Let Bae Bibyaon go home

The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) is requesting for a meeting with UP Save Our Schools (SOS) Network Chapter and Bae Bibyaon with representatives from NCIP, Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the relatives of Bae Bibyaon for her to go home to her community in Talaingod, Davao del Norte.

The letter request by NCIP is a result of the recent developments wherein Rurelyn Bay-ao’s determination to change her narrative and fulfill her aspirations drove her to consult the traditional leaders of her community who happened to be the local government representatives of Talaingod and reached out to the government to pursue her dreams of becoming a youth leader and later on a community leader.

She further realized that she was not practicing and observing the Customary Laws and Indigenous Moral Values centered on respect and consultative in nature and in consonance with the wishes of her parents and, most importantly, her ancestors.

It was during her association with her fellow IP youth and local government of Talaingod that she narrated the story of her grandmother, Bae Bibyaon, who is currently staying in SOS based in UP Diliman, Quezon City.

It is in this light that NCIP wrote a letter to the UP president so that Bae Bibyaon will be given the chance to go home to her community in Talaingod, Davao del Norte as requested by her grandchild Rurelyn Bay-ao, her nieces and nephews and her community.

Attachments to the letter were resolutions signed by her nephews and nieces requesting NCIP and the Office of the President to facilitate her return to the community, and another resolution signed by the Board of Directors of their Indigenous Political Structure (IPS).

NCIP wishes that UP administration will heed the request of the relatives of Bae Bibyaon and the IPS of her community for health, customary, and humanitarian considerations. – Allen Capuyan, NCIP chairman