BANTAY GOBYERNO
Ike Señeres
Many people make the mistake of comparing our
ancestral domains with the Indian Federal Reservations in the United States, as
if these two are exactly the same with each other. There could be similarities
between the two, but in reality, one is better than the other. Here in the
Philippines, ancestral domains are granted Certificates of Ancestral Domain
Titles (CADTs), thanks to the Indigenous Peoples Republic Act (IPRA) that was
co-authored by the late Senator Juan Flavier and the hard working Congressman Ronald
Cosalan of Benguet, both of whom trace their roots from indigenous peoples from
Northern Luzon. The CADTs are issued by the National Commission on Indigenous
Peoples (NCIP), a government agency that was also created by the IPRA.
In contrast, the Indian Federal Reservations are
not granted land titles, period. What that means is that the Indians who live
in those reservations do not own the land, even if they are granted the rights
to live there. Back here in the Philippines, the indigenous tribes that live in
the ancestral domains actually own the lands that were granted to them. In
effect, these tribes own their ancestral lands as if these are their private
properties but unlike the regular private properties, they could only lease the
land, but could not sell them. And even if these lands are leased to private
persons or private companies, the elders of the tribes still have to be
consulted as to the manner that these lands will be used or developed.
In a manner of speaking, the members of these tribes
are actually rich in assets, considering the value of their communal
landholdings. However, as everyone knows, most of them are still poor, and they
live in tribal communities that are very much lacking in public services and
physical facilities. In that sense, the members of the tribes who are residing
in the Indian Federal Reservations would be richer in comparison, not only
because of federal subsidies, but also because of their incomes from the
operation of gambling casinos, a privilege or concession that is granted to
them by the State governments where their reservations are located.
As it is commonly known, the national government
does not give subsidies to the indigenous tribes, period. Their situation is
similar to that of the farmers who were given land grants under the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). They were given farmlands to
till, but they were not given the inputs that were necessary to make their
lands productive. Just like the CARP beneficiaries, the CADT beneficiaries now
have to go on their own, to look for investors or donors who could make their
lands productive, on top of the challenge to provide public services and build
physical facilities for the use of their members.
The Dominion of Canada looks at its indigenous
peoples from a totally different perspective. Canada has a law that recognizes
the rights of the so-called “First Nations”, the Indian tribes that settled in
that country long before the English, the French and the other settlers
arrived. Under that law, the “First Nations” have to be consulted about new
laws before these are passed, seemingly as a courtesy for them.
In a manner of speaking, we could actually say that
the Negrito tribes are the “First Nations” in the Philippines, because they
were already here long before the Malays and the Indonesians arrived here. It
is unlikely that they will be consulted before new laws are passed here, but
the least we could do is to provide them with development assistance so that
their quality of life will be at par with the rest of their compatriots.
Chito Balintay is the leader of a Negrito tribe
that resides in four barangays in Botolan, Zambales Province. Thanks to the
IPRA, their tribe has been granted a CADT covering about 15,000 hectares in a
mountainous area there that coincidentally includes Mount Pinatubo. Locally
called the “Ayta” people, they have already registered their cooperative with
the Cooperatives Development Authority (CDA) and their community association
with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). Due to their own
diligence, the tribe now has all the legal instruments that they need to move
on with their own development, combining the CADT, the CDA and the SEC
certifications.
Being an active participant in United Nations (UN)
working groups for indigenous peoples, Mr.Balintay found it very easy to
appreciate the Human Development Index (HDI) as I explained it to him. The HDI
is an international metric used by the UN to measure three development
indicators, namely literacy, longevity and prosperity, the latter being a
measure of the quality of life.
The HDI is usually used to measure the performance of
nations, but this time around, we are going to use it to measure the progress
of development within their ancestral domain, after bringing in development
programs for education, health and livelihood.
Using Information and Communications Technology
(ICT), we are going to introduce distance learning, telemedicine and electronic
commerce. A number of companies and organizations have already committed to
support this initiative that will combine the best of internet cloud
technologies, the internet of things (IOT), broadband and wireless
connectivity.
ICT is actually the “blue” component of a “Green and
Blue” (GAB) framework that we will also implement in Botolan, “Green” being the
color of agriculture and environment, and “Blue” being the color of energy and
connectivity.
On the practical side, the Alternative Learning
System (ALS) of the Department of Education (DEPED) is going to be the legal basis
for putting up community schools in the ancestral domain. As long as there is a
signal for wireless connectivity, it would be very easy to deliver distance
learning through a Learning Management System (LMS). Using the same wireless
connectivity, it would also be easy to bring in telemedicine and electronic
commerce, the latter being the means to sell products that would support
livelihood projects, the key to prosperity.
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