ITOGON, Benguet – Indigenous peoples (IPs) recently appealed to the Cordillera office of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP-CAR) to already release the town’s Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) so that it will be registered with the Registry of Deeds (ROD) in the province.
Former Mayor Mario Godio, a member of the Council of Elders of the Itogon Indigenous Peoples Organization (IIPO), raised concern on the alleged refusal of the NCIP-CAR to release to the organization the town’s CADT which already has its number so that appropriate actions could already be undertaken to register the same with the ROD of Benguet.
“We were informed that one of the issues on our CADT is the prior rights which we are willing to recognize if the said priori rights to our ancestral domain are before the year 1997 or the effectivity of the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA),” Godio stressed.
The IIPO elder claimed that the CADTs of Bakun and Atok were already released to the concerned indigenous peoples organization but for Itogon, it is the prior rights over their domain that seems to hinder its release and subsequent registration that is why they are appealing to the NCIP-CAR to issue the said CADT and annotate the valid prior rights provided that they were before 1997.
According to him, the IIPO cannot move on to seek the issuance of the derivative certificate of land titles (CALTs) from the CADT, if the latter will not be registered with the ROD of Benguet that is why one of the major goals of the organization is to work out with the NCIP-CAR the issuance of the said CADT for its registration.
Godio assured the IPs belonging to the Kankanaey, Ibaloi and Kalanguya tribes and other indigenous cultural communities that are living in the different parts of the municipality that the organization continues to aggressively promote their welfare and interests, especially in the implementation of projects to develop and utilize the resources that are within the Itogon ancestral domain.
The IIPO is the only recognized and accredited indigenous peoples organization by NCIP serving as the umbrella organization of barangay-based indigenous peoples organizations in the town’s 9 barangays where the Itogon ancestral domain is situated.
The former local chief executive pointed out that whatever issues by the NCIP-CAR have on the prior rights on the Itogon CADT should be consulted with the group so that those that are legitimate will be annotated while those that are questionable should be set aside to avoid delays in the release and registration of the CADT.
The IIPO has been registered with the NCIP as an indigenous peoples organization based in the municipality and serves as the umbrella organization of the 9 barangay-based indigenous peoples organization in the locality as of July 27, 2007.
Godio underscored that all proceedings of the IIPO are always done in consultation with the concerned barangay indigenous peoples organization and it has been an established rule in the municipality that whatever stand of the directly affected barangays on programs, projects and activities that are implemented by the government and the private sector will be respected by the mother organization and will be carried as a stand of the domain holders.
