Stakeholder’s Consultation Meeting
Koontayan ‘To Obu-Manuvu Eco-Cultural Adventure expressing the unique and genuine culture and assets of the Obu-manuvu tribe.
The “Koontayan ‘To Obu-Manuvu Eco-Cultural Adventure” is a community-based initiative of the Obu-Manuvu community in Sitio Karilongan, Brgy. Carmen, Baguio District, Davao City. It is a project of the Obu Manuvu Indigenous Cultural Community (ICC) in Brgy. Carmen as an alternative livelihood source and part of the Community Development Plan which was created last 2012 with the facilitation of the Philippine Eagle Foundation and with financial support from the EGIP Foundation in partnership with Obu-Manuvu Ancestral Domain Management Council, BLGU-Carmen, NCIP and the DENR. The main objective of the said initiative is to build a tourism destination in Davao City showcasing the Obu-Manuvu culture that will provide alternative livelihood to the community and enable it to sustain its forest protection and management project. In order to sustain the forest protection and management of their ancestral forest, other means need to be or should be put in place to compensate the community for its environmental services that they do like the regular monthly monitoring and patrolling.
Datu Joel Unad expresses his thoughts on and full support for the initiative.
For the past two months, the Obu-Manuvu community assisted by EGIP Foundation presented their initiative to different concerned agencies and project partners to earn support and help them with legal actions to register the project.The project includes the establishment of some simple but attractive eco-friendly Obu-Manuvu structures called “Obu-Manuvu Village” at the top end of the community farms in Sitio Karilongan that will accommodate eco-culture tourists or visitors who want to spend the night and stay in the community and experience traditional and eco-friendly activities that the Obu-Manuvu community can offer. Besides the earlier mentioned nature attractions and activities, cultural activities will also be performed and native and some exotic foods of the community will be served that will attract eco-culture tourists/visitors who want a new experience and adventure in a helpful way both to the Obu-Manuvu indigenous community and to the environment.
However after some office presentations and scheduled site visits, several recommendations and suggestions from different partners and concerned agencies emerged that were deemed necessary in all aspects before starting the actual operation. One recommendation that usually comes up is to conduct a consultation meeting with all stakeholders concerned. The objective of the said meeting is to ask consent and construct a general development plan for the whole project.
Retired Col. Lyndon Paniza of PSSCC expressing his thoughts regarding security issues in the area.
Hence on August 28, 2018, a stakeholder’s consultation meeting was held in the Barangay Hall of Barangay Carmen, Baguio District, Davao City. The said meeting was spearheaded by the Obu-Manuvu community of Barangay Carmen and the EGIP Foundation and participated in by representatives from the Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) of the Davao City, Department of Tourism (DOT) XI, the City Tourism Operation’s Office (CTOO), the Environment Management Bureau- DENR XI, the National Commission of Indigenous People (NCIP), the Barangay Council of Brgy. Carmen, the Obu-Manuvu Tribal Council of Elders and Leaders and the Sunrise Bridge Travel Agency (SBT), a possible travel and tour agency partner of the community.
After the Obu-Manuvu community and the EGIP Foundation presented the project, its components and plans to the partners, the SBT presented the trends of the tourism industry. An open forum and interactive discussions on the relevant issues concerned followed. Issues discussed were the barangay policies and existing laws on tourism; the peace and order situation of the whole area and the location of the project, environmental and management issues and lastly, the tourism and management issues. Participants were given time to give suggestions and recommendations based on their office requirements and policies that will be included in the general management plan.
Photo with Davao CTOO, DOT XI, BLGU-Carmen and SBT Agency.
A transcript of the meeting was made and best practices and lessons learned were also summarized to make a general management plan of the project. The greatest concern of most of the participants centered on the security angle and its immediate and long-term impact on the proposed project and the tourism potential of Carmen as the center of a tourism circuit for the area.
In the end, all participants were very supportive regarding the community-based project.
