2016 wishes and reminders

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March Fianza

It is now clear as the blue Mindanao sky that the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) will not pass the critical eyes of congress before election time. And so with the Cordillera autonomy law that is hinged on the status of the BBL, the proposed law which is touted as the ultimate formula to a lasting peace in the south.

While it is undeniable that the mountain provinces and Mindanaoans seek measures that can govern them the way they want to, the prime agents of these laws should be reminded of the hostile disposition of indigenous peoples who do not want to be under a set of rules rammed through their throats.

It has been too easy but costly spending the taxes of Filipinos for the proposed autonomy law that has been rejected twice because people in the forefront of the issue pretended to have consulted all sectors in the Cordillera.

The wish and the secret is to allow an unhurried but widespread discussions with all sectors, making sure that no one is disregarded, ignored and deliberately skipped just like the treatment applied during consultations in the past.

If this cannot be done, chances are, LGUs that are hungry of independence from the central government might look for an option and entertain thoughts about dividing an already geographically fragmented archipelago into several federal states.

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Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has been in the campaign for a federal form of government. Now, as presidential bet, all the more that he will inform a wider sector in the country about federalism during his election campaign. If he loses, he will still be thankful because he has given a choice to Filipinos who wish to stop the dictates of Malacanang over LGUs.

Federalism as espoused by Sen. Nene Pimentel of the PDP Laban since 1988 when he broached the system to members of the Cordillera Regional Consultative Commission is a more wanted and welcome solution in the boondocks and barrios as it promises practical, easier, faster and doable solutions arising from the consensus of lower political units. Solutions to local problems can be crafted by a smaller and manageable system of government.

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As we go to press, the increase of salaries of uniformed personnel under the salary standardization law is being ironed out in congress. It has come to the attention of retirees from the uniformed service that a corresponding increase in their pension was not included in the bill because Sen. Antonio Trillanes authored a bill removing such increase. 

Not one from their colleagues who retired and later became congressmen and senators did not bother to consider this and the police retirees are now blaming Trillanes who should have been there to help, instead allowed himself to be used by President Aquino and Secretary Abad who think that allowing an increase in pension for retirees who are no longer working will take in too much money from those who are still on the job.

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When the first TV and radio ads by politicians who have filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs) were aired, the public already concluded that campaigning has started. They do not care whether the ads were legal or illegal because they do not know that.

Comelec officials said, the election code has no penalty provision for violation of early campaigning. That exactly is the root cause of the problem – the uselessness of the law. So that, only the well-to-do or moneyed candidates have better chances in a name-recall campaign because they can buy very prohibitive cost of political ads on radio, print and broadcast; and they cannot be stopped.

And even while honest candidates remind the Comelec that campaigning on an uneven playing field is rampant, that is not even acted on by Comelec which makes it appear that everybody knows that the election campaign period has started right after the filing of COCs, and only Comelec chair Andy Bautista does not know. The wish for election reforms will never be granted because we have Comelec commissioners who will not fight for it.

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More than five years ago or so today, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples stopped issuing Certificates of Ancestral Land Titles (CALTs). Due to administrative orders and moratoria issued, genuine ancestral land claims that were supposed to go through the process smoothly now have their files slowly rotting on the shelves of NCIP offices.

Worst, the non-issuance of CALTs over legitimate claims that have already gone through the process have given bigger chance for land speculators and squatters, mini hydro-electric corporations and mining companies to enter and occupy the private Igorot lands.

The administrative orders and moratoria deliberately issued did not help the cause of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), instead it worsened the centuries-old problems of the IPs – that of owning their lands.

I wonder if that was so because of the “inday-genius” presence of indigenous NCIP commissioners. As wished for by hundreds of Ibaloy IPs in Baguio and thousands more all over the country, they were expected to fight for the issuance of as many CALTs over genuine ancestral lands because that is their job. But it was the opposite. The NCIP issued not a single CALT. Their batting average is zero.

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Due to a single man’s greed, many peaceful occupants of Santo Tomas and Cabuyao who temporarily occupied the area for simple livelihood reasons such as vegetable gardening and pocket mining for decades, might be facing charges of trespassing into a forest reserve.

I personally know quite a number of families, some of whom are blood relatives or by affinity. When the bulldozing and wanton destruction of the trees and environment was going on, they already had the awkward feeling of an unpleasant future.

When asked why they did not stop the destructive earth-moving works, they said they were told that the owner of the area was a Baguio public official, that the activity was supported by the necessary permits and that the municipal officials allowed the heavy equipment to operate.

For their unstable future, the farmers wish that politicians who coddle and support public officials who do not care about the environment and the future of their fellowmen will not be re-elected to any public office.