Ancestral lands titling pushed

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY -- The Cordillera Regional Peace and Order Council here urged the management of the land Registration Authority to immediately come out with the required guidelines for the immediate recognition and registration of the ancestral domain titles of indigenous peoples before the Registry of Deeds to help in the national government’s efforts to curb insurgency in the countryside.

Chief Supt. Eugene G. Martin, regional director of the Police Regional Office and RPOC acting chairman, reported an alarming increase of insurgency in the region despite efforts of the national government to curtail it.

Studies show that insurgency is resorted to by the masses because of various reasons, one of which is the seemingly anti-people or anti-poor policies, laws and regulations concerning land ownership and land holdings.

Martin pointed out insurgency disrupts the peace and order of the region, hinders economic upliftment, affects morality and personal well-being of the inhabitants and the community as a whole.

The national government is inclined and committed to its policies to curb insurgency in the country through policies anticipated to address and arrest the root causes of insurgency, like the enactment of Republic Act (RA) 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997 but it seems that there are some government regulatory agencies who refuse to recognize and implement such adopted policies.

The RPOC said full realization of the IPRA which provides a holistic approach to the historic fate of the indigenous cultural communities and indigenous peoples in the region is seen as a strong and effective mechanism to deter the emergence and proliferation of insurgency.

Since its enactment into law, the IPRA is being looked up to by the indigenous peoples as the answer to their problems regarding the titling of their ancestral lands which cannot be titled by other government agencies but it seems such endeavor is being delayed because of the alleged lack of commitment and sincerity from LRA officials who refuse to allow ancestral lands to be registered with the Registry of Deeds.

The peace body cited the need to hasten the formal registration of certificates of ancestral domain title and certificate of ancestral land title issued by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples for their land tenure security for the lands of the indigenous peoples.

The registration of the ancestral titles to the Registry of Deeds is the final act needed for the full recognition of the indigenous peoples native titles to their lands which must be given due course by the LRA pursuant to a LRA-NCIP joint memorandum to accelerate the registration of such titles.

However, the LRA has blatantly refused to abide by such joint undertaking, thus, the registration of hundreds of natives titles of legitimate indigenous peoples in the Cordillera before the Registry is being delayed forcing them to doubt the government’s sincerity to comply with its commitments.