Datu Rico Maca, an Indigenous People (IP) leader in Surigao del Sur, praised the recent transfer of the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) to the Office of the President (OP) from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Maca believes the move, outlined in Executive Order No. 71, will enhance government attention on IP concerns, improving resource allocation and ensuring more efficient implementation of programs that protect IP rights and ancestral lands. He thanked President Ferdinand R. Marcos for prioritizing IP communities. "This transfer assures us that our concerns will be heard at the highest level," Maca said during a phone interview Thursday. He also emphasized that the move will strengthen accountability and transparency in delivering services to the IPs. The transfer repeals a previous executive order from 2018, which had placed the NCIP under the DSWD's supervision. Now under the OP, Maca expects the commission's programs, services, and advocacy efforts to receiv e better support moving forward Source: Philippines News agency