Improving the FPIC process

 LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March Fianza

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- This discussion centers on significant changes to some of the guidelines in holding the Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) process of 2012 carried out by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
    The amendments as proposed and approved in a resolution by the Sanggunian Panlalawigan of Benguet earlier this year were sent to the commission en banc or the national officials of the NCIP for any appropriate action. The SP did not get any reaction from the commission en banc, not even a single word.
    Allegations of violations committed in the execution of the FPIC process were numerous, as admitted by NCIP personnel and the private parties involved, but these are best set aside in the meantime for future columns.
    The FPIC as a process under the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA 1997) allows IPs and Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs) to wield power to give or withhold consent to a project that could affect their livelihoods, resources and communities, and enables them to negotiate the conditions under which the project would be evaluated and implemented.
    Depending on the end-result of the FPIC process; the livelihoods, resources and communities which the IPRA calls ancestral domain could be affected by the projects, programs, plans and activities of the proponent, whether private sector or the government.
    Looking at the proposal to amend the FPIC guidelines by the Benguet SP and after getting explanations from Benguet SP member Recto Alawas who spent a big part of his life with the NCIP before becoming Benguet IPMR, I found the idea worth discussing in this space.
    Prior to the approval of a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) of any tribal community, and before it is listed as such in the records of the NCIP, the people and their territory undergo a field-based investigation (FBI) process, including the formulation of their Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan (ADSDPP).
    By the way, as early as 2000 to 2002, the Iwaks of Lusod and Domolpos in Barangay Tinongdan, Itogon were already in the process of discussing their ADSDPP where, fortunately, I was physically present.    
    The amendments to the FPIC guidelines of 2012 were proposed to address the present situation where government projects were already listed in a recognized ancestral domain and known IP territory.
    Here, a full-blown FPIC process may be dispensed with especially if the government project was requested by the IP community. It is another story if the government project was not requested but it was to be implemented within the AD.
But since the project was requested by the AD and government-funded, it follows that the plans and programs related to the project were prepared and approved by the community itself.   
    If so, then the FPIC team under the concerned NCIP office could conduct validation and inspection processes without having to call for the presence of people who would be busy tending their farms instead of attending assemblies. This would save time, effort and money on the part of the IPs and the FPIC team.
    One particular change in the FPIC guidelines is that part of Sections 9 to 13 where the conduct of the FBI is undertaken to determine whether a project, its plans and programs overlap or do not affect an ancestral domain.
    The attention of the NCIP to the FBI process is being called because when the territory of the concerned IP community went through the process of identification prior to titling, the same facts and figures, records and other documents, including technical descriptions of survey plans were already gathered.
    Hence, there is no more need for undertaking the FBI within a publicly known IP territory since it was already listed under the NCIP as a territory with a CADT. It is significantly important to dispense with the FBI in AD communities to save time, effort and money.
    In cases where other concerns and activities were required by the FBI, the same could be undertaken in the Work and Financial Plan activities of the FPIC Team. Even additional documents and information about an AD community could be taken from the ADSDPP of the community and records available with the NCIP and the local government unit.
    However, there are LGUs that are not entirely covered by a CADT where only a number of its barangays or sitios are publicly known to be occupied by IPs. In this case, a field-based investigation prior to an FPIC may be conducted, after which a Certificate of No Overlap (CNO) may or may not be issued, depending on the result of the FBI.
    Another concern mentioned by Benguet IPMR Alawas was to restudy the possibility of reverting to a part in the old FPIC guidelines where only the affected community would be involved in the FPIC process and not the whole ancestral domain. Consulting the whole CADT area could bring misunderstanding and discord among members of the community.
    The SP Benguet further proposed to amend Section 22 of the FPIC guidelines so that only the principal parties such as the private company owner or officials, NOT contractors or ordinary staff, be authorized to represent the company and shall be present during the FPIC processes especially during the negotiation period.
    Thus, such company representatives must be granted authority through a company Board Resolution or Special Power of Attorney, whichever is applicable. The representative shall have the power to make immediate decisions on behalf of the company, and any decisions made must be binding to the proponent company.
    Also, that the company proponent operating in an AD territory must prioritize the ADSDPP project listings in their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and suggested that this be included in the FPIC-MOA.
    Given that the requirements and the documents were completed in the conduct of the FPIC process, the NCIP issues a Certificate Precondition. The SP Benguet resolution said, this should be issued by NCIP within 30 days upon receiving the FPIC Report and FPIC MOA from the regional offices.
    Some NCIP personnel would say that the FBI in an ancestral domain area is still necessary but that could be for personal reasons, considering the travel allowance and other expenses that they could claim from the private company project proponent.
    As for IPs inside an AD who understand how the conduct of an FBI works, they would say that it is a disturbance to their activities as joining the process could eat much of their time instead of going to work. Here, their travel expenses are not even refunded.
    The company proponent of the project will see the FBI the same way that the ICC in an ancestral domain or CADT area saw it, considering the added expenses in gathering people when all the needed information could all be taken from the AD recognition files, ADSDPP Book and LGU history book. The FBI is a redundant activity and a burden for all parties. 

