In pursuant to the Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2013-01 dated April 19, 2013 entitled, “Guidelines on the Delivery of Basic Health Services for Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous People” issued by the Department of Health (DOH), National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Regional Inter-Agency Committee (RIAC) conducted its first quarter IP Caravan for 2019 in collaboration with the DOH Usapang Buntis Kasama si Tatay Forum last April 16, 2019 at Brgy. Liliongan, Carmen, Cotabato.
Almost 400 constituents of Barangay Liliongan and nearby barangays particularly the Aromanan-Manobo tribe availed the free services offered by various agencies of the RIAC team. Among the participating agencies were DOH, NCIP, DepEd, DILG, DSWD, PhilHealth, PSA, NNC and PopCom.
Offered services ranged from medical check-up, dental services, blood typing and hemoglobin testing, information dissemination and consultation on PHIC benefits, birth registration and tribal marriage consultation.
The caravan also offered nutrition, health and family planning counselling services among adolescents, pregnant and lactating mothers in partnership with the National Nutrition Council represented by NO I Laurito and Commission on Population. NNC XII distributed 100pcs of 10 kumainments bread tablet to the community.

Moreover, thirty (30) young boys have been circumcised by the troops of Marine Battalion Landing Team Six as part of their humanitarian works.
The Indigenous People Mandatory Representative (IPMR) of the tribal group, Emilio Saliling, thanked everyone’s effort for bringing different services offered by various agencies into their barangay and for making the activity possible.
The said barangay was just one of the target communities of the government’s effort in identifying gaps to better access and utilize health services, especially in Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples.
Further, the RIAC team will continue in collaborating with LGUs, various stakeholders and IP Leaders to identify areas where medical and health services is mostly needed. Meanwhile NNC RO XII commits to participate actively in the RIAC IP activities. (RALaurito/AMFlores)