The awarding would be held in Koronadal City, seat of Region 12, on May 27.
The official entry of the city government for the Literacy Awards was the Obo-Manobo Linguistic Resource and Community Development, Incorporated (OMALRACDI) center located in Sitio Sayaban, Barangay Ilomavis here.
Barangay Ilomavis is inhabited by Manobo and Obo, two of the biggest tribal groups in North Cotabato. The OMALRACDI is a literacy program for the indigenous peoples in the village.
The entry also qualified as entry in the Non-Government Organization (NGO) level.
The evaluators came from the regional offices of the Departnent of the Interior and Local Government, DepEd, Philippine Information Agency, and National Economic Development Authority.
The city LGU will represent the central Mindanao region in the component city level in the National Literacy Awards to be held this July.
Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco said that the establishment of non-formal education for the lumads in the city has helped improved their lives.
DepEd records show that many lumad children from remote villages or in the hinterlands have dropped from schools due to extreme poverty.
The literacy project has offered alternative livelihood programs for the indigenous peoples.
“The continuing pursuits of the city government to better the lives of the poor people, the lumads, in particular, made it possible for Kidapawan City to be recognized as one of the region's most outstanding component city in terms of literacy,” Gantuangco stressed. (MindaNews)
