Members of a Mangyan community

Two days after being honored by the provincial government of Oriental Mindoro, Philippines, for six decades of dedicated service to the Indigenous Peoples (IP) of the province, German missionary Fr. Ewald Dinter, SVD, 88, passed away on November 14 at UST Hospital in Manila.

Badbad Mangday, 74, an indigenous Hanunuo Mangyan, in a far-flung mountain in Mansalay, southern town in Oriental Mindoro province wakes up at chicken crows, from a good night undisturbed sleep by what could be a “modern life” for those living in the lowlands.

In a country where over 124,000 Filipinos die prematurely each year from ischemic heart disease caused by elevated LDL cholesterol and plaque accumulation, the indigenous Mangyan people of Mindoro Island present a striking contrast.