SNA Elected Manobo Officials

Because of Memorandum Circular 2010-119 issued by the Department of Interior and Local Government, it is now required for villages and municipalities to have a representative of indigenous people in the local legislative body, if the village or municipality have a sizable number of indigenous residents. Long before the memorandum was issued, however, villages in the municipality of Senator Ninoy Aquino already had Dulangan Manobo officials, and they were elected by the people at large, not put in power through a hazy set of rules allowed by the DILG order. Even in the municipal level, SNA had a Manobo legislator in the person of Datu Ampak Kawan. He was elected as a member of the Sangguniang Bayan for three consecutive terms.

The political feat that Kawan achieved, however, has not been repeated, and the number of elected Manobo officials has been most likely less in proportion to the population of indigenous people in the municipality. I have no complete record of Manobo individuals that have been members of the barangay and municipal legislative councils, but I have a list of those who are currently in office. Again, I’m talking only of those who underwent the regular electoral process and emerged victorious.

Of the twenty barangays of SNA, only four have elected Manobo kagawads. The four barangays are Kiadsam, Lagubang, Midtungok, and Nati. Kiadsam has three Manobo kagawads, Lagubang has two, Midtungok has two, and Nati has two. Kiadsam’s Ayes Anggo and Lagubang’s Baili Agsem have the highest rank, having garnered the second highest number of votes in their respective villages. The other officials in Kiadsam are Napnap Kansalin (ranked no. 4) and Kinding Ewig (no. 7). The other official in Lagubang is Egpo Salaman (no. 3). The officials in Midtungok are Tom Sipot (no. 3) and Anggio Kampil (no. 7). The officials in Nati are Lap Gamad (no. 3) and Asak Agfog (no. 5).