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Tirol: Educating Badjaos a tall order, but sensible

TAGBILARAN CITY – Provincial lady Board Member Godofreda O. Tirol said she never allows a single stone left unturned in the development, if not upliftment, of the Badjao tribe through education without necessarily abandoning their own culture.

In an exclusive interview, Tirol said that she really focuses on her felt mission to instill in the Badjao the value of human being.

“They’re not what other people think, neither they’re vagabond,” she said.

The veteran lady provincial lawmaker of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) cares and looks at Badjaos just like any other people in the community and they must be at the mainstream and not a different people. They have families to care for but only they lack education.

The need to instill education and organize the seafaring people is a tall order. “But we must do it,” Tirol, who is also a dean of University of Bohol in her private practice, said.

To shun them away from the society’s adherence to and rules and regulations when they are into begging on the streets, if not on the seawater with their small children on board on a padlled banca that make them “eyesores” to many but maybe fascinating to tourists is not a good idea, neither motivate them. And the only way to understand them is to appreciate and recognize their culture no matter how different it is, a former professor said.

Tirol said that she has been into caring the Badjaos since 2007 even if they’re not voters in her district because she hails from Candijay, one of 19 towns of the district. Badjaos, who reside at the coastal area of barangay Totolan, Dauis town, belong to first district, Tirol, who admitts she’s a politician, told the meeting.

In separate interview, Lorna Cuham, 21 and her younger sister, Madonna Cuham, 19, all singles, daughters of chieftain Mario Cuham, said that they’re now on third year taking criminology course courtesy of the non-government organization’s help.

Both said they wanted to become policewomen someday to protect their kind and serve the community.

Their older sister, Marina Cuham, is now the teacher of pre-school of the tribe. She said together with another Badjao tutor, Marife Melencion, she’s teaching some 50 Badjao children. They hold clases one session each in the morning and afternoon.

She said she wants to educate her own kind but not discarding their culture, such as practicing their own tongue. Marina Cuham and Melencion were able to pursue teaching studies courtesy of the government, Tirol said.

To economically uplift the Badjaos, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) intends to provide initial working capital as financial assistance to the tribe members under the promotion of employment and entrepreneurship programs.

And the target beneficiaries are those who are marginalized and unemployed Badjaos, DOLE representative John Paul Nistal in a power point presentation. He explained that DOLE won’t provide cash direct to the Badjaos but it helps tem procure materials on a certain project, such as fish nets, boats and the like. DOLE also provides capacity building in certain skills of the Badjaos, Nistal said. (RVO)

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