Baguio to NCIP: Submit position on Camp John Hay CADTS, CALTS

BAGUIO CITY -- City officials urged the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) en banc to submit to the city government its official statement or stand regarding barangays located within the Camp John Hay reservation in possession of certificates of ancestral domain title (CADTs) and certificates of ancestral land title (CALTs).
    Under resolution 604, series of 2023, local legislators stated there is a need for the NCIP to come up with its stand on the CADTs and CALTs previously issued covering the 14 barangays within the CJH reservation which are being segregated pursuant to the 19 conditions imposed by the city government for the formulation of the master development plan of the said reservation pursuant to resolution 362, series of 2023.

    Earlier, the body considered the oral motion of Councilor Jose M. Molintas during the September 25, 2023 regular session inviting different personalities to be resource persons in aid of legislation to shed light on matters concerning the revised city charter on BCDA issues and proposed resolution introduced by Councilor Leandro B. Yangot, Jr. inviting in aid of legislation the BCDA president and chief executive officer, Joshua M. Bingcang or his duly authorized representative to shed light on House Bill 8505.
    One of the conditions imposed by the local government for the development of the former American military base is the segregation of the 14 barangays situated within the CJH reservation so that the occupied areas will be awarded to the qualified homelot applicants who are residents of the said areas.
    In 2001, barangay Scout Barrio was segregated from the CJH reservation while the segregation of the remaining 13 barangays had been going on for over two decades now.
    The city’s legislative body wants the NCIP to come up with a position on the award of CADTs and CALTs within the remaining 13 barangays that are undergoing the segregation process considering the issuance of the CADT covering barangay Happy which had been earlier questioned by the BCDA and the case is now pending before the Supreme Court (SC) waiting final decision on the said matter.
    Further, CALTs of individual ancestral land owners had also been issued by the agency covering properties of indigenous peoples situated in some of the barangays within the CJH reservation over the past several decades.