NCIP chair lashes out at critics on award of Baguio ancestral titles

BAGUIO CITY – The outgoing chairman of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples here challenged his critics on the awarding of certificates of ancestral land titles (CALTs) to vast tracks of land within the Baguio Dairy Farm and the Forbes Park watershed and forest reservations to question the same in court and not subject the agency to trial by publicity.

Lawyer Eugenio Ensigne, NCIP chairman and concurrent Commissioner for the Cordillera, said the resolutions awarding 69 hectares from the Baguio Dairy Farm to the Icang Paus clan and another 23 hectares from the Forbes Park forest reservation to the heirs of Lauro Carantes have passed due deliberations by the Commission en banc with all contending parties given the chances to present their respective evidences.

Ironically, Ensigne was out of the country on official business when the Commission decided to approve the grant of the certificates of ancestral land title to the beneficiaries but he is being constantly ridiculed and criticized by aggrieved parties for making the award.

In the case of the Baguio Dairy Farm, the NCIP granted the awards to the Icang Paus considering they are the ones who were able to prove their claim over the property which are far more superior than the pieces of evidences presented by the Carino clan, who is also claiming the property.

Ensigne said it is unfair for the Carino clan to malign him by trial by publicity when in fact, they were given a chance to question the Commission’s action before the Court of Appeals since it is the courts which are mandated by law to decide on conflicts on the interpretation of lawful provisions.

If the clan has substantial pieces of evidence to prove the NCIP erred in awarding the titles to the Icang Paus clan, Ensigne recommended the aggrieved party should file the appropriate petition to nullify the same and they are very much willing to correct their previous actions once they are proven to have made a mistake.

On the other hand, the NCIP chairman claimed it was the heirs of Lauro Carantes who were able to prove the validity of their claims over a 23-hectare property within the Forbes Park watershed and forest reservation which passed required procedures contrary to the claim of the city government that the same was issued irregularly.

Ensigne questioned the local government and concerned sectors in the city why they did not question the titles issued to rich individuals over large portions of the reservation in the past, thus, most parts of the reservation are now owned by non-residents of the city.

He said his his critics should observe the legal processes in questioning the issued titles and not subject them to trial by publicity since their families are the ones suffering from the malicious, baseless, unfair and unfounded allegations being hurled by the disgruntled clan members against what they have done.

Ensigne said he felt being singled out in criticisms against the alleged questionable award of several tracks of land within the Baguio Dairy Farm and Forbes Park watershed and forest reservation.-- Dexter A. See