THE reason why the new Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative has not been sworn in yet is because her documents proving her lineage do not match, and thus the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) is still validating these documents.
NCIP Regional Director lawyer Geroncio Aguio, in a letter to Vice Mayor Bernard Al-ag last May 11, 2018, said that the IPMR documents were returned to NCIP Davao City Provincial Office because of some concerns.
In Memorandum No. 88 dated April 30, 2018, sent by Aguio to Provincial Officer Davao City Cristito Ingay, it cited that minimum qualifications "c." of Section 8 under the Local Guideline states that to qualify as ICC/IPMR in local legislative councils, a person must at least be 25% Bagobo-Klata by blood or consanguinity, to determine his/her eligibility, a genealogical form should be presented prior to his/her selection to determine eligibility.
Aguio said that the genealogical data submitted did not match with the official record of NCIP particularly "on his great grandparents the clan of Pandian and Buisan".
"The two names did not appear in the Bagobo-Klata masterlist of the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) claim book; However, the name Pandian appears in the Bagobo-Tagabawa CADT masterlist while the name Buisan appears in the Ubo-Manuvo CADT Masterlist.
Aguio urged Ingay to conduct due diligence in the determination of the genealogy of the prospective IPMR by engaging the "elder" with proven integrity and wisdom of the IPs of the concerned tribe and their relatives to determine the true genealogy of the prospective IPMR.
"A written testimony of the head of the IPs and elders of the Bagobo-Klata, Bagobo-Tagabawa and Ubo- Manuvo would be helpful on your determination of the true and honest genealogy," Aguio said.
Another issue raised by Aguio is the local guideline "d." of Section 8, Minimum Qualifications. It states that the prospective IPMR "must be an acknowledged leader of the Bagobo-Klata Indigenous Cultural Communities, fluent in Bagobo-Klata dialect and duly validated member of the Talaukom/Pagdatua, and continuously engaged in Bagobo-Klata undertakings setting up a track record of services for the past five years, to be certified by NCIP.
Aguio said that the documents submitted to his office does not present complete document on the said qualification, particularly on the track record of services for the past five years certified by NCIP.
Aguio ordered the NCIP provincial office to submit the documents within fifteen days on the receipt of the order.
In his letter to Vice Mayor Al-ag, Aguio clearly stated that the issuance of the Certification of Affirmation (COA) and the assumption of the prospective IPMR, Cherry Ann Codilla, will depend on the result of the verification conducted at the provincial level.
"Rest assured that the NCIP Provincial Office is promptly conducting the order and that this level will furnish you update upon the completion of validation activity," Aguio told Al-ag.
Codilla was chosen last April 11, but is yet to take her seat as the new IPMR because of the COA to be issued by the NCIP.