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

Politics has turned very personal

March Fianza

Miss Marites had spread lately that former president Duterte might run for the senate in 2025 or vice president in 2028, once his daughter Sara is impeached over the controversial P125-million confidential fund that she reportedly spent in just 11 days.
    Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the former president and the House of Representatives were hot pancakes lately after the request for confidential intelligence funds was rejected by congress.
    Sometime last October, VP Sara requested congress for confidential and intelligence funds worth P500 million for the OVP and P150 million for the DepEd during the appropriations hearings in the House, in addition to the bigger annual budgets given to both offices for the year 2024.
    The lawmakers objected to the idea of confidential and intelligence funds for both the OVP and the DepEd primarily because it is not the work of these offices to engage in intelligence work. Slowly, the public came to know VP Sara’s request as something that was not supposed to be granted.
    Then public opinion turned against the approval of intelligence and confidential funds for both the OVP and DepEd which she represented that later led to the HoR voting against it. Speaker Romualdez had to defend congress saying their legislative action was an exclusive responsibility by the HoR which was subject only to limitations provided by the Constitution.
    The Speaker further said, the “House will not allow any person, no matter how influential or powerful, to dilute the power of the purse vested by the Constitution in Congress, and in Congress alone”.
    Since VP Sara is the former president Duterte’s daughter, he too had to come to her defense and described the House as the “most corrupt institution in the country today, dominated by hopelessly corrupt politicians”.
    Looking at how both sides felt about the situation, they had the best reasons to be dismayed – with Romualdez absorbing a barrage of criticism directed at the House, and Duterte failing to provide political backing for his daughter’s fund request.
    VP Sara’s apparently limitless need for such huge allocations in the national budget provoked public opinion and a lot of questions which led to the House realigning the budget, and finally granting the P650 million to the intelligence agencies of the national government.
    With that act, the House not only appropriated taxpayers’ money wisely, our lawmakers also saved the public funds from wasteful, inexplicable and suspicious spending.
    In the senate meanwhile, some 10 senators during one of their executive sessions wanted to restore the controversial confidential intelligence funds that were requested by the OVP. Obviously, her political allies were practicing their roles.
    But unfortunately, political alliances in a country that holds elections every three years untie swiftly and suddenly. It is because political parties are simply there for the convenience of political leaders who hold the power and the money.
    When the party has served its purpose, it dies. But it is resurrected when it forms an alliance with an already existing “strong” party. Take for example the rumored team of senator wannabes under President BBM’s Federalista.
    On the other side is the team of politicians who lost in the last presidential elections who want to recycle themselves and warm their seats in the senate again, this time with former president Duterte who said he might run for a senate seat for personal reasons and to protect daughter Sara.
    The midterm elections of 2025 have not started but the positioning and the political fighting has started to heat up. With VP Sara deliberately skipping to shake Speaker Romualdez’ hand in a recent public event, the war for 2028 has been marked.
 

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

Met woman dances in ‘bahag’

March L. Fianza

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- It has been awhile since the last time I had a meaningful conversation with then government worker and now Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) Recto Alawas of Benguet.
    Our paths accidentally crossed at the IP games during the “Adivay” celebration at Wangal, La Trinidad so we invited each other for coffee and talked about present situations facing indigenous peoples.
    The instant meeting reminded me that there were indeed so many things that needed to be corrected, some of which were forgotten or deliberately put aside to gather dust in the corner of one’s office.
    I am talking about the Benguet Sanggunian Panlalawigan Resolution No. 2022-197 that discussed an incident that happened more than a year ago when the Metropolitan Theater or Met for brevity exploited the Benguet Indigenous Peoples cultural attire where a woman was shown wearing “bahag” or G-string in a performance.
    In celebrating the 50th Pambansang Alagad ng Sining, the Met showcased their artists and part of the show was entitled “Igorot” of which the choreography and attires represented the Igorots and the Cordillera culture where they showcased dancing women wearing Benguet “bahag” or “kuval” in Ibaloy.
    The “bahag” is a loincloth worn by Benguet men to cover their private parts. This is never worn by a woman as the clothing for the latter is the “tapis” which is a wrap-around skirt paired with a blouse.
    The SP resolution said the Met show was an “exploitation, misrepresentation, insult, ignorance and cultural appropriation of the Indigenous People's cultural identity”. I know what Manong Recto was driving at as he related to me what the Met did. 
In the SP Reso. 2022-197, the board members knew that the event organizers of the show could not have been aware that they were distorting other people's culture, but to the Cordillera IPs, distorting culture through misrepresentations is a serious matter.
    What the Met accomplished in allowing the presentation of a dancing woman with the “kuval” was to cause confusion and misinterpretation to those who have less or no knowledge of the Igorot culture and identity.
    Certainly, some would argue that art is boundless. But I also agree with the Benguet provincial board that sensitivity and research should be the order of the day when one's culture is the subject of “art.”
     Customs and traditions should never be manipulated to the point where it is no longer identifiable with the owner of the culture or the people it represents.
    The Benguet SP resolution “condemned” in their hearts the inappropriate use and portrayal of the “bahag” by a dancing woman in a Met show and forwarded their measure to the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA) to investigate.
    If found liable, the concerned government agencies should make the appropriate action against the event organizers. Necessary protocols in the portrayal of IP cultures should also be established for the protection of the people's rights to cultural integrity.
    The SP Reso. 2022-197 was received by NCIP and NCCA last year. The Benguet board and I are wondering what happened to their investigation if they did investigate. Maybe they are busy with other matters, aside from making some killing.