MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/25 Sep) -- A plan in the 1990s to create another municipality for the Matigsalug tribe to be carved out of Kitaotao town is being revived, an official said.

Board member Roelito Gawilan, president of the Bukidnon Federation of the Association of Barangay Captains, confirmed they have started "at the grassroots level" in initiating the process to create a new town for the Matigasalugs.

Gawilan is President of the Federation of Matigsalug-Manobo Tribal Councils (FEMMATRICS) and also the elected barangay captain of Sinuda.

Gawilan said they are now conducting a study on the land area, population, and income of at least 15 of Kitaotao's 35 barangays.

All of the barangays to be included in the proposed new town are part of the Matigsalug tribe's ancestral domain, he said. FEMMATRICS has a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) covering 102,324.8186 hectares.

Gawilan said it is possible they could create at least five new barangays from the 15 barangays considered. He did not elaborate which barangays were considered to be carved out for the proposed town.

The creation of the new town, with proposed name of Datu Lorenzo Gawilan Sr., was directed at finally resolving political boundary conflicts between the province and North Cotabato, Gawilan said in an interview on September 24 at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan session hall.

But he said the proposal would still go a long way with the long legislative process. (Walter I. Balane/MindaNews)

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