Mayor Salway Sumbo, Jr.: A Visionary IP Leader

Malapatan, named from the Blaan words malah and fatan meaning “place where pepper is abundant”, has roots as a pepper trading settlement in the pre-Spanish era. It is home to the Blaan Lumad tribe, governed by Fulong wisemen, and includes Blaan indigenous peoples, Moro groups, and Luzon and Visayan settlers. The Sarangani town spans 609 square kilometers, with five of twelve barangays classified as Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDAs).

Mayor Salway Sumbo, Jr., a full-blooded Blaan, is in his second term as Malapatan’s mayor, having previously served as Barangay Captain of Kinam from 2013 to 2018.

During his term as Barangay Captain, he joined the program on Indigenous People Bridging Leadership and Governance Program (IPBLGP), which was a continuation of the Province of Sarangani’s partnership “Strengthening Provincial and Municipal Champions for Health” with the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The provincial government recognized the importance of leadership at the barangay level for developing equitable, context-based strategies. Through the IPBLGP, barangays created IP-sensitive technical roadmaps for inclusion in municipal and provincial plans.

As Barangay Captain, Mayor Sumbo achieved significant health milestones, reducing stunting rates in Kinam from 18.72% to 6.32% in one year and decreasing elementary and daycare dropout rates. He promoted tribe sensitivity, encouraging births in accredited birthing homes.

As Mayor, Sumbo prioritized GIDA and IP community concerns, focusing on opening access roads to improve economic and educational opportunities. During his first term, Malapatan achieved 40% progress in constructing new roads, enhancing access to education, health, and nutrition services.

Introduction to ZFF’s Municipal Nutrition Governance Program

In 2019, Malapatan successfully piloted an upland rice production program, boosting community income and enabling families to afford education. However, nutrition was not a priority for Mayor Sumbo at the time.

In June 2022, Mayor Sumbo participated in ZFF’s Municipal Nutrition Governance Program (MNGP), realizing the importance of addressing malnutrition, which, despite being low at 3%, still affected 400 children. The MNGP emphasized leadership in tackling malnutrition, especially during the critical First 1,000 days of life (F1KD). 

Mayor Sumbo acknowledged his administration’s role in nutrition and took full ownership of the problem. He quipped, “There’s guilt because there’s an earlier perception that our institution has no role in nutrition, but now I realized that we have a critical role.”

During the MNGP workshop, Mayor Sumbo’s team identified food insecurity as a major issue, particularly in GIDA communities. They created a vision: “Masaganang pamayanan tungo sa malusog na mamamayan ng Malapatan tungo sa 2025, arangkada Malapatan,” focusing on inclusive development through improved access roads and support for all community groups.

In August 2022, they formulated a comprehensive Nutrition Action Plan for 2023-2025 with ZFF and National Nutrition Council Region XII. This plan included interventions like micronutrient supplementation, deworming, infant and young child feeding promotion, lactation management, maternal health programs, supplementary feeding, and treatment facilities for severe malnutrition.

Other identified issues were food inaccessibility, low family income, and lack of community motivation and awareness. More than half the population (56.58%) lived below the poverty threshold, with decreasing fish catches affecting income. A family of five with farming as the main livelihood had an annual income of roughly Php 20,000.00, translating to Php 11.00 per meal per person per day.

Gulayan sa Malapatan: Addressing Food Insecurity

Mayor Sumbo launched the “Gulayan sa Malapatan” program to address food insecurity and malnutrition by incorporating it into his Executive Legislative Agenda. The initiative started with government employees planting various vegetables on a one-hectare land in Barangay Poblacion, aiming to inspire the community to follow suit. “If the people see that we’re doing these efforts, they will follow,” he said.

Vegetables planted included radish, cucumber, eggplant, pechay, string beans, upland kangkong, okra, green chili, bitter melon, bottle gourd, and spring onions, all rich in nutrients to combat deficiencies.

The program integrated with the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s “Cash for Work” program, engaging parents of malnourished children who planted vegetables in exchange for a Php 3,000.00 grant. Harvests supported local police and jail feeding programs, and produce was sold in markets. A weekly farmers’ market was also established.

The program reduced stunting and wasting rates in Malapatan, from 3.53% to 2.10% and from 0.54% to 0.43%, respectively, in one year. In March 2023, the local government unit passed an ordinance promoting communal vegetable gardens in schools, barangays, and households.

Mayor Sumbo also completed 95% of farm-to-market road constructions and is planning a local college to address long-term food insecurity and high teenage pregnancy rates (21% in 2022). He believes education will keep youths engaged and reduce early pregnancies.

Indeed, the MNGP helped Mayor Sumbo and his team identify health and nutrition problems in Malapatan and develop effective intervention programs. It emphasized the importance of monitoring children’s nutrition, shifting the responsibility from just the Municipal Nutrition Action Officer to all stakeholders.

Thanks to these realizations, the mayor and his team committed to improving the nutrition situation collaboratively. Malapatan is now in a better place. There are still a lot of problems to be solved, but they are working hard on getting there.