IBALOI tribal leader Roger Sinot has asked the Baguio City Council to review position papers relative to the selection process of the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) conducted last year.
Sinot won in the first IPMR election in November last year but was questioned by City Mayor Mauricio Domogan for the lack of participation of other indigenous tribes like the Kankana-ey and the Kalanguyas in the selection process.
At present, the IMPR seat in Baguio is open, keeping Sinot’s elusive take over at bay.
Sinot said the selection process was deemed legitimate according to elders, customary laws of the Indigenous Peoples conducted through the “Tavtaaval – Tongtong”
The position papers were submitted by Sinot and Lawyer Harriet Abyadang of the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) “in order for the vice mayor and the esteemed members of the local council may have a better understanding of the dynamics of how the mandatory representative of the IP’s was selected and to be further enlightened.”
Sinot, in his letter to the City Council, criticized NCIP Regional Director Roland Calde on his conduct during the appearance to the city council regarding the issue on the contested IPMR.
Calde said the IPMR seat is open until a consensus is reached anew by Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs) groups in the city.
Calde said the NCIP is bringing back the issues hounding Sinot to the Ibaloi, Kalanguya and Kankana-ey groups in another round of assemblies to decide if they will uphold his previous selection as IPMR or decide to go through another selection process.
Calde said with protests against the previous selection of Sinot, the NCIP has decided to create a body to oversee the new round of talks with the three groups involved.
The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 provides the right of IPs to participate fully at all levels of decision-making through procedures determined by them as well as to maintain and develop their own indigenous structures.