Board Of Trustees

A full bloodied Tboli, educator and community organizer by profession;

Mary Grace Y. Guay is a former member of the board of trustees and board secretary of Santa Cruz Mission Schools, Inc. for three (3) years. Currently, she is the school president of the School of Indigenous Knowledge and Traditions (SIKAT) in Lake Sebu, Province of South Cotabato.  She is also an active member of the Helobung Cultural Dance Troupe, Inc. based in Lake Sebu and had represented her tribe and the country in both local and international scenes and engagements.

Her expertise in Tboli culture and organizing skills complimented by her passion to serve her people and preserve their culture drives her interest in her socio-civic affiliations especially among civil society organizations. At present, she is connected with the local government unit of Lake Sebu as the General Services Officer.

Born from educated Tboli parents, Engr. Bary Legarde Lugan has grasped the essence of cultural values and sensitivities at early age, while taking notice of the situations of the community where he is in and those of some nearby places. With positive upbringing in a Christian family, he, along with his siblings, used to be challenged by his parents to love school and finish a degree so life won’t become tough in the future.

Despite being a licensed agricultural engineer, fate has led him to a different career. Working as employee of the local government unit of the Municipality of Tboli, he was first assigned in the legislative department as a technical staff and later in the planning and development office and later in the cultural and community affairs. With these experiences, where he was exposed to various operations of the local government, he was awarded with the appointment as the municipal information officer. At the age of 34, he was the youngest office head ever-appointed in the municipality. He was also the first ethnic Tboli appointed as head of office. Recently, he was also names as the station manager of a radio station project coursed though the National Nutrition Council of the Department of Health when it was established in the Municipality of Tboli.

As a communicator that finds pleasure nourishing the young minds with proper discipline, he is active in various youth-oriented activities. He handles lectures and workshops particularly on leadership, management, cultural development and other relevant topics. Engr. Lugan finds pleasure on cultural and other developmental matters, thus involving himself to various organizations that show interests on conveying societal reforms where his fellow Indigenous Peoples can be assisted – which apparently leads him to the Tribal Leaders Development Foundation, Inc. (TLDFI) as one of its trustees. Her mother, Lolita Lugan, is one of the incorporators of TLDFI.

A retired District Supervisor of Department of Education (DepEd), Division of South Cotabato, she acquired her bachelors’ degree at Mindanao Institute of Technology and her Master of Arts in Education at Notre Dame of Marbel College through the sponsorship of five funding agencies: UNICEF, EDPITAF, NDEA, MEC, and NDMC. She served DepEd for 44 years and was assigned to different schools and districts in the municipalities of Tboli and Surallah. She worked in South Korea for 1 year for cultural education.

She attended the Eastern Mindanao Scout Executive Conference and Council Observation Tour in Hongkong, Shenshen, China and Macau. Being an active scout commissioner she was awarded Bronze, Silver and Gold Medals Award of Merit, a wood badge and two beads holder of the Boy Scout of the Philippines.

Datu Abentong, the tribal chieftain of Barangay Afus is a minister and graduated from Mindanao Convention Baptist Bible College. He also completed the Office Management at Marbel School of Science and Technology. Datu Abentong had been actively involved in the community development for 14 years.  He served as board of trustee – Secretary of South Cotabato Tri-people Gentud Foundation for 8 years. He founded the Tribal Mindanao Mission College, a community school that provides educational opportunities for poor students belonging to ethnic Tboli. He also teaches Theology and Values Education subjects.

He is currently the Community Development Officer of Sumifru Philippines and Vice Chairman of Magsige Multi-purpose Cooperative. Datu Abentong has been part of TLDFI as board of trustee for 14 years. Recently, he was elected as the vice chairperson of the Municipal Indigenous Peoples Structure in the Municipality of Tboli.

Ms. Loyola is a Social Worker by profession, a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Social Work at University of Mindanao, Davao City, and her Master of Public Administration at Notre Dame of Marbel University. Presently, she is the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer of the Local Government Unit of Lake Sebu, Province of South Cotabato for 26 years. As a welfare agency, her office caters the welfare and development needs of the less fortunate constituents of the municipality. She was also designated as Municipal Disaster Action Officer. As part of her incentive she was allowed to attend the Social Workers International Conference in Hongkong in 1998. She also works as part time professor for the social welfare department at Notre Dame of Marbel University from ____ to ____.

A retired Municipal Assessor and Government Appraiser with almost 36 years of outstanding public service in the field of Real Property Tax Administration and Local Government Development Planning and Governance. He was one of the Ten Outstanding Public Servants (TOPS) awardees of the Civil Service Commission Region XI in 2001 for his excellent performance in public service. He obtained a Certificate Course in “Introduction to Land Valuation” from the University of the Philippines Open University in 2010.

Mr. Guardaya also has more than 20 years of experience and advocacy in cooperative development and a passion for the environment, being one of the founding incorporators of the Tboli Integrated Development Cooperative (TIDC) in 1996. He is still serving as one of the cooperative’s board of directors.

A mestiza Tboli, educator, and a religious leader, Ms. Manrique work for 2 years in Bacolod City as church minister for Convention Baptist Church where she gained experience in community work, develop exceptional interpersonal skills enabling her to integrate well with her colleagues. Wanting to serve her people, she returns to Lake Sebu as a missionary worker where aside from strengthening the religious belief of her church members, she also worked for the empowerment of Tboli women. Currently she is connected with the local government unit of Lake Sebu for 3 years now.

The chairman emeritus of TLDFI, he is the first full bloodied Tboli that became medical doctor. He is the founding medical director of Tboli Evangelical Clinic and Hospital, Inc… Growing up in poverty, he finished his study through hard work and benevolence from Canadian missionary. After graduating from medical school in Cebu in 1986, out of his love and desire to help his people, he founded the TLDFI. Aside from his active involvement in community works, Dr. Dagang also serve the government in various capacity; as a vice mayor and mayor of the Municipality of Tboli and as chief of the Technical Division and as officer-in-charge of the Integrated Provincial Health Office of the Province of South Cotabato.

Currently, he is the municipal administrator of the Municipality of Tboli. He was appointed as the ruling municipal kuludatu of the Municipality of Tboli, South Cotabato and the administrator of the Tboli-Blaan Ancestral Domain containing a combined area of 88,184.1824 hectares with Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title.