The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and the Kabisig ng Kalahi (KnK) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to solidify their partnership for the socio-economic development of the Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs).

The NCIP is represented by Chairperson Allen A. Capuyan, together with Ethnographic Commissioner for Regions CAR and Region I Gaspar A. Cayat, and OIC-Executive Director Atty. Caesar M. Ortega as witnesses for NCIP.

The KnK is represented by its President, Mrs. Victoria V. Wieneke, and joined by Ms. Madeline Sophie B. Tan, Board of Trustee as a witness for KnK.

The NCIP Office on Socio-Economic Services and Special Concerns (OSESSC) and KnK had discussed possible partnerships to help provide for the socio-economic projects to ICCs/IPs. Series of meetings were held which aimed to further discuss the details of the partnership and both agreed to solidify the alliance through a MOA on the implementation of the Food Share Program wherein rice staples are provided to families, including the provision of communal vegetable gardening/agricultural inputs to help address malnutrition among children, and to provide livelihood opportunities to families through farming.

Livelihood opportunities like weaving and traditional craft production and potential scholarship grants to eligible IP children and youth through the KnK’s generous partners and networks are also discussed. The said partnership if materialized will be implemented, in cooperation with the private sector, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that have tie-ups with the KnK, and IP communities, in Ancestral Domains for collaborative program implementation.

Moreover, the KnK also signified its desire to help in the preservation of the rich culture, traditions, systems, and practices of the IPs.

After the MOA Signing, the NCIP turned over Project Epanaw’s Three (3) Coffee Table Books (CTBs) and 2020-2021 Annual Accomplishment Reports (AARs) to the KnK.