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DEBATE 2019

Senate bet Agnes Escudero to lobby for ‘barangay industrialization’


Senatorial candidate Agnes Escudero on said on Saturday that she would help uplift the livelihood of indigenous people by pushing for barangay industrialization.

"Ang problema sa mga indigenous communities natin, sa mga kabundukan ay wala talagang definite source of income. Habang nagpapatubo sila ng palay, ng mais, wala silang ibang pinagkakaabalahan," Escudero said in Debate 2019: the GMA Senatorial Face-off.

"Kailangan natin ng barangay industrialization act na kung saan magbibigay tayo doon ng mga livelihood talaga na intended sa mga communities, especially for the indigenous people," she added.

Escudero is one of the leaders of the group Tribal Government of the Philippines which claims to govern the "unwritten law."

She underscored that it does not intend to create a new government for indigenous people but to fulfill the unwritten laws of their ancestors in responding to social issues, such as climate change.

"Just recently po ano, nagkaroon ng mensahe ang Apo na kailangan magkaroon tayo ng mga ritual, at kalabaw ang hiningi doon for the ritual," Escudero explained.

The senatorial bet also mentioned that their organization previously coordinated with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to strengthen the "ancestral home defense force" of the indigenous people.

"Nagkaroon po ng CAFGU (Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit) forces ang ating gobyerno na puro indigenous peoples. 'Yun po ay sa panahon ni [former AFP chief] Angelo Reyes at panahon din po 'yun na nagkaroon na ng training, 'dun nag-umpisa," she said.

—LDF, GMA News

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