BAGUIO CITY– The IPEACE Epanaw Party-list group underscored that Cordillerans were able to show the way in pushing for the observance of the mandated free and prior informed consent (FPIC) process prior to the implementation of development projects within their ancestral domains by multinational companies or even the concerned government agencies.
Former regional director lawyer Marlon Bosantog of the Cordillera office of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP-CAR) stated that indigenous peoples and indigenous cultural communities (IPs-ICCs) in Visayas and Mindanao had been closely watching the recent developments in the negotiations between the Bakun IPs and the Aboitiz-owned HEDCOR, Inc. and the Bokod and Itogon IPs and the Aboitiz-controlled SN Aboitiz Power (SNAP) Benguet for them to replicate the success of the said talks in similarly situated developments being introduced in their ancestral domains.
He added that the success of both negotiations is now serving as a template of future FPIC processes that will be undertaken in the ancestral domains of IPs in the different parts of the country so that the IPs will be able to assert their rights for the sustainable preservation and protection of their respective domains from possible abuses of interested developers or partners in the utilization of the State rich resources that are deposited in the said areas.
The IPEACE Epanaw Party-list nominee pointed out that one of the advocacies of the organization is to empower IPs to assert their rights over their ancestral domain for them to be guaranteed with the appropriate benefits that they deserve for the benefit of the present and future generation of inhabitants.
According to him, IPs should be fully aware of their rights under the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) so that they will not be abused by companies intending to exploit, utilize and develop the riche resources of the State that are deposited within their domain like what happened in the case of Bakun, Itogon and Bokod that paved the way for the successful conduct of negotiations between the IPs and their partners in development.
Bakun plays host to the operation of the 3 minihydro power plants being operated by HEDCOR, Inc., Bokod hosts the operation of the 105-megawatt Ambuclao Dam while Itogon hosts the operation of the 126-megawatt Binga dam both managed and operated by SNAP Benguet.
The IPEACE Epanaw Party-list is listed as No. 171 in the order of the party-list organizations that had been allowed by the Commission on elections to aspire for the available seats for party-list groups in the House of Representatives during the upcoming May 9, 2022 synchronized national and local elections.
Bosantog rallied IPs in the different parts of Northern and Central Luzon to support the party-list organization in its bid to have the needed seats for it to be able to sustain fighting for the rights of IPs to ensure the preservation and protection of their ancestral domains from potential abuses committed by companies wanting to partner with them for the utilization and development of the State-s resources.