BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan lauded President Rodrigo R. Duterte for his proactive position in favour of indigenous peoples (IP) in the different parts of the country that contribute in improving the position of IPs against abuses done by multinational companies operating in their ancestral domains and the state of the environment in their places.
The local chief executive underscored that for over 2 years as the country’s leader, President Duterte never issued anti-IP policy that have affected the living condition of the IPs in their ancestral domain because the President understands the situation of the IPs in various parts of the archipelago because they are similarly situated to the Lumad in Mindanao.
The problem, according to him, is what had been raised by Apayao Gov. Elias C. Bulut, Jr. who questioned the policies that were crafted by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) wherein instead of the IPs living in the affected areas which will be subjected to the required free and prior informed consent (FPIC) for the proposed exploitation, utilization and development of the State’s resources, even the IPs in the unaffected areas will be included in the grant of the consent, thus, opposition to development projects took advantage of the situation in recruiting even outsiders to rally against the implementation of hydro development projects in Apayao.
He agreed with the position of Bulut that the major development project that could be undertaken in the region is the development of potential sources of hydro power which is considered to be environmentally-friendly because of the importance of preserving and protecting the watersheds so that there will be abundant water supply that will run the hydro power plants.
“We believe that the NCIP should reconsider its position in seeking the endorsement of the IPs in the whole ancestral domain prior to the implementation of high impact development projects instead of the previous policies that provide that only those who will be affected by the development projects will be the ones that will issue their consent for development that will be done in their places,” Domogan stressed.
Domogan claimed it should be the IPs that will be given the independence to decide on what type of development that should be undertaken in their domain and not for purported IPs who are recruited from various places who will simply go to a certain place and support the opposition to the deprivation of the greater interest of the majority of the IPs who want the realization of development projects that will take place in their domain.
While it is true that hydro projects have some negative impacts to the state of the environment, he argued that the implementation of renewable energy projects within the ancestral domain of IPs in the region will bring greater and long-term benefits to the IPs wherein the fruits of development will surely be enjoyed by the present and future generations of IPs living in the domain.
He asserted depriving the development of the ancestral domain of IPs will definitely result to the stagnant state of the domain wherein IPs will migrate to other growth areas where they could establish their desired economic activities and sources of livelihood instead of staying in their domain and reaping the fruits of development in their places.
By Dexter A. See
