Goldlink consults Tuba folks

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

Roger D. Sinot

ASIN HOT SPRING, Tuba, Benguet – Last Jan. 19, at the Tadiangan Barangay Hall, the Benguet office of the National Commission On Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) under Ms Nora L. Ramos opened the first Consultative Community Assembly (CCA) relative to the application for Certificate of Precondition (CP) of the Goldlink Global Energy Corp. for its proposed Hydro Power Plant Project within the Ancestral Domain of Tuba.

The activity was part of the mandatory Free Prior Informed Consent process that Mrs. Olga Dangwa and I as landowners and officers of the Tadiangan-Nangalisan Indigenous Hydro Ancestral Landowners Association, Inc. (TNHALA) attended.

Ramos said, another assembly was set on Feb. 2 in Tadiangan Barangay, Feb. 3 in Nangalisan and Feb. 4 in Barangay Poblacion. On these days, proponent Goldlink will present the scope and extent of its proposal, clarify and explain its operational plan to the concerned ICCs/IPs and the Council of Elders/Leaders. The presentation will include perceived disadvantages or adverse effects to the community and the measures to be adopted by the proponent to mitigate these effects.

 The CELL was organized on the spot during the first CCA and is composed of 10 individuals from the barangay LGUs and landowners. The Council will decide whether another meeting is necessary to complete the process.

The opposition if any, may be given equal time in the presence of NCIP. The NCIP may cause the conduct of an assembly of all the members of the community who may be represented by the household heads. In case of any disagreement among the stakeholders, a voting process by the open raising of hands will proceed with the NCIP “determining” who would vote.

The resulting decision will be explained and properly documented; and the terms, conditions and compromises will be written in a memorandum of agreement to be signed by all parties in the presence of the NCIP. The MOA may later be translated in Ilocano or Ibaloy or in a language understood by the parties, with their signatures or thumb marks affixed to the document.

Under Section 6 of Republic Act  8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), the ICCs/IPs shall, within their communities, determine for themselves, policies, development programs, projects and plans to meet their identified priority needs and concerns. THE ICCs/IPs SHALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO ACCEPT OR REJECT a certain development activity or undertaking in their communities.

Indigenous Peoples (IPs) was defined by the late Senator Flavier as the “offspring and heirs of the people who had first inhabited and cared for the land before any central government was established. Their ancestors had territories over which they ruled themselves and related with other tribes.

These territories - the land - include people, their dwelling, the mountains, the waters, the air, plants, forest and the animals. This is their environment in its totality. Their existence as indigenous peoples is manifested in their own lives through political, economic, socio-cultural and spiritual practices.

The IPs culture is the living and irrefutable proof to this. Their survival depends on securing or acquiring land rights on it; otherwise, IPs shall cease to exist as distinct peoples. The way I understood, the state now recognizes the inherent dignity, the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the society, for these are the foundations or pillars of freedom, justice and peace.”

Speaking of Tuba as an ancestral domain in Southern Benguet; Section 5 of Article XII of the Constitution protects the rights of ICCs over their ancestral lands, ensures their economic, social and cultural well-being. The Ibaloy is the main tribe or ethnic group found in the valleys and mountains in the southern part of Benguet, aside from the Kankana-eys who trace their roots from the northern part. Like other Igorots in the Cordillera region, they live a good life enshrined in the system of mores, beliefs, rites and rituals.

May the FPIC process be fruitful and beneficial to both parties - the proponent Goldlink Global Energy Corp. and Ibaloy ICCs/IPs of Tuba. May God (Kavunyan) give wisdom and courage to the Ibaloys of Tuba to once again make a decision beneficial to them, the community and the next generations.

Happy trails everyone!