP LEAD concept and framework presented by Peace Advocacy Officer Ruth
Guerrero.
IP
LEAD or the Indigenous Peoples
Leadership Education and Advocacy for Development is a key
component of the PEACEPATHS program that targets to capacitate IP leaders as they take the lead in the planning,
implementation, and management of peace and development initiatives in their
ancestral domains. This component will involve a series of IP Leaders’
Assemblies, providing them a venue to share their leadership journeys
as they acquire relevant knowledge and skills in pursuing peace and development
initiatives in their areas. 
PEACEPATHS is set to be implemented in four Subanon
and Sama Bangingi communities in Sitio Masalag-Latap barangay Limpapa, Sitio
Campo Uno barangay Labuan, Sitio Monte Central barangay Patalon, and Simariki
Island barangay Talon-Talon. This will be implemented
in partnership with Indigenous Peoples Organizations in six (6) pilot ancestral
domain sites in Mindanao.
