Maeng tribe signs indigenous forest management practice

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

TUBO, Abra – “Sustainable development is not new. It has been practiced in the Cordillera since time immemorial.” Atty. Amador Batay-an, regional director of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in the Cordillera had this to say during the signing of the manuscripts for the “Lapat” as a Sustainable Traditional Indigenous Forest Resources Management Systems and Practices (STIFRMSP) for the Maeng tribe.

Taking off from Forester Rex Sapla, team leader of the TWG who explained the need to put in writing indigenous forest management systems in the Cordillera, Dir. Batay-an challenged the crowd of Maeng elders called Mananakem, parents, teachers and local officials saying, “the implementation of the signed document is now in your hands.” A municipal ordinance incorporating the manuscript in Tubo’s rules related to environment management is expected to be legislated after it is signed by DENR Sec. Ramon Paje and NCIP Chair Leonor Quintayo.

            

DENR Regional Executive Director Clarence L. Baguilat and Forest Management Services Technical Director Augusto Lagon earlier read the manuscript before this was forwarded to Tubo for signing. It was through their insistence along with Batay-an that the STIFRMSP order was crafted and was considered for implementation in the Cordillera, however, then DENR Sec. Mike Defensor opted to include all IP areas in the country.  The Cordillera is the first region to implement the joint DENR-NCIP order, thus becoming a pilot area.

            

The document that was considered by the Maeng Tribe as a very important and unique manuscript was signed in a “bagawas,” a special ritual of butchering a black native pig and a chicken by the Mananakem at sunrise that was held to recognize a significant event in Tubo’s history. Forester Sapla is the team leader of the TWG composed of Engr. Simeon Micklay, Forester Flor Pacio and Pat Tayaban.

They were tasked to finish at least 14 STIFRMPS manuscripts in the Cordillera. Rex explained to the crowd the importance of the “Lapat” system in the document, saying that this would finally stop other environmental laws from encroaching on centuries-old systems that have been practiced by indigenous peoples. As this was being explained I noticed the elders nodding their heads under the Tubo warm morning sun, a sign of acceptance of something that has yet come.

Francisco Tomas Cayasen, author of books about the Dap-ay and the Maeng history said,Maeng is a place near the Dilong River in Barangay Batayan on the other side of Agawa in Besao. Sometime in the 1900s, a tribal war sparked between the Maeng and the Tannulong people of Sagada after the former poisoned the river when the latter constructed irrigation canals without permission that decreased the volume of water supply going to Tubo.

The act of poisoning the water with the pounded fruit of the Kanumey tree rendered the rice fields and water irrigation of Tannulong useless, so that at least five feet of top soil had to be removed to get rid of the poison that killed the rice and plants. Kanumey is now strictly prohibited under the Lapat. Although on the positive side, the act of poisoning the water triggered a peace pact between the tribes that lasted for more than a hundred years.       

           

For Mayor Guilbert P. Ballangan, he said, he expects the DENR and NCIP to help them tell their neighboring municipalities of Sagada and Besao in Mountain Province to “respect the signed manuscript” as he urged his constituents to abide by the document. For centuries, the Maeng tribe of Tubo and the Kankanaey tribes of Sagada and Besao have been peacefully treating Buasao as a common area and known headwater of rivers of these municipalities even as they believed that it is within the territory of Tubo, but located near a tri-boundary.

Apparently, a dispute arose after a recent physical land survey of boundaries by the LGUs concerned was conducted that pitted them against each other. The Maeng elders and municipal council, according to Councilor Domingo Lawagan have met with officials of Sagada and have reiterated their suggestion that the area be treated as common ground.

           

To reach Tubo, travelers on motor vehicles have to cross the Manabo River on a manmade raft made of four bancas welded to each other. Along the 56 kilometer road passing through Luba and Pennarubia, newshen colleague Laarni Sibayan Ilagan’s hometown, we met rice and vegetable farmers with innocent-looking eyes.Noticeably, their body languages also manifest shyness when they encounter visitors in modern SUVs, maybe thinking in the back of their minds their situation as farmers – “manalon kami laeng” and forgetting the naked truth that while they are unsung heroes, they are more important than others because they contribute to the food supply of all Filipinos day in, day out. After a long and killing travel, I knew that everyone who reached Tubo and exchanged thoughts with the Maeng people were satisfied, at least. – ozram.666@gmail.com