English - Balay Mindanaw

Part 2 - Four Datus: Stories of the Higaunon Lifeshe turned 16, their parents finally told the girl that she wasactually married to Dikno, and as such, had marital duties asa wife. When she was 17, she gave birth to what was to be thefirst of their 10 children, 5 girls and 5 boys.At present, ’Tay Dikno is the local chieftain of Mandalawat,representing the sitio in the barangay as leader in communityaffairs during meetings in the barangay. When the CADCwas awarded to the entire barangay Minalwang, ’Tay Diknowas elected as one of the board members of the MinalwangHigaunon Tribal Council (MIHITRICO). Aside from this,’Tay Dikno handles several positions in the community.He is a paralegal and a peace builder, having attended theextensive training dubbed Op Kors, or the Operation PeaceCourse for Peace Builders in Mindanao. He is a trainedLocal Community Organizer (LCO) of Balay MindanawFoundation, Inc. (BMFI), a Cagayan de Oro-based nongovernmentalorganization, and a member of the CitizensArmed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU). With his variousresponsibilities, he has difficulty managing his time. Here’show he does it:“If there are conflicts in my schedule, I have to decidewhich one to prioritize. If one meeting has really more seriousand urgent issues to discuss, then I’d rather go there than theother meeting to be held at the same time but with not-soimportantagenda. This is not always an easy task. That’swhy I have been asking different NGOs to coordinate theirschedule, or hold related activities jointly so we won’t bewasting precious time. As a datu, I have many other things toattend to, because aside from my various positions, I also haveto respond to the invitations of the other datus. I’d also relyon the babalaon (oracle) to determine what functions I shouldattend to. Sometimes very important events would just cropup somewhere, like in Agusan or in Bukidnon, when theywould call for a dumalongdong, then we should really respondto that.”89