unit 4- A lesson 2
THE INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES: SOME
NOTES
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
Lesson 2: THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: SOME NOTES
Activity
Write a reflection essay regarding the information that you will gather on the following
tasks:
Option A. Interview. Make an interview to at least three persons whom you know and
ask their perception of the Indigenous Peoples by asking the following questions:
1. What comes into your mind when you read or hear the term indigenous?
2. How about the term indigenous people?
3. What words or terms do you usually associated with them?
4. Do you think that the indigenous peoples of the Philippines are fairly treated in terms
of equal opportunities like education, livelihood and health care? Why?
Interview:
Option B. Film Viewing. Watch the full episode of Kara David’s award-winning
Ambulansiyang de Paa at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI-Qgl1Ag0 and make
your personal assessment on the conditions of many indigenous peoples in the country
at present.
My Reflection Paper:
“Story of Isolation: Traditional On-Feet Rescue”
Filipinos have many admirable characteristics, such as the Bayanihan spirit,
hospitality, and resilience. You can always see them rising, no matter how bad the
situation is. Whatever comes their way, they always face it head-on. They may be
pressed on all sides, but they are not defeated. They are perplexed but not despairing.
They can be knocked down but not destroyed. They always find a way to survive, no
matter what. They innovate available resources to compensate for the deficiencies of
others. Their adaptability is admirable, but it has become an excuse for the
government's continued sluggishness. It is clear how poor living conditions, a lack of
resources, and inadequate services became normalized in the minds of these citizens.
Anyone who has experienced poverty understands how difficult and expensive it is to be
poor. In a country where 23.7 percent of the population lives below the national poverty
line, inequality in opportunities is visible, particularly in terms of access to adequate
resources and facilities. Water and food scarcity, a lack of energy resources, limited
educational opportunities, poor housing conditions, a lack of transportation, rough and
slick roads, meager local government support, and a lack of all types of healthcare
services are all rooted in their unfortunate experience of poverty.
"Ambulansyang de Paa" by Kara David depicts Bansud, a remote village in
Oriental Mindoro devoid of electricity and other vital resources for its residents, and how
civic unity and cooperation sparked hope for their situation. The goal of this essay is not
only the idea of the community's adaptability and resilience but also to show how these
marginalized and at-risk individuals have the least heard voices in society. Their
municipality is just one of many in the country that lack access to services, particularly
healthcare. They don't have not enough doctors, pharmacies, ambulances, adequate
food, safe drinking water, or safe roads.
They only eat bananas, and they even eat rats as if they had other options. The only
healthcare worker they have is a midwife that travels five mountains to get to the area.
As if things couldn't get any worse, their only mode of transportation is a hammock
slung from a bamboo pole, with the residents' feet serving as the wheel. The journey to
medical services can take up to three to eight hours if no dump trucks are available.
Even in an emergency, some patients have no choice but to die on the bamboo
hammock on the way. And sometimes, when they arrive at the rural health center, no
doctors are available, although medicines are complete. Their only hope is to transfer to
another health center several kilometers away from their tribe.
On the other hand, because they live in remote areas, the residents are unaware that
their illness is already curable. They don't even know what a hospital looks like. In the
cases of Lowen Dayo and the Mangyan baby, their families do not have access to
prescribed medicines, forcing them to take something that does not cure the disease.
In addition, their food and water intake also contributed to their poor health conditions.
Because they only have limited choices of foods, their body also has limited access to
different nutrients. It results in malnutrition and the development of overlapping
diseases. The documentary also emphasized how a lack of funds is a significant barrier
to providing healthcare services. As much as the baby's father wishes for better things
for his child, he lacks the financial means to pay for the services. They'd use their
remaining limited resources to survive for the next few days. These two patients should
have suffered without medical attention until Kara David's visit.
In conclusion, being poor and isolated from the mountains is challenging,
miserable, and costly. They will not have to worry about large hospital and medicine
bills if they first eat healthy foods on time, drink clean water, and generally live in good
conditions. The communities have no access to either of them, and their only hope is
each other, which is insufficient. Lowen Dayo and the Mangyan baby are only two of the
millions of children who are forgotten, left out, and snatched the opportunity to have the
quality of life they deserve.
