Claimants seek moratorium on processing of Baguio ancestral lands

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

By Roger Sinot

Aunt Rebecca Tagle Mataba, an ancestral land claimant elder from the Loakan area hit the nail on the head when she said in her prayers: “Sikajunap-apo ja apangdu nu sikhami” (you, our ancestors who went ahead of us) … who have seen nothing out of your struggles, guide us so that we will finally see the end in the processing of titles over ancestral lands that we inherited from you…”

Lack of knowledge about what was coming that afternoon made the mood in the big room tense as NCIP Commissioner Brigs Hamada Pawid welcomed more than a hundred Baguio Ibaloy participants in the General Assembly for Baguio Ancestral Land Claimants held at the Church of the Resurrection last week.

With Regional Director Amador Batay-an and Regional Hearing Officer Brain Masweng, Manang Brigs updated the participants about the status of their land claims, many of which are now being questioned in the courts and being reviewed by the NCIP commission.

I looked at faces, wanting to find out what has been bugging them, but blank expressions and body movements do not reveal much. They, too were looking for answers.

I think it is fundamental in the nature of the Ibaloys to stay quiet when faced with things unfamiliar to them. But what is bad is that they turn to “advisers” who are similarly ignorant of true situations, instead of approaching the right persons. They talk among themselves and that is where unsubstantiated conclusions resulting from gossip are born.

The question and answer portion in the afternoon meeting was more revealing and quite enlightening to a number of claimants. And of course, entertaining, especially that portion when Manang Brigs told the claimants “the truth is you bribed the NCIP, you bribed the people who are helping you and destroyed the chances of other people to process their ancestral land claims.”

In many instances, Commissioner Pawid mentioned about claimants who sold lands that they knew they did not own. “Buwakaw tayo,” she said. This added to the ancestral land problem in the city, in addition to the fact that ancestral land claims are being opposed by city authorities.    

The answers indeed were quite the same – failure to come forward to follow up the status of their ancestral land applications. Borrowing the words from Commissioner Pawid, “what is there to process and update if some of the required documents are kept in the hands of the claimant?” She urged them to approach the three lawyers of the agency – Hearing Officer Masweng, Legal Officer John Ray Libiran and Regional Director Batay-an. “Saan kayo agbabain.”

The other questions that the trio faced ranged from demolition orders being issued left and right by the city to the non-issuance of building permits, aside from inter-family squabbles. The answers lie on the procedures which revealed that there are people in city hall who do not abide by the same rules that their predecessors followed. Each to his own rule, that’s it.

Recently, the city came up with rules on the issuance of permits over ancestral lands. Although LGUs have the power to issue orders within its areas, I say the recent one is out of bounds, because the IPRA as a national law says that only NCIP has the power to implement rules when it comes to ancestral lands. Commissioner Pawid and Dir. Batay-an said, “city officials cannot speak for NCIP.”

Although Aunt Rebecca as well as the other land claimants were enlightened in some way, a question shared by all remained: “when will we get our CALTs?” This, considering that elderly claimants are dying one after the other. In answer to that, the NCIP officials asked the Baguio ancestral land claimants to submit a resolution requesting the Commission en banc to lift the moratorium on the processing of ancestral land papers. I see brighter skies knowing that this will be granted.

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Silence and nodding of heads characterized the summit on autonomy held at the Baguio City National High School when the audience were told about what will happen to the draft once it is filed and discussed on the floor in Congress. Congressmen Nick Aliping, Manuel Agyao and Eleanor Bulut-Begtang of Baguio, Kalinga and Apayao, respectively, gave their support to the filing of the third autonomy draft bill for the Cordillera, but that is exactly their role as representatives of the people.

For Congressmen Max Dalog and Ronald Cosalan of Mountain Province and Benguet, respectively, they warned about the realities and possibilities that will happen to it once it is deliberated on the floor. There are around 270 members of the house against only seven Cordillera congressmen. What is certain is that the outcome of the draft will not appear the same as when it was first filed.

But, I sincerely appreciate Domogan’s consistency and resoluteness in justifying the provisions of the third draft, even while he knew by experience that it will be dissected and scrutinized by the other congressmen, depending on their mood – whether they will be one with their Cordillera colleagues or be overzealous with what is forthcoming to the region in terms of benefits as compared to their region.

Filing a bill is an act that would surely happen even in the absence of a manifesto, a part of the program that stimulated reservations from Kalinga Governor Jocel Baac saying “apay, mamin-anu tayo nga agpirma ti manifesto?” And urged the congressmen saying, “i-file yun.”

Dalog confirmed Cosalan’s observation that regional autonomy may be the best option for development, but there are realities and struggles that have to be hurdled. Cosalan warned that the draft’s provisions should not be discovered by congress as unconstitutional – referring to the provision on “control of natural resources” that is explicitly “owned by the state”. This calls for an amendment of the Constitution that may require a plebiscite nationwide.