July 28, 2025

Moving Forward Together: Project Caraga Welcomes New NCIP Caraga Regional Director in Strengthened Push for IP Collaboration

Butuan City, Philippines – July 2025 — In a meaningful step toward deepening partnerships for Indigenous Peoples (IP) development and climate action, Project Caraga paid a courtesy visit to the newly appointed National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Caraga Regional Director, Atty. Julius Mabini, on July 1, 2025.

Two representatives shake hands across a table during a community engagement meeting under Project Caraga.

The Project Caraga delegation was led by Deputy CEO Ansel Cabrera and Chief Operating Officer Bonnie Sanchez of Caraga Carbon Development, Inc. (CCDI), the lead implementing entity of the initiative. The visit aimed to formally present Project Caraga’s milestones and forthcoming programs as it moves into full implementation across 10 CADT-holding IP communities in the Caraga Region. 

Atty. Mabini, who brings to the role a solid background in public service and indigenous rights advocacy, expressed his commitment to ensuring that NCIP remains a responsive partner in empowering IP communities through sustainable, culturally sensitive, and rights-based approaches. His leadership signals a new chapter for inter-agency collaboration on Indigenous Peoples’ welfare in the region.
 
Project Caraga underscored the crucial role of the NCIP in guiding and upholding Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) processes, safeguarding ancestral domain rights, and ensuring that the voice and aspirations of IPs remain central to the project’s nature-based and community-rooted initiatives.
 

Project Caraga continues to anchor its work on respectful and strategic partnerships with government institutions like NCIP in realizing its core programs and activities. The engagement marks a renewed synergy as both institutions commit to bridging people, aligning purpose, and growing together for a just, inclusive, and climate-adaptive Caraga.

January 7, 2026
The Biodiversity Team held its Year-End Reporting and Sharing of Outcomes in CADT 210 and CADT 239, in Surigao del Sur bringing together community leaders and partners to review insights from the 4th quarter biodiversity monitoring and discuss next steps for conservation for 2026.
January 7, 2026
The Project Caraga Scholarship Program officially launched on December 17 at the Caraga State University HERO Learning Commons Board Room with the signing of contracts for its first Indigenous Peoples scholars.
January 7, 2026
Congratulations to Jeme-An Bustillo and Joshua Mandahinog of CADT 252 for their remarkable win in this year’s Young Farmers Challenge (YFC) held on December 4 at the Grand Palace Hotel, Butuan City. At the YFC 2025 Awarding Ceremony on December 15 at the Balanghai Hotel, Butuan City, winners were recognized and they received their cheques for their proposed projects. Among them, the coffee and cacao nursery initiative of our IP youth, Higa-Binhi, earned ₱80,000 in funding from the Department of Agriculture, support that will help them bring their vision to life.
January 7, 2026
Project Caraga, represented by ecoCarbon Group Chief Markets Officer Sophia Ong and CCDI Deputy Chief Executive Officer Anselmo Cabrera, joined the Consultative Briefing on the Blueprint for the Philippine Carbon Market Policy Framework on December 9, 2025 at the Asian Development Bank in Mandaluyong City.
January 7, 2026
Day 3 of the Caraga Coffee Festival at SM Butuan City, last December 5, 2025, wrapped up the vibrant three-day celebration of Caraga’s coffee industry with a culmination program that brought together growers, local cafe owners, and partners committed to elevating our local coffee produce.
January 7, 2026
Project Caraga attended the 4th Quarter High Value Crops Sectoral Committee Meeting hosted by the Regional Agricultural and Fishery Council at VCDU Prince Hotel, Imadejas, Butuan City on December 4, represented by Caraga Carbon Development, Inc. (CCDI) Chief Markets Officer Rowil Aguillon.
January 7, 2026
Our partner IP farmers from across Caraga joined the opening of the 2025 Caraga Coffee Festival yesterday at the Event Center of SM City Butuan, a celebration of Caraga’s finest Robusta, that will continue until December 5. For many of them, this gathering is more than an event, but a doorway to new opportunities. Here, they meet potential buyers, connect with local coffee shop owners from Butuan, and learn alongside fellow farmers supported by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Department of Agriculture (DA). 
January 7, 2026
Project Caraga held an exploratory meeting with Sunfood Marketing Inc. (SMI) on December 10, 2025, in Ko’on, Rosario, Agusan del Sur, opening discussions on how both groups can work together to better serve partner Indigenous communities in Caraga Region.
December 4, 2025
Project Caraga proudly joined global changemakers last November 17 as our Social Impact Lead, Dr. Anushka Rege, represented both the project and ecoCarbon at AlterCOP 30 in Singapore. 
December 4, 2025
Project Caraga CMO Rowil Aguillon along with our Security Officer Lou Ballescas, and Safety Officer Jhun Aldrin Carias, conducted a series of courtesy visits to key Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) units across Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Norte, and Surigao del Sur. The visits included the 402nd Brigade in Bancasi, the 23rd Infantry Battalion in Buenavista, the 901st Infantry Brigade in Placer, the 30th Infantry Battalion in Gigaquit, and the 36th and 75th Infantry Battalions in Carmen and Brgy. Magruyong, respectively.
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