Pahaon-haonan, pabaton-batonan is a Higaonon term that means to help those who are fallen or who are down, and to help those amongst the tribe who are in need

The essence of the Local Leaders Stewardship Program is social investment - to support exceptional, passionate, and resilient indigenous community leaders, who have made it their life's mission in working with communities to secure their life space. It attempts to work with the community without involving a project intervention and seeks to ensure the productivity of the local leaders in order to remain focused on running the change agenda to realize their community/ society vision. The LLSP is a form of social investment in building up the human capital of Southeast Asia Forest Peoples, and a step towards enhancing and strengthening grassroots leadership and cultural traditions, nurturing second-liners and future leaders, and promoting solidarity. For the Philippines' first salvo of the LLSP, Samdhana was supported by EarthAction, through its Save Our Spirits (SOS) Program.

Gaining ownership for Local Leaders' Stewardship

In the Philippines, we kicked off the Local Leaders Stewardship Program by inviting long- time community partners of Samdhana and Indigenous Peoples leaders in a gathering set for a comfortable and intimate conversation on their experiences and challenges, their ideas, and aspirations for the continuity of dynamic and genuine leadership in their communities. The LLSP gathering was hosted by the Higaonon community of Pamalihi Ancestral Domain, located in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental, Philippines. The Pamalihi community generously welcomed Samdhana and IP Partners, beginning with a powerful and solemn ritual that intended to symbolically bury the worries and baggages of the participants, so that each one is able to fully participate in the meetings. We were further welcomed into the tribe's territory, with the gifting of brass bracelets to each of the guests, as a symbol of their acceptance of our presence into their territory, as part of the opening ritual asking of blessings from the spirits and Magbabaya (God). The tribes represented in this gathering were the Higaonon, Erumanen Menuvu, Teduray, T'boli, Talaandig, Bukidnon, Matigsalug, Mansaka, Ata, and Subanen.

In the two and a half days of conversation, the idea of LLSP was crystallized into what the Higaonon people call “pabaton-batonan, pahaon-haonan” or the principle of members helping those among them who are in need. This is a value that resounds with the Indigenous Peoples - lending a hand to those who are drowning and pulling them out of their difficulties. It speaks of help and support, primarily as a neighbor to another, and sharing what one has to others that are in need. After having identified the various roles and forms of leadership in their community, having exhausted the endless challenges that leaders face in their community role and in the personal lives, and looking back at the extensive experiences of various engagements or partnerships, the participants realized that the greatest asset of the Indigenous Peoples are their own strengths, rooted in their cultural values and spirituality. The principle of pabaton-batonan, pahaon-haonan highlights the internal strength and dignity of the Indigenous Peoples and promotes the culture and practice of helping one another. Datu Kailingan or Datu Cesar, the leader of Pamalihi community, said that pabaton-batonan, pahaon-haonan is an element of the Higaonon leadership.

Reflections on Leadership

Amongst the participants, we invited three senior leaders to serve as “Harvesters” to capture the insights of participants and further reflect or give depth to these.

From the participants' sharing, the Harvesters' reflection on leadership is the following: 

It is innate with Indigenous peoples that we give value to any person, this goes with our beliefs and the value that we give on our own lives - the respect of human dignity. It is human dignity that we recognize in giving respect to ourselves and to our fellow tribespeople. Indigenous peoples do not dissociate themselves from their environment and from their society. An Indigenous leader does not hold themselves above others, but is gives more value to companionship. They have clear responsibility and accountability to their people. Leaders also enjoy certain privileges because they are able to travel and they are given recognition in many places. However, at present, identifying who is an Indigenous leader has become a gray area, because we have started using borrowed terms not of our own language. We should go back to our basic and customary laws and rediscover ourselves. We should rediscover our direction based on our history and tradition.

Working and growing with the community - leaders cannot dissociate their individual selves from the community they serve.

A leader needs expertise and skills, among these are time management, to be able to balance family and community work; and skills for conflict settlement for the various issues and problems that the leader encounters. One needs to have unconditional commitment to keep active at their work. Being a leader cannot be disconnected from the person's spirituality. Being an IP leader is rooted in their work or responsibility within their ancestral domain.

The leaders present among us have very commendable achievements: such as being able to establish a process of decision making within the tribe, availment of various projects, attaining their ancestral domain titles and ADSDPP, maintaining the peace and security of their community. There is also a good representation of the women and youth leaders here.

If we are able to convert the challenges to positive things, these will greatly contribute to the aspiration of the Indigenous Peoples and enable us to uplift ourselves and our communities.

The values that we uphold as Indigenous Peoples leaders are: Unity, Respect, Love and Mutual Assistance. As leaders, we have a clear direction of our life's work and mission, based on our customs and traditions. Three things that we need to master to be effective leaders: Communication, Coordination and Cooperation - with other tribes, non-government organizations and government agencies.

The Local Leaders Stewardship Program is a challenge to all leaders - to be able to sustain the present generation, and to nurture and bear the secondliners and the next generation. How do we build on our achievements, how to make the challenges into opportunities and access the available resources and support - not only monetary, but in terms of mutually assisting each other - from one family to another, one community to another, from one ancestral domain to another, from one tribe to another.

Participants of the meeting in the ancestral domain of the Higaonon tribe in Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao, Philippines.

The whole process was an affirmation of Samdhana's aspiration - in seeing tribes and communities sufficient in themselves, able to determine their own course and lives. It was an affirmation of the simple yet genuine partnerships we have built with various communities and people in the course of doing our own institutional mission. Deputy Director of Samdhana, Edtami Mansayagan said that through LLSP, Samdhana hopes to continue to assist in line with the traditions of the tribe. LLSP is going to be based on the principle of pabaton-batonan, pahaon-haonan, it will aim to bring back this tradition and principle for Indigenous Peoples to stand on their own. Their identity as Indigenous Peoples is woven to one another, even as they are different tribes, they need to come together as one peoples and bring back the respect for one another and for the Indigenous Peoples as a whole. The contribution of Indigenous Peoples to society is much more than they realize. Their ancestors and elders have proudly lived through the ages without having to depend on outsiders to help them; they need to restore their recognition of their identity and their dignity. Samdhana Fellow, Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto, who has been key in forming the LLSP concept summed the movement initiated during the meeting as ‘a mental revolution to restore the dignity and respect of the Indigenous peoples; to break free from the cycle of dependence.'

The needs of IP community leaders are endless, from personal needs to community demands. As well, there is still so much more being demanded from community leaders, from leading the community in its self-sufficiency and livelihoods, to facing against big and grave threats to their ancestral domains. Indigenous communities and their leaders continue to strive every day in living decent lives, defending their territories and maintaining their culture and integrity as Indigenous Peoples. Samdhana hopes to remain as a support mechanism in the background, helping IP Leaders where it can be strategic and contribute to the IP social movement.