Tibaldo: Doing research and understanding peoples' culture

I WILL be in Bontoc, Mountain Province later this week on invitation by the University of Baguio Alumni Foundation Inc. to be a resource speaker of a training on digital documentation for arts and culture. Said training is part of the university's project with the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) entitled "Immortalizing the Indigenous Peoples' Culture through Research."

Knowing that the technical component of the training workshop is a piece of cake for one who has specialized in multi-media for years, its research component which requires early preparation, coordination, questionnaire formulation and actual data gathering is what really made me flick and spin my pencil while staring at the ceiling for possible scenarios as the situation in the Cordillera is quite different compared to other places.

Conducting researches in the upland villages for sure will definitely cover culture based information that may touch Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSPs) or Customary Laws that are now covered by a certain laws. The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples being the agency mandated by law to look into such activities came up with "Research and Documentation Guidelines" or NCIP Administrative Order No. 1 Series of 2012.

For this, I will be cautioning participants that before they engage in any data-gathering or conduct interviews, they should be aware that any knowledge gained or extracted from their activity may mean dealing with a collective property that are an inherent part of their subject's cultural patrimony.

In my earlier column, I discussed about Free and Prior Informed Consent that before any research activity that affects the IPs, a documented consent shall be secured first before any activities may commence. This according to NCIP is in recognition to their intellectual contribution in the development of knowledge, and the IPs rights over these knowledge and resources. Accordingly, their voluntary consent should be based on informed opinion, which means that they should be fully informed what the activity/research is all about, what are the resources that will be gathered, and the aspects of benefit-sharing, among other concerns.

These IKSPs according to the law are systems, institutions, mechanisms, and technologies comprising a unique body of knowledge evolved through time that embody patterns of relationships between and among peoples and between peoples, their lands and resource environment, including such spheres of relationships which may include social, political, cultural, economic, religious spheres, and which are the direct outcome of the indigenous peoples, responses to certain needs consisting of adaptive mechanisms which have allowed indigenous peoples to survive and thrive within their given socio-cultural and biophysical conditions.

For our event involving research, recording and gathering of data, information and facts, it is therefore a must to have proper coordination and full understanding and participation of the indigenous cultural communities on the very purpose of said research. The recording and gaining of IKSPs whether for a study of its development, enhancement, advocacy or basis for policy and decision making must continually be protected for its cultural integrity.

The ICCs/IPs' community intellectual rights, cultural resources/treasures, religious, cultural sites and ceremonies shall be recognized, respected, promoted and protected from any adverse impact arising from the research activity. As such, actions to identify these adverse risks and impacts must be made and fully disclosed to the community concerned and measures for the elimination of the occurrence of such risks and adverse impacts, or their mitigation must be put in place.

Furthermore, the ICCs/IPs shall have the sole and exclusive right to determine the extent, content or manner of presentation of the information or knowledge that may be published or communicated with regard to their religious and cultural beliefs, rituals and/or ceremonial objects and heritage sites.

The AO, as further stated in the NCIP website www.ncipcar.gov.ph, states that IKSPs are "a class of its own" and the collective property of the IC/IP community and therefore the author, composer, inventor, writer, choreographer, arranger, lyricist, owner, first user, or preacher is not one individual but all the members of the community who belong to the past, present and future generations.

Should there be any material benefit in the form of money, goods, services including royalty, shares from its commercialization and other benefits, the ICCs and IPs should not be disregarded as owners and recipient of any compensation.

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