Reading 13: Indigenous peoples' experiences with CADT and CALT
Carino, J., Regpala, M.E. & de Chavez, R. (Eds.). (2010). Asserting land rights. Baguio City: Tebteba Foundation
The CADT and the CALT are the two instruments provided for by the IPRA of 1997 to
secure the tenure of indigenous peoples to their ancestral domains and lands. The CADT
covers a whole community and does not necessarily follow political boundaries. Under each
CADT, each individual or family can apply for a CALT.
Before the IPRA was passed, the DENR was tasked to already process the ancestral
domain and land claims of indigenous peoples. Through the lobby efforts of indigenous peoples
themselves, the DENR issued Special Order No. 31 series of 1989, which was later amended
as DENR Administrative Order No. 2 in 1993. This order was passed so indigenous peoples
could already process their Certificates of Ancestral Domain Claim (CADC) and Certificates of
Ancestral Land Claim (CALC). These instruments were recommended while there was no
enabling law yet to give flesh to provisions in the 1987 Constitution recognizing the rights of
"indigenous cultural communities/ indigenous peoples."
The Ibaloi Experience. Inspired by this development, some indigenous peoples had begun
processing their CADC and CALC. In Baguio City, the indigenous Ibaloi were able to inventory
757 ancestral land claims in 1999. These were supposed to have been turned over to the NCIP,
the office created by the IPRA to look into the concerns of indigenous peoples.
But even with the IPRA and the NCIP in place, indigenous peoples found out that
securing their land claims and, finally, titles was no easy process. Ibaloi elder Vicky Macay, for
instance, lamented that up to now - or 11 years after 1999 - she has yet to secure the title to her
ancestral land. A few weeks before this conference, she followed it up with the NCIP and was
told it was with the Commission's ADO or Ancestral Domain Office. She followed it up again and
was told it was at the Land Registration Authority (LRA). Her problem: she had no money to
follow it up and she had no "square meters of land" to share with those seeking to help facilitate
(read: "fix," the job of "fixers") the process of securing the title to her land.
The processing of ancestral domain and land claims and titles was also delayed after
former Supreme Court Justice Isagani Cruz in 1998 questioned the constitutionality of the IPRA.
At the same time, then DENR Secretary Cerilles ordered the DENR-Cordillera Administrative
Region director not to turn over the 757 ancestral land claims inventory to the NCIP. The NCIP,
in turn, told the claimants to withdraw their folders and submit these to its regional office. But
Cruz's suit, Cerilles order, and the NCIP's instructions only created chaos. As a result and
amidst this chaos, some 61 "midnight" titles were issued.
The Supreme Court in 2000 eventually ruled against Cruz's petition and upheld the
constitutionality of the IPRA. But despite this, the NCIP, according to indigenous leaders, has
continued to blunder in establishing a process to legally facilitate ancestral land claims in Baguio
City. This, despite the lobby pressures and insistence of claimants that officially recognized
claims and titles should not be tainted. But there were CALTs issued, which remain
controversial. Unfortunately, there were also legitimate claims, which were not and have yet to
be acted upon.
Vicky Macay also narrated about the Ibaloi's experience in Happy Hallow, one of the
villages of Baguio City. In 1994, the DENR issued a CADC for the community, which the city
council opposed. After it was transmitted later to the NCIP the CADC was converted into a
CADT, a move which, according to some Ibaloi leaders, was also questionable. For one, Ibalois
were the original settlers of the community so they were questioning why the Happy Hallow
CADT was under the name of Ibaloi-Kankana-ey people. Macay also questioned the Ancestral
Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan or ADSDPP, which the NCIP helped
facilitate. To her, how the ADSDPP could be used in relation to the CADT given was vague. The
ADSDPP was supposed to help guide the community in using and managing their lands and
resources. And indigenous peoples could appreciate the document more if they participated in
its formulation.
More than a century since they had lost their lands as a result of American colonization,
the Ibaloi people have hoped that the IPRA would help secure whatever piece of land was left
for them. But three Supreme Court decisions have proved unfavorable to ancestral land
claimants in the city and have continued to challenge the Cariño Doctrine of native title. Macay
thus posed a question, which reflects the sentiment other Ibalois: "How can we continue our
struggle if the institutions upon which we are relying refuse to give justice to our ancestral land
claims?"
The Mansaka Experience. Until the early 1960s, the land of the indigenous Mansaka in
Napnapan, Pantukan, Compostela Valley province in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao
was peaceful and abounded with food. They had sweet potato, gabi (yam) and other root crops
besides upland rice. For their protein needs, the rivers teemed with crabs, freshwater fish, and
other edibles. Also roaming the forests were wild game such as deer and wild boar, which also
helped sustain and nurture the lives of the Mansaka.
But the situation began to change after 1964, when logging companies came to
Napnapan. The companies began harvesting giant logs and even hired Mansaka menfolk to
help fell and transport the logs. At first, the indigenous folk were happy as they were being paid
as hired laborers. But their joy was short-lived. They began to experience disasters after the
major trees were gone. For example, landslides have become as perennial as the rains.
The situation got worse when mining operations began in 1978. The operations at first
were small-scale, which migrants from Luzon introduced. They extracted what was said to be a
big deposit of gold ore in the mountains of Napnapan. Completely unaware of mining, the
Mansaka simply watched as the migrants dug tunnels and processed the gold ore using
cyanide. By 1984, the rivers there became murky and were later found to be biologically dead.
The crabs and freshwater fish vanished. At that time some 6,000 migrants had already arrived
and had already dug more than 1,000 tunnels within the ancestral territory of the Mansaka. The
trees in the forests all the more disappeared as the tunnels needed wooden support frames.
Small-scale mining, including panning, has since become the livelihood of most people,
including the Mansaka.
By 1994, the mining operations became big-scale. Four persons controlled these big
operations. In recent years, a big mining company named after the village of Napnapan - the
Napnapan Mineral Resources, Inc. (NMRI) - had applied to operate within some 4,000 hectares
in the area. The company's application was approved even without the Mansaka's free, prior
and informed consent, a process, which the NCIP should have facilitated. But the NCIP never
facilitated consultations to get the Mansaka's free, prior and informed consent. In 2000
companies also came and transformed more than 1,000 hectares of the Mansaka's ancestral
domain into banana plantations.
The entry of the mining company has divided the community. Through honoraria,
scholarships for children, traveling allowances and other bribes offered by the company, some
Mansaka villagers favored the company's entry. But other Mansaka vehemently opposed the
company's operations. Violence was the response against those who protested the company's
intrusion. A Mansaka chieftain who led his villagemates in protesting against the company was
killed. The murdered leader was later replaced by another chieftain appointed by the mayor.
The town's mayor organized what was supposed to be an indigenous peoples'
organization called the Napnapan Tribal Council. The members of this council favored the
company. But other Mansaka members asserted that the organization the mayor and the
company organized did not follow the process provided for by customary laws.
The bribes offered by the company and the organization of the pro-company tribal
council continue to divide the community. Those who continue to refuse to sell out to the
company are few. And they remain confused and disappointed as to where to seek help. The
government agencies they have been banking on have not given any positive response. But
they continue to hope, amidst all the odds against them, that the Mansaka people will be united
one day so they can secure their title to their ancestral domain.
Their CADT had already been processed but the NCIP has yet to release it. In the
meantime, they continue to strengthen their organization. They join various trainings and
educational seminars and workshops on land laws. They have also vowed not to be swayed by
any form of bribes and to be persistent in protecting their community from the onslaught of big-
scale mining operations.
The Mandaya Experience. The experience of the Mandaya of Manurigao, New Bataan,
Compostela Valley Province, in Mindanao is similar to the situation of the Mansaka. Almost two
days walk from New Bataan, Manurigao has been the ancestral domain of the Mandaya since
time immemorial. From day-to-day experiences evolved a Mandaya culture that revolved around
their land and resources. Manurigao was taken from the name of a big river, Suligao, which
teemed with fish, crabs and shrimps. Deer, boars, monkeys, wild chicken, and other various
wildlife species had abounded within the community's forests. The forests had since provided
not only food but medicines as well for the Mandaya people.
Cultural and social changes began in the 1980s when some Christian religious groups,
one of them the Protestant Calvary Church, entered the community. This group established a
missionary school whose curriculum focused on evangelization. In no time many Mandaya
embraced the Western religious culture the church introduced and turned their backs on their
own beliefs and faith in the Magbabaya (the Mandaya's name for their creator). While the
community was undergoing cