MINDANAO tribal leaders launched Friday indigenous peoples (IP) party-list Abante Tribung Makabayan (ATM) during the 4th Mindanao IP Convention.

Around 750 participants gathered for a five-day workshop and conference organized by the Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Conference for Peace and Development (MIPCPD).

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The creation of ATM is among the resolutions done in last year’s IP convention, said MIPCPD chair Datu Lipatuan Joel Unad on Saturday at Felis Beach Resort, Matina, in Davao City.

“During the first convention, we had the theme of bridging the gap between the IPs from the local level to the national level. In the second, we concentrated on the empowerment of IPs. The third convention was on connecting the IPs consciousness on the IP rights, cultural preservation, and the justice system,” Unad said in vernacular.

“One of the recommendations we had was to have a political participation and that is through a party-list. This year, we have the theme ‘Strength in Unity: An empowered unified IP Community in Mindanao addressing the Challenges of 2010 and beyond’ and we include here the launching of the biggest IP party-list in Mindanao,” Unad said in vernacular.

ATM is supported by 315 municipalities out of 429 in Mindanao, 40 tribal assemblies or local chapters, 31 sub tribes, and 18 satellite organizations, Unad said.

Among the preparations MIPCPD for the coming 2010 elections is information dissemination on the new voting process.

“We invited the South Cotabato Provincial Electoral Supervisor to give a lecture on the electoral procedures. But since August we have been making preparations for our participation in the elections,” Unad said.

As to whether who ATM would support, Unad said the matter is still under consultation. “If ever we will support national-level politicians, the main requirement is that they must be for the tribe and they must understand our problems,” Unad said.

Unad said discrimination is the most pressing problem of lumads.

“Ang solusyon sa discriminasyon kay ang pagrespeto sa amoa aron mubalik ang tribo sa kaugalingong sistema. Ang mubo nga paglantaw sa sarili, dili ni siya ang problema kay una-una kana nga panghuna-huna dili na parte sa panghuna-huna sa tribo. Daghan lang gyud ang naga-take advantage sa tribo. (The solution we see for discrimination is respect should be given to us so we can go back to our own system. That matter on low self-esteem is not a problem because first of all, that way of thinking is not part of the tribe’s way of thinking. It’s just there are many who takes advantage of the tribe),” Unad said.

Among the IP partners present during the convention are Panagtagbo Mindanao, Indigenous Political Empowerment Group (Ipeg) ng Armm, Indigenous People’s Exchange ng Central (Ipex), Northern at Western Mindanao (Ipex), Pamaas ng North Cotabato, Tribal Council of Mindanao (Tricom) ng Caraga Region, Ecoweb ng Northern Mindanao, Provincial Consultative Bodies (PCB), Kiblawan-Tampakan-Columbio (Kitaco), Federation of Matigsalog and Manobo tribal council (Femmatrics) ng Bukidnon at Davao City, Supreme Tribal council for Peace and Development (STCPD) ng Davao City at ang National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) IP Sectoral representatives ng Mindanao. (Jade C. Zaldivar)