ITOGON, Benguet – The Itogon Indigenous Peoples Organization (IIPO) the umbrella organization of indigenous peoples groups in the municipality, disowned the purported Dalicno Indigenous Peoples Organization (DIPO) that recently filed a petition before the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) central office questioning the results of the free and prior informed consent (FPIC) process in relation to the Application for Production Sharing Agreement (APSA) 103 of the Itogon Suyoc Resources, Inc. (ISRI) covering barangays Ampucao, Virac and Poblacion.
In her letter to ISRI officer-in-charge Engr. Eric S. Andal, IIPO president Rosita M. Bargaso stated that the DIPO is not associated in anyway with the umbrella organization.
Further, the DIPO is not also affiliated with the Ampucao Indigenous Peoples Organization (AIPO) which is the acknowledged IPO in barangay Ampucao under the umbrella organization. She pointed that as per the IIPO rules, the DIPO members should first be registered members of the AIPO before they could be members of the IIPO.
DIPO is reportedly composed of disgruntled small scale miners whose contract under the ISRI’s big brother, small brother (BBSB) program was not renewed because of various violations. By Dexter A. See
