ON APRIL 12, Cherry Ann Codilla from the Bagobo-Klata tribe was declared as the IPMR who will sit in the council.
Codilla then bared in a recent press conference that as IPMR she plans to implement a program offering free boarding house for IP students and an IP Desk in hospitals to assist IPs in processing documents.
However, with the recent developments, it may seem like her representation of the IPs and her programs for them will be delayed.
This after the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) questioned Codilla's Bagobo-Klata lineage. The agency also questioned Codilla's fluency of the Bagobo-Klata's language.
Codilla did point out that she has already undergone validation even before the selection process began.
"Before the selection process, I was validated thrice. When I entered as Talaukom in our Barangay, I was validated by NCIP with the elders. You cannot be chosen as one of the Talaukom (tribal council) if you are not from Bagobo-Klata. NCIP conducted another validation with the community with the presence of almost 200 members of the community. Before the selection at Almacen, on the spot (there was a validation) with all the Klata Tribe was there, those who are not from Bagobo-Klata are asked to return home because they cannot be allowed to join. If I am not a Klata member they should have made objections long ago," she said.
With the delay of her appointment, she said for over a month now volunteers under the office of IPMR are not paid, and their projects are still on hold.
The issue has also reached the office of Davao City Vice Mayor Bernard Al-ag, who forwarded a letter questioning NCIP's recent moves.
"Delaying the assumption of the office of Codilla to the detriment of the welfare of the Indigenous Peoples cannot be justified in any way. The IP sector is clamoring for representation at Sangguniang Panlungsod," Al-ag said in his letter.
The recent developments done by the NCIP definitely raises a lot of questions. If they have these concerns all along why have they not raised it prior to the selection process? What are their agenda in doing this after the selection has been made and the winner declared?
While the NCIP has been questioning Codilla's qualifications as IPMR, it has since been somehow quiet on the issue as to why it is doing this now.
Al-ag said he had already tried to call the office of NCIP to relay his concerns about the validation of the IPMR but Regional Director Geroncio Aguio was always away or not in his office.
The NCIP, the agency mandated to protect and promote the interest and well-being of the IPs, should be clear on what its intention is because right now the move is seen as it is politicizing the IPMR post.
IPMR representative of Barangay Angalan Emmie Adalan alleged that NCIP has its own bet for IPMR which was not favored, reason why they are asking for this re-validation.
What they are doing may delay the concerns of the IPs that need to be addressed.
We are calling on NCIP to get itself together, resolve the issue quickly, and as much as possible, not politicize the situation.