NCIP-CAR suspends issuance of CALTs

By Pryce E. Quintos

BAGUIO CITY -- Ancestral land claimants will have to wait for an indefinite time for their Certificates of Ancestral Land Titles (CALTs)  with the  order of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to  its regional office in the Cordillera Region  to suspend the  issuance of CALTs.

NCIP-CAR Regional Director Amador Batay-an made the announcement during a forum on the ancestral land issue  held at the University of the Philippines- Baguio last week.

“Our apologies to the claimants,” said Batay-an during the forum. “But this is a response to the clamor of all stakeholders in Baguio that the NCIP will act on this (the issuance of CALTs).”

Batay-an said that their office is still accepting applications and that they will still do investigations, but no CALT is to be issued until the moratorium is lifted.

He told legitimate claimants of the moratorium’s temporary nature, adding that the applications will be acted upon once “things have been cleared.”

The suspension is based on Section 21 of Joint Department of  Agrarian Reform-Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources-Land Registration Authority-NCIP Administrative Order No. 01-12 wherein ancestral domain/ancestral land titling by NCIP over identified contentious areas "shall remain suspended unless resolved by the concerned Joint Provincial/Regional or National Committee."

Mixed public opinion rose earlier this month when an Ibaloi family was granted a writ of possession permitting them to evict tenants of the century-old Casa Vallejo in this city based on CALTs issued by the NCIP.

Opposing statements by the NCIP and DENR have led to a pending case before the Supreme Court and investigation on the issuance of CALTs over Casa Vallejo has compelled the NCIP en banc to order a status quo against the writ of possession.

The city government has earlier sought the cancellation of CALTs awarded by NCIP to ancestral claimants  overlapping  with city government, national government, and private properties including  reservations and  parks.