Talaingod is a neophyte in the League

of Municipalities, having been officially

proclaimed as one only in 1991, through
Executive Order 7180. Its three-term mayor,
Jose Libayao, claims there are about 200,000
indigenous peoples (IPs) living in the 65,000-
hectare municipal area composed of three
barangays.

Afraid that the IPs might actually

topple them from power, Libayao relates that "some politicians from Davao del Norte"
approached him and offered to make Talaingod a municipality so he could file his candidacy
there, and leave Kapalong politics alone. Since most of the IPs in Kapalong live in Talaingod,
Libayao agreed.

__ But there were some technical problems. Talaingod did not meet the required
population for a chartered municipality. Nor did it meet the required income. Elizalde
and Paul Dominguez, who was then Presidential Assistant for Mindanao, looked for
solutions. Consequently, Talaingod "borrowed" three barangays from Kapalong.
Alcantara and Sons, a logging concessionaire in Kapalong, offered to pay its taxes in
Talaingod (it was paying taxes in Kapalong). In July 1991, Talaingod became a town.

__ The story of the making of Talaingod, however, is not without the bitter taste of
life’s harsh realities.

__ "For the whole time Talaingod were under Kapalong, there was hardly any
development project that reached the people of Talaingod.Jose Libayao, is as simple as
parents protecting the interests of his children. "We are IPs and those in power were
Christians. Naturally, they would accommodate their own kind first; never mind the IPs,"
the mayor told CyberDyaryo.
_ _Unmindful of the legal implications the political sleight of hand would cost them,
Libayao reasoned that the town could have never become what it is today if the people
behind its creation had been totally up front about everything. "Sometimes you have to
make up stories to liberate your people. I believe it was a better decision," Libayao said.

Located 89 kilometers north of

Davao City, Talaingod boasts of rich
natural resources. It has 6,000 hectares of
virgin forest. Its Municipal Development
Council has identified areas suitable for
rubber, pineapple and abaca plantations,
and upland rice and corn farming. It hosts
the 500-ft. Nabantalan Cave, the 500-ft. Mt.
Masimalon, the 60-meter Kalapatan Falls,
and the seven-hectare Kilomayon Lake.

__ But the living conditions of the Talaingod people are a stark contrast to its rich
natural resources. The cluster of houses visible from the municipal hall – built on a
mountain top around 900 feet above sea level – are makeshift huts made of bamboo and
cogon grass. According to the municipal
administrator, Gerardo Roben, Jr., an average
of eight family members, are crammed in each
household. About 75 per cent of the people are
engaged in slash-and-burn farming. An
elementary school, another makeshift
structure, serves more than 400 elementary
students from around the municipal center.
Lacking the necessary rooms, pupils from two different grades occupy the same
classroom. Every now and then, the students are absent from class because, said Roben,
"they don’t have food to eat."
__ The peace and order situation and the seeming lack of vision of the leaders of the
place left Talaingod’s rich natural resources untapped for a long time and the people
lived under miserable conditions. Libayao admitted that, prior to 1991, Talaingod, was a
"training ground" for the New People’s Army (NPA). Children as young as 12 years old
were carrying guns and joining the NPA. The IPs, he said, were vulnerable to the
recruitment campaigns of the NPA when they could not see any plans for them from the
government. "Disillusioned" is how the mayor described the people of Talaingod then.

__ "But not anymore," the mayor

declared. For eight years, both
government officials and constituents
have worked together to build what
they now call the "new Talaingod."
They might not be as successful as
they want to be – which, as Libayao
said, is understandable, given the
limited capability of the town and its people – but they are consoled by the fact that they
are now making their own decisions. In the words of Layna Anlungay, another woman
who doesn’t know her age, "What Talaingod is now is what we have worked it up to be.
We are building our own future."

__ In the eight years since Talaingod

become a town, it has risen from a sixth
class municipality earning an income of
P250,000 and receiving an internal
revenue allocation (IRA) of P6 M , to a
fourth class one with an annual income of
P500,000 and an IRA of P18 M in 1995. In
the year 2000, Talaingod is bent on rising
to a third or second class municipality, which, as the mayor said, is not impossible, now
that they have entered into a partnership with the Multi-Equipment and Consultancy
Services, Inc. (MECS).

__ MECS is a consultancy firm that makes

master plans for socio-economic development for
municipalities. The idea is to provide
municipalities planning services for development
that are consistent with sustainability, and the
preservation of the environment and indigenous
culture. In the case of Talaingod, development
will be in two forms: economic development and
personal and social upliftment.

__ Economic development will take the form of developing agro-industry and

tourism, since Talaingod has rich natural resources. Social upliftment will be in the form
of literacy and health enhancement programs. All these, the mayor said, are aimed at
giving the people of Talaingod the chance to
improve their lives by making use of what is
available around them in a way that will
improve their lives and sustain the
environment at the same time.

___The term "self-determination" may sound as

alien to the people of Talaingod as knowing
one’s age, but they are surely going in that
direction.
Talaingod: Lumad Capital of
Davao del Norte