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Saturday, November 19, 2005
Tribes, LGU junk logging in Caraga
By Antonio M. Ajero
MEMBERS of indigenous tribes, with the Mandaya tribe in the town of Caraga, Davao Oriental as the biggest, strongly opposed the return of massive logging operations in their place.
Mandaya tribal chieftain Copertino "Coper" M. Banugan, head of the Tribal Council of Elders (Mangkatadong) in the municipality, made this claim Wednesday adding that the Municipal Government headed by Mayor Alicia B. Mori also shared the same sentiment.
Mori, together with Vice Mayor Andresito S. Burgos and other town officials, issued an executive order creating the municipal task force on environmental protection, preservation, and maintenance of natural resources.
Earlier, the Municipal Council of Baganga town demanded an immediate investigation on the sudden lifting of the 19-year suspension of the timber license agreement (TLA) of Matuguina Wood Products Inc. (MIWPI) without public consultation as provided for by law.
A resolution signed by Baganga Vice Mayor Cecilio Monday expressed the local government's concern "about the sustainability and security in the protection and utilization of the natural resources of the municipality."
Matuguina's TLA reportedly covers a total of 65,000 hectares, including areas applied by indigenous peoples (lumads) for a certificate of ancestral domain claims (CADF) and those being developed for community-based forest management (CBFM).
Banugan said Mandaya chieftains under the council met recently and approved a resolution expressing opposition to the operation of Matuguina in the town, especially in the forests of Barangay Pichon, particularly in "Sangab, Panlaisan and all other sitios in the barangay."
The lifting of the suspension of the Matuguina logging concession reportedly incenses the lumads, as it was an insult to the indigenous peoples whose rights are recognized under the Indigenous People's Rights Act (IPRA).
Banugan said conscienceless logging companies have taken advantage of the oppressed lumads for decades.
"Now that that we have a law protecting our rights and ancestral domain, they (logging capitalists) continue insulting us by acting as if the IPRA law does not exist," Banugan said in local dialect.
One said insult, he added, was the lifting of the 19-year suspension of Matuguina's TLA without publicly consulting the people and obtaining first the so-called "Free Prior Informed Consent" (FPIC) required under the law.
The council members, "aware of the disadvantages of a logging operation and its ill-effects to the environment," are unanimous in opposing the logging operation of Matuguina, Banugan said.
Aside from Banugan as presiding officer, 67 other lumad leaders, youths and professionals signed the resolution, which was certified to by Benverita I. Bayon, the council of elders' secretary.
"We are advising regional officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources led by Regional Executive Edilberto Buiser and PENRO and CENRO officers against tolerating Matuguina's logging operation, lest they suffer the wrath of the lumads," Banugan warned.
The council of elders furnished copies of its resolution to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Representative Corazon N. Malanyaon and the National Commission of Indigenous Peoples among others.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (November 19, 2005 issue)
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