Bridging the digital divide through Access Mindanao

Last of 2 parts

THE “AdDU Community Connectivity Empowered by Satellite Service for Mindanao (Access Mindanao)” is a program of Ateneo de Davao University under the leadership of Father Joel Tabora, SJ, the institution’s highly respected, supportive and innovative president. Launched in October 2020, the program responds to difficulties of online connectivity especially during and after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, by offering satellite technology for rapid and easy access to the internet, especially in some schools in rural and distant communities in Mindanao, including the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. This program is led by Dr. Rogel Mari Sese, a well-known astrophysicist and chairman of AdDU’s Department of Aerospace Engineering of the School of Engineering and Architecture. Access Mindanao intends to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of the people who live in the island’s rural and remote areas. It also wants to create a network of schools, hospitals, business organizations and communities in Mindanao that are connected to the internet through satellites.

With a grant from an external sponsor, the program was able to install 19 satellite antenna stations (mostly in public, private and madrasah schools) in South Cotabato, Cotabato, Davao de Oro, Davao Occidental, Dinagat Island, Bukidnon, Maguindanao, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi.

This column briefly describes the benefits obtained from the satellite technology of three Access Mindanao sites that were shared by two female key informants who have direct contact with the program recipients.

Gwyneth Marquez, AdDU’s Class of 2023 summa cum laude, conducted an anthropological study for her undergraduate thesis in two Access Mindanao areas from January to June 2022. Titled “Imaginaries of the Digital Divide in Mindanao,” her research study was chosen as one of the six best undergraduate theses in 2023 by Davao City’s Unity Awards, a program that is led by Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte. The first research site where Gwyneth lived for three months was Barangay Miarayon, Talakag Municipality in Bukidnon, an upland community with a population of 11,839. It lies on the border of the major cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, and between Marawi and Malaybalay. This community’s Indigenous people are the Talaandig, who are mostly farmers who plant and sell high-value crops (e.g., cabbage, cauliflower, potatoes) in Cagayan de Oro. The second research area where Gwyneth also immersed for three months was in Sitio Matamis, Barangay Demoloc, Malita, Davao Occidental. This barangay (village) has a population of 6,156 and its indigenous people are the Tagakaulo who are mostly engaged in farming and fishing.

Access Mindanao installed Barangay Miarayon’s satellite antenna station in 2020 at the campus of St. Therese School of Miarayon (STSM), a Jesuit-mission school in Bukidnon. The satellite in Sitio Matamis, Barangay Demoloc was installed in 2021, at the convent of Tagakaulo Mission of the Missionaries of Jesus (TMMJ). This mission manages two schools for Indigenous children in this community.

The foregoing institutions’ internet users are the school administrators and the teachers. Before the satellite installation at STSM, the 20 teachers would go to the next barangay to access the internet, or to the municipality población for a better signal, and for Zoom seminars or meetings. With unlimited access to internet of the satellite technology, the STSM teachers were able to submit their reports to the Department of Education, conduct online research and collect new information and materials for their learning modules. The teachers distributed these enhanced learning tools at the homes of around 800 students who mostly belong to the Indigenous community. This was done before the school resumed faceto-face classes. Gwyneth said the students benefitted indirectly from the teachers’ usage of the internet because they were provided with better learning materials.

She added that Smart, a privately-owned wireless communications and digital services subsidiary of PLDT Inc., was installed in Miarayon while she was still in the community in March 2022. Most STSM students may not be able to access this service provider because they do not own mobile phones or tablets as a result of poverty. (In 2018, it was reported that the monthly family income in Barangay Miarayon was P5,000, which was way below the P11,773 monthly income of Bukidnon.) Most of their parents are farmers who sell high-value crops and do not own the land that they are tilling, and they have incurred debts for their farm inputs.

The TMMJ-operated schools in Sitio Matamis, Barangay Demoloc are far from the convent. The 10 teachers commute through motorcycles and must cross a river to get to the TMMJ convent to access the satellite’s unlimited internet services. Like the STSM teachers, the internet enables the TMMJ teachers to submit reports, obtain updated information and videos and participate in Zoom meetings. The updated teaching materials have made it easier for teachers in developing interesting lessons for the modules that were delivered to the Indigenous students’ homes.

A major challenge experienced by the TMMJ teachers is when the river overflows during the rainy season, which prevents them from going to the convent. Because the convent’s satellite antenna station utilizes electricity to operate, Gwyneth noted that when she was in the village, Sitio Matamis experienced frequent brownouts, at least thrice a week. A brownout usually lasted from one to three hours, and even one day. This has hampered the satellite’s operation and the teachers’ access to the internet. (Perhaps at this time, the TMMJ has a generator or a solar panel to address the satellite power difficulty.)

Josephine Alindajao, the director of the Institute for Primary Health (IPHC) of the Davao Medical School Foundation, said it was the aspiration of then-DMSF president Father Manny Reyes, SJ to have a satellite antenna station in Marilog, the mountainous barangay of Davao City, which is inhabited by Bagobo and Matigsalug Indigenous people. Marilog has 19,433 people whose livelihood is centered on farming, hunting and fishing. Although this upland area is only two hours away from Davao City, it has no access to the internet, or a wireless connection and digital services. The DMSF has been sending their medical and other health students (dentistry, nursing and others) to provide health services for the people of Marilog as part of their one-month immersion practicum for their subject in community medicine/ health. It was difficult to monitor the situation of the students then because there was no satellite facility in this upland area.

In March 2023, Access Mindanao finally installed a satellite antenna station at the Marilog District Hospital compound, in partnership with IPHC-DMSF and this public hospital. The availability of the internet through the satellite technology has enabled the students to directly contact their mentors, and their preceptor from the Marilog District Hospital for advice on some difficult cases in the community. The public hospital also utilizes the satellite’s internet services for telemedicine, for referrals of their patients to other hospitals in Davao City and for other administrative matters.

Josephine said this facility makes it easier for IPHC-DMSF faculty to monitor the activities and other needs of the medical and other health students in Marilog. The school has a memorandum of agreement with Access Mindanao and with the district hospital, on how to manage, provide security and technical support to maintain the satellite antenna station. The IPHCDMSF intends to continue paying for the monthly subscription of the satellite facility after the Access Mindanao grant ends next year.

The foregoing information that was shared by Gwyneth and Josephine has provided insights about the benefits derived from the satellite technology, for the continuing education of indigenous children in some mission schools and for the provision of health services in an Indigenous community. I am certain that there are more positive narratives as well as some challenges in the other 16 communities where this technology has been installed. Social preparation, community ownership and sustainability are important indicators in considering this program as a best practice. I think these vital indices are covered by Access Mindanao’s endeavor to bridge the digital divide in Mindanao.