THE National Commission for Indigenous People (NCIP) in Davao Region targets to complete the conduct of census among Indigenous Peoples (IPs) by 2022.
NCIP-Davao regional director lawyer Geroncio Aguio said the commission, through its Philippine Indigenous People Ethnographies (Pipes) program, will delineate the remaining ancestral domains and will help documenting the number of IPs.
He said documenting the exact number of IPs has been a big challenge.
"Dili man gud kaayo ma-define usahay sa enumerators so mahulog gihapon nga estimate since dili siya specific so hopefully kung mapondohan na ang Pipes na program, by 2022, matitulohan na ang tanang domain, and makuha na ang IP number kada domain, ug unsa na mga tribo (The enumerators in the surveys cannot get the exact details of the IPs, hence, we usually get estimates only and not the specific details. Hopefully, through the funding of the Pipes program, by 2020, all the ancestral domain lands will be titled and we will also get the number of IPs per domain and the tribe where they belong)," he said.
He said in Davao Region, they have almost finished in the delineation of 1.2 million hectares of ancestral domain.
"Out of 1.2 million hectares, we've covered around 900,000 hectares as of today," he said in an interview last Wednesday.
He said they are still processing other areas where majority of the remaining areas are in Davao Oriental.
He said the purchase of survey equipment under the Pipes program has already been done.
"(The purchase of equipment) was this year's target so next year the funding will be allotted for the social preparation and field activities," he said.
He said that aside from the Pipes Program, they also conduct free legal training to IP leaders for them to be able to defend their areas.
"They need it because they are the first line of defense of their domain," he said. (KVC)