Friday, November 30, 2007 IPs want to be consulted on granting of MILF territory By Carlo P. Mallo
AS THE 2nd Mindanao Indigenous People's Conference for Peace and Development came to a close Thursday, tribal leaders again echoed their calls for the government to consult with them before granting the ancestral domain claims of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Tribal leaders expressed concern over the ancestral domain claims of the MILF as some of these claims are occupied by other tribal groups.
Datu Joel Unad, convener of the conference, said in an interview they should be included in the talks between the government and the MILF.
"Tribes have lived in these places as far back as history," Unad said.
The ancestral domain claim of the MILF stretches from the Zamboanga peninsula to the provinces of Cotabato all the way down to Sarangani.
However, Unad said there are also other tribal groups that have their ancestral domain claims in some of these areas.
Unad proposed that the government panel and the MILF directly talk with the tribal leaders in order for them to settle whatever differences there may be in their ancestral domain claims.
