The Indigenous Mamanwa group of Gigaquit, Surigao del Norte welcomed the team from PEF and DENR Tubod and Caraga during an education outreach within their ancestral domain last March 13, 2021.
Mabalaw Emiliano Gede, chieftain of the Mamanwa Indigenous community personally welcomed the team. He shared that they have Philippine eagles in their ancestral forests and they call it "Kujahao" in their Indigenous language.
The Mamanwa residents watched the Tagalog-dubbed version of the eagle documentary "Bird-of-Prey", right after a "meet-and-greet" session with eagle mascot Malaya, who became the star of the half-day education outreach.
The outreach is part of an initiative to popularize eagle conservation within the forests of Surigao del Norte, which is the suspected home of Philippine eagle "Balikatan". Eagle "Balikatan" was rescued from Bacuag town last August, 2020 but he was reportedly from the thick forests of the Mamanwa ancestral domain between Gigaquit and Alegria. The bird is undergoing rehabilitation at the Philippine Eagle Center in Davao City.
This exploratory fieldwork was supported by CENRO Tubod, LGU Gigaquit, and our conservation champ, Insular Life Foundation.