Dionesia O. Banua, age 45 was the first Tagbanua ever to be appointed as a Commissioner of the Philippine National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). She was sworn in by Philippine President Benigno Aquino III on December 2, 2010.
“Dioning”, as she is called by friends, has had a long history in her commitment to indigenous peoples of Palawan. She was an industrious youngster and became a scholar of the Office of the Southern Cultural Communities (OSCC), the precursor of the NCIP. She finished a degree in Agriculture at the Palawan National Agricultural College (PNAC) in Aborlan, Palawan – her home and the heartland of the Tagbanua people.
After college, she worked for the local NGO Palawan Center for Appropriate Rural Technology, Inc (PCART). where she practiced her profession with IPs and other farmers. Later she worked for the Tribal Filipino Apostolate where she served for 4 years assisting communities on land tenure, health and resource management concerns. She then became staff of the Nagkakaisang mga Tribu ng Palawan (NATRIPAL) or “United Tribes of Palawan” and became their Executive Director in 2000. She served her term as Director until 2006 when she received a scholarship from the Ford Foundation to study Masters in Environmental Management at the Ateneo de Manila University.
With her masteral degree in hand, Dioning chose to immerse herself back in Palawan life, working with indigenous communities on forest conservation and advocacy concerns. She is also a teacher at the Remnant International College in Aborlan, Palawan.
As an NCIP commissioner, Dioning will be reviewing applications for certificates of ancestral domain titles, apart from working on other socio-economic concerns related to IPs.
Dioning is a happy mother of 7 kids.
Dionesia Banua served as a board member of NTFP-EP for 10 years (2000-2010). NTFP-EP wishes her well in this new challenge of government service.