Panagpapatang: Voices of Indigenous Peoples in Dialogue Towards Building Partnerships in Development Projects

Abstract

This study analyzed how indigenous communication and panagpapatang as an indigenous form of dialogue was used by the Second Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resource Management Project (CHARMP2) in building a partnership with the Vanaw Tribe of Malibcong in Abra. Narrative analysis and dialogic analysis were used on the data gathered from participant interviews, participant observation, and document reviews and were guided by the assumptions of Blumer’s Symbolic Interactionism (1986), Ting-Toomey’s Identity Negotiation Theory (2015), and Servaes’ Participatory Development Communication (2005). Results showed that CHARMP2’s Indigenous Forest Management Systems and Practices (IFMSP) research project was based on the principles of the Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1977 which upholds the rights of IPs to their culture and ancestral domains and this underwent a lengthy process of eight (8) years to complete. CHARMP2 employed participatory communication strategies particularly indigenous communication and panagpapatang and it also used development communication approaches covenants to ensure project sustainability and participation and social preparation of the Indigenous Cultural Community (ICC) as a way of understanding the contexts of the ICC.

It was discovered that there are three different entities/governing structures implementing forest management in the Vanaw areas which exhibited convergence and divergences in terms of policies. These are: (1) Department of Environment and Natural Resources; (2) Local Government Units; and (3) Indigenous Political Systems/Customary Government. The panagpapatang in the project became a venue for the exchange of messages between and among the participants who were taking on dualistic and varying roles. Participants articulated the following in the panagpapatang: belief in a spiritual being, the importance of knowing tribe affiliation, the necessity of representation of involved parties, conscious distribution of control of the dialogue, the shifting of roles based on ascribed identities, and expression of common goal and understanding.

Participants conveyed messages on achieving sustainable environmental conservation through IFMSPSs, the strengthening of IFMSPs through policies and traditional practices, and the need for government recognition of IP rights to their ancestral domain and their Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSPs). The manifestations of participation of the community in the project were seen in the engagement of local offices, the involvement of Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representatives (IPMRs) and elders, the motivation of NCIP to continue with IKSP researches, and the Vanaw tribe’s unwavering participation and ownership of the project.