Monday, May 21, 2007 N. Cotabato lumads await ancestral land claim
MAGPET, North Cotabato -- After many years of yearning for it, the indigenous peoples (IPs) of the villages of Manobisa and Imamaling here are close to owning their ancestral land with the upcoming completion of the delineation and survey of the land being contested.
The National Commission for the Indigenous People (NCIP), through the assistance of the GOP-UN ACT for Peace Program, has so far completed the survey of the 2650-hectare ancestral domain claimed by the Manobo, the processing of which started as early as 1999.
It was only last year that the processing of the claim gone full-blown after the Program provided financial assistance to the NCIP.
Lawyer Eric Raz, NCIP director for North Cotabato Province, said they are doing all their best to complete the survey and start the actual titling of the land to finally distribute to the claimants.
"We are doing everything that we can do just to fast track the process. We are doing everything to complete and give them the titles. We are, in fact, thankful that a program has extended us financial assistance," Raz said.
The delineation and titling of the ancestral land of the IPs is one of the various engagements of the NCIP and the ACT for Peace for Manobisa and Imamaling which are also declared as Peace and Development Communities (PDCs).
In the memorandum of agreement signed by NCIP representatives and officials of the ACT for Peace, both parties gave high regard on the importance of giving the lumad their rightful claim for their ancestral domain as "encroachment of these lands breed conflict."
Also behind the partnership is the recognition that respecting the rights of the IPs is an important component in peace building.
Secretary Jesus Dureza, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and national program director of the ACT for Peace, said the IPs have always been confronted by the problems that threatened the security and sanctity of their culture and traditions.
This, he said, has been brought by the influx of migration, armed conflicts, and development aggression.
"The phenomenon of assimilation has alienated the IPs from their own traditional social system. The Program recognizes the interest and welfare of the IPs. We have the IPRA (Indigenous Peoples Rights Act) and this has to be implemented," Dureza said.
It is also expected that an Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan (ADSDPP) will be formed in these two PDCs.
PDCs Manobisa and Imamaling were also areas of the United Nations Multi-Donor Porgram, the previous phase of the ACT for Peace.
Implemented by the Mindanao Economic Development Council, the Programme has been assisting 229 PDCs to strengthen and sustain peace-building initiatives in Southern Philippines and is supported by the Governments of Australia, New Zealand and Spain. (ACT for Peace)
