Tebtebba holds first session of dialogue series between Indigenous Peoples and government agencies
Tebtebba, with the support of the European Union through the Indigenous Navigator, facilitated the first of the dialogue series entitled “Dayalogo: Indigenous Peoples’ Agriculture and Food Sovereignty on 19 November 2020 at 9AM to 12 NN, Philippine Time.
By: Doris Borna Mae Esteban
The event was held via Zoom Meeting and was participated in by a total of 89 indigenous leaders from all over the Philippines together with several officials and staff from the different government agencies including the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
(L-R) John Mart Salunday, Nagkakaisang mga Tribu ng Palawan (NATRIPAL); Datu Berino Sumin, Jr., Manobo Lumadnong Panaghiusa (MALUPA); Marcelino Tena, Samahan ng mga Katutubong Agta/ Dumagat at Remontado na Ipinag- tatanggol ang Lupaing Ninuno (SAGIBIN-LN).
During the dialogue, indigenous leader participants presented several issues that affected their communities. Issues that came up had to do with the issuance of Certificate of Land Ownership Awards (CLOAs) for areas within ancestral domains, indigenous peoples’ insufficient access to government services, the lack of recognition and unjust criminalization of indigenous knowledge systems and practices (IKSP), and the unregulated practice of agri-business within recognized ancestral lands. “That piece of paper is a morale booster for the community,” Timuey Ronaldo Ambangan of the Erunamen nu Menuvu Kamal emphasized as he appealed for the immediate release of their Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT), a document that legally recognizes the rightful ownership of indigenous peoples of their territories.
After the said presentations, the different National Government Agencies (NGAs), who were present at the meeting, responded to the problems mentioned. NCIP Central Mindanao Commissioner Jennifer Sibug-Las explained that the issues raised by indigenous leaders from North Cotabato, specifically those on land conflict, were already reported to their office and that they stand committed to coming up with resolutions for the said problems. Likewise, DA Undersecretary Zamzamin Ampatuan, through Mr. Camilo Andi Jr., addressed the overlap of CLOA and ancestral domain raised by the indigenous leaders and committed to visit the Erumanen community and strive to solve this problem by 2021.
(Top-Bottom): Commissioner Jennifer Sibug-Las, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples; Engr. Benito T. Espique, Jr., National Irrigation Administration.
“We have always endeavored to facilitate dialogues between indigenous peoples and government agencies because we firmly believe that only through constructive dialogue that issues being raised by indigenous peoples can be resolved,” explained Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the executive director of Tebtebba and former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. “This also allows the government agencies to share more broadly what they are doing in relation to the welfare, well-being, and rights of indigenous peoples,” she added, reiterating that “indigenous peoples’ lives will be in a much better state if they are able to pursue the kind of development they want to see in the present and in the future.”
