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LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March Fianza

After having documented age-old Cordillera tribal practices of forest protection in book form entitled  “Sustainable Traditional Indigenous Forest Resources Management Systems and Practices” (STIFRMSP), the manuscript has yet to be confirmed and signed by the elders or IPO of the community that carries out the particular tradition.

In all the documentation process and in compliance with the Joint Administrative Order 2008-1 signed by then DENR Sec. Jose Atienza Jr and NCIP chair Eugenio Insigne, personnel from both offices assisted the IPOs and members of indigenous cultural communities or ICCs in coming up with the finished manuscript.

The JAO 2008-1 guarantees the issuance of appropriate government policies that will finally recognize and integrate age-old indigenous forest management systems of tribal communities nationwide into the mainstream policies of the DENR. Finally, the giant woke up to the truth.

Personally, as in the concept of ancestral domain, I look at the STIFRMSP manuscript as a big step towards the desire by a community to have control over its natural resources. In both cases, they are somewhat impressions of autonomy.

The formulation of the JAO is “better late than never”. Kalinga PENRO Sev Dalotag called it “victory for the IPs”, considering that for years after the country was ceded by Spain to the US, tribal communities in the Cordillera have been subjected to inflexible forest laws that found them jailed for simply gathering forest by-products. In short, the laws issued by the government were not responsive to the traditional practices of IPs.

The manuscripts will now be forwarded to the DENR and NCIP central offices for the signature of the office bosses. After that, the documents will be brought back to the Cordillera LGUs and IPOs for implementation. Let us pray that each STIFRMSP will be implemented smoothly.

However, there are ticklish issues that need to be threshed out because there are people in government who, by no good reasons, refuse to sign the document of the IPs that their office has sworn to assist and protect. Their reason: “I did not participate in the preparation of the manuscript.” Although, there may be other reasons that they are not telling us.  

I am referring to a few NCIP personnel. In some few informal interviews with IPO members, I gathered that there were some of them who did not want to participate in the signing and confirming the document because of the issue regarding unclear land boundaries. That may also be the reason why some NCIP personnel do not want to sign the STIFRMSP manuscript.

True, there are boundary disputes involving LGUs and ancestral lands. But what the documents are affirming are the sustainable forest management systems of IPs. It is not in any manner resolving quarrels over boundaries. This has to be explained clearly.

I believe what has to be considered is that the documents were prepared by the IPOs based on their knowledge of indigenous practices that have not been recorded. The DENR and other agencies merely participated by providing logistics and assistance. It no longer matters whether the NCIP participated or not, what is important is that we now have the indigenous practices recorded in black and white and incorporated in the laws of the land.

By the way, in other signing ceremonies, NCIP Director Amador Batay-an signed the documents. Now, why should a lower level officer of the same office refuse to put his or her signature when the boss himself is agreeable to the contents of the manuscript? And if they admit that they did not participate in the formulation of the manuscript, then there should be sanctions meted on them because it is clear that they have violated provisions of the JAO 2008-1.