[UPDATED] Media group eyes focus on IPs in proposed community projects

In this version, further edits were made in the presentation of details - Ed.

KALASUNGAY, Malaybalay City (BukidnonNews.Net) BukidnonNews.Net, a  community media group, has announced it will focus its community projects on the indigenous peoples, an officer said.

Mr. Walter I. Balane, BukidnonNews.Net chair, said the group will engage as its core mission to conduct training opportunities for the youth on community media, including youth from the indigenous cultural communities.    

He said the group is initiating this year the Community Documentation and Reporting Training with a goal to work in partnership with the Tribal Council of Elders of a local tribal community.

”They are under-reported, vulnerable, yet they play a crucial role in the province,” Balane said in his presentation, citing an experience covering conflict engaging a tribal community that resulted in a resolution, underscoring the role of community media.  
 
The group initiated a thanksgiving ritual and community forum on February 18, 2023 at the Purok Center in Zone 1, Kalasungay, this city.

Bae Inatlawan Adelina Tarino, tribal chieftain of the Bukidnon Daraghuyan in Dalwangan, Malaybalay City, led the ritual.

Tarino, also the indigenous peoples mandatory representative of Brgy. Dalwangan, said she was elated with the plan to cover the IPs. She cited a two-way concern about the gap between the IPs and the media. She welcomed the proposed training initiative and pledged to consult the IP youth in their area about it.

"Gikalipay nako madunggan nga apil kami sa inyong plano, ang tribu," Tarino said. 

In her explanation of the ritual, Tarino said the offering of each of the three live chicken, was for protection, guidance and blessing. BukidnonNews.Net has pledged to hold the ritual as an expression of respect to customary practices of the Bukidnon Daraghuyan, where the group intends to conduct the training.

Balane spelled out a four-part proposed plan of action dubbed as TSEK or training-sustainability-editorial content-knowledge management, which were intended to benefit the community.

The aspiration to engage in training with the tribal community youth, Balane said, will not push through without the consent and partnership of the elders and the community. The proposed engagement will pool resources with the media group’s partners and that of the tribal community. Tribal youth can learn about writing stories, taking pictures and videos, using social media to promote their culture, among other media and communication skills.      
He shared about the plan to help ensure the group’s efforts will be sustainable through institutional and enterprise development.

Composed of volunteer professionals mostly from the community media and education sectors, BukidnonNews.Net was set up in 2011 to be a community initiative of local professional journalists and educators, among other sectors. It used to run the Bukidnon News Dispatch from 2011 to 2015, with hundreds of subscribers from different sectors of the province. In 2020, the group has decided to focus on providing training opportunities for the youth and young community media practitioners. The group is keen on building partnerships with key stakeholders in community communication in Bukidnon.

Balane has also shared about the pursuit of short-term and medium term special editorial production projects such as Piniyalan Reporting Governance 2023 and Reporting the IPs through a core of news contributors, project volunteers, and interns.   

He also shared about the need to manage and optimize knowledge generation and sharing through the group’s official website, social media accounts, and special publications to deliver relevant messages to respective stakeholders.

Ms. Loreta Sol L. Dinlayan, Director of the Bukidnon State University - Bukidnon Studies Center, gave a brief orientation on "Cultural Sensitivity in Community Engagement". She elaborated on three keywords represented by CUP - Culture, Understanding and Partnership.

In covering communities, she said media practitioners treat them as partners, both parties in a partnership. She said this means partnership between BukidnonNews.Net and the community. The media group will be responsible to present stories to the public while the IPs are responsible to tell their stories not for their own sake only but also for the entire community and the public. 

Ms. Iyren Dalipe-Neri, one of the staff members of Central Mindanao University’s Public Relations and Information Office shared about the  BukidnonNews.Net. Net Piniyalan Reporting Governance experience in pursuing community journalism. Ms. Neri presented the achievements of the organization in organizing community discussions and key information interviews in good local governance with the Aspirations for Good Governance FGDs and KIIs from January to June 2022.

BukidnonNews.Net recognized the role of its volunteers and community partners for the project. The group plans to hold a public presentation of the research results, recognition of FGD participants, and KII resource persons. More about the project in this article.

In the community forum, BukidnonNews.Net also presented its first batch of 2023 interns, two from the BA Social Science and two from the BA Philosophy programs of Bukidnon State University. The interns will undergo a training in community documentation and reporting and will be assigned to produce content on IP events and issues in coordination with the offices of the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representatives (IPMRs) of Bukidnon and Malaybalay City.

BukidnonNews.Net core members and volunteers attended the ritual and community forum held in the Purok Center in Zone 1, Brgy. Kalasungay. BukidnonNews.Net has twice held its Summer Journalism Youth Workshops in the barangay in partnership with the Barangay Council. Among those who attended were Ms. Ruby Leonora R. Balistoy, Philippine Information Agency - Bukidnon Center Manager and representatives from DXDB Radyo Bandilyo and RMN Malaybalay. (BukidnonNews.Net with a report from Zyrelle A. Meliston/BA Philosophy Intern from Bukidnon State University)

IN PHOTO: Bae Inatlawan Adelina Tarino/BukidnonNews.Net photo

Bukidnon State University educator Mr. Walter Balane, chair of BukidnonNews.Net, shares his views on the importance of partnering with the IP community for better community communication. BukidnonNews.Net photomunity communication

Ms. Loreta Sol L. Dinlayan, Director, Bukidnon State University Bukidnon Studies Center, shares about Culture Sensitivity in Community Engagement/BukidnonNews.Net photo

Some of the participants during the BukidnonNews.Net Thanksgiving Ritual and Community Forum/BukidnonNews.Net photo

Bae Inatlawan Adelina Tarino, Tribal Chieftain of the Bukidnon Daraghuyan of Dalwangan, Malaybalay City, and an assistant, drops chicken blood on the soil during the BukidnonNews.Net Thanksgiving Ritual and Community Forum/BukidnonNews.Net photo

Ms. Iyren Dalipe Neri of the Central Mindanao University Public Relation and Information Office (PRIO) receives her certificate as one of the facilitators of the Piniyalan Reporting Governance Community Project 2022/BukidnonNews.Net photo

Ms. Ruby Leonora R. Balistoy, Philippine Information Agency - Bukidnon Center Manager, receives her certificate as one of the facilitators of the Piniyalan Reporting Governance Community Project 2022/BukidnonNews.Net photo

Ms. Ana Ninfa Bago Caballero of Bukidnon State University College of Administration gives the closing remarks during the BukidnonNews.Net Thanksgiving Ritual and Community Forum/BukidnonNews.Net photo