City officials recently urged the city’s indigenous community through the indigenous peoples organization and other indigenous peoples associations to oppose House Bill (HB) 9608 introduced by Camiguin Rep. Jurdin Jesus N. Romualdo.
In a resolution, local legislators stated that the said bill is inimical to the best interest and welfare of the indigenous peoples and indigenous cultural communities as the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) has been created and its employees trained and qualified to carry out the constitutionally guaranteed promotion and protection of the rights of the indigenous peoples and indigenous cultural communities within the framework of national unity and development.
The council added that the IPs and ICCs in the city, the birthplace of the famous native title, should manifest their support for NCIP by rejecting and expressing their vehement opposition to HB 9608.
The bill seeks to rationalize the ancestral land administration and adjudication process by realigning and reorganizing the department and functions of NCIP and amending Republic Act (RA) 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA).
Under the bill, the Ancestral Domain Office (ADO) under the NCIP will be transferred to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR and renamed as Ancestral Land Registration and Administration Office and an Ancestral Lands Administration and Adjudication Board under the Executive Secretary of the Office of the President will also be created to settle disputes concerning ancestral lands and domains administration and adjudication.
The council pointed out that the NCIP, the office created through RA 8371 which is directly under the Office of the President, is the primary government agency responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies, plans, and programs to recognize, protect, and promote the rights of IPs and ICCs.
The council argued that the bill intends to remove major functions of NCIP specifically on ancestral domains and ancestral lands and will leave the agency with only a handful of roles virtually rendering NCIP inutile. By Dexter A. See