Ifugao solon brokers peace in Abra tribal hostilities

By Robeliza Halip

Rep. Teddy BrawnerBaguilat will mediate a boundary dispute to prevent an impending tribal war between the Maeng tribe of Tubo, Abra and the Balatoc, Belwang and Masadiit tribes of Boliney, also in Abra.

The participation of Baguilat, who chairs the House of Representatives Committee on National Cultural Communities, was requested by the organization TipontiUmili Para itiPanangsaluadtiNakaparsuan which represents the Maeng tribe, for the NCC, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.

A visit in the disputed area in Mt Poswoy in the boundary of Tubo and Boliney in Abra, is set this week as part of the mediation process.

Baguilat will be joined in the inspection by the local chief executives of Tubo and Boliney along with their elders and leaders.

The inspection will involve identification of traditional boundaries by the tribes, which will later on be used for three-dimensional (3D) mapping.
A 3D map will be constructed starting Jan. 28 to serve as the main tool in facilitating discussions between the two tribes.

The tribes will identify in the said map their previous agreements on traditional boundaries. From there, negotiations will be conducted until the parties come up with a consensus on the placement of their final boundaries.

In a joint resolution signed by the mayors of the concerned municipalities requesting for support from OPAPP for the construction of the 3D map, the parties recognized the need for a peaceful resolution of their boundary conflict as it is essential for the approval of their Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) application and development of their communities.

“I hope that the ocular inspection and the 3D mapping of the area will resolve the heated conflict between the two tribes over their ancestral domain boundaries,” Baguilat said.

“With the help of NCIP and OPAPP, we will be applying customary law to resolve this dispute,” Baguilat added.

Two technical working group meetings on the boundary dispute were conducted in the House of Representatives last year where the two tribes met the NCC led by Baguilat and agreed to discuss the issue.

The ocular inspection and the construction of a 3D map are part of the agreements reached by the two tribes in the said meetings.

“All of us who are involved in this mediation hope that this process will be a model in peacefully resolving disputes among conflicting tribes, and perhaps even non-indigenous parties,” Baguilat said.

The mediation is also assisted by the Foundation for Philippine Environment and the Philippine Association for Intercultural Development.