Lumad in Bukidnon end stand-off with DENR overall ancestral lands

Publishing date: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 (1:10 PM)

The Indigenous People in Bukidnon province recently agreed to recognize a government's program to reform the land titling system that is foreseen to affect their ancestral land in the province, giving way to the full implementation of the second phase of the Land Administration and Management Project (LAMP2) which is being spearheaded by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in partnership with the World Bank (WB) and Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid).

DENR Secretary Lito Atienza welcomed the development saying "the implementation of the project bears directly on the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) wherein the intention of the law is to give due recognition to the indigenous people's (IPs) rights over our natural resources because our country cannot attain a complete progress unless the IPs also attain economic progress."

Chieftains representing the province's indigenous communities signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with local DENR senior executives spelling out conditions that call for the recognition of the groups' established cultural norms on land ownership in the titling of their lands.

Set against the traditional Talaandig rites, the signing was held in Lantapan, Bukidnon with LAMP2 Executive Director Samuel R. Peñafiel and LAMP2 Project Manager/Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO) Agustilo A. Obsioma signing the agreement which was crafted after series of discussions, dialogues and consultations conducted between LAMP2 representatives and the lumad in the presence of World Bank and Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) representatives.

"This activity, the first being entered by LAMP2 with a group of indigenous people (IP) is a binding understanding in compliance with the IPRA, which is the best law ever formulated for the IPs in protecting their ancestral domains, territories and cultural rights," according to Peñafiel.

For the lumad's side, Datu Migketay Victorino L. Saway, leader of the Talaandig People and Custodian of Historic Agreements on Traditional Territory and Datu Umpongan Romando Sambile, Sr., chairman of the Unified Tribal Development Council of Elders (BUTRIDCE), signed the MOU on behalf of the Talaandig-Bukidnon-Higaonon cultural groups.

Saway explained that an important part of the MOU is on conflict resolutions that adopts the provisions and policies contained under the Philippine Constitution, the IPRA, the United Nation Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and the International Labor Convention (ILO 169).

"This historic event is very significant to us because in invoking the native title as a legal right and a part of a colonial system the management of LAMP2 recognizes the rights of the IPs thus protecting our rights to our ancestral domain," Datu Saway said who previously brought out, together with other tribal leaders, their sentiments that the implementation of LAMP2 in their area will undermine their ancestral claim, that the lumad will be disadvantaged if they will have their land titled and the entry of agri-business corporations in IP communities will intensify due to titling that will eventually force the lumad to sell their lands.

Doubts were raised as to whether the implementation of LAMP2 in Bukidnon might undermine the communities' ancestral claims in the province as apprehensions among members were largely fueled by fears that LAMP2 implementation might not conform to the communities' time-honored concept of land ownership.

Earlier, Datu Elfranco Linsahay, an IP leader have asked for the temporary suspension of LAMP2 implementation in Manolo Fortich to ensure that the project's implementation will adhere to the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) procedure before commencing any land titling activities within their areas.

On the other hand LAMP2 assured the IPs to conform with the World Bank's Operational Directive/Policy to recognize and protect the lands, territorial and cultural rights of IPs by complying with the FPIC to affected communities in the implementation of the project.

"The project has only good intentions to our countrymen particularly in the province of Bukidnon which is to provide security of tenure by issuing land titles to those who want to apply for free patents without undermining the rights of the IPs," Penafiel said.

The IPRA which ensures the protection of the IPs' rights are now being implemented in the DENR and it is evident through the implementation of land administration reform programs being pursued by the project, Peñafiel added. (lmm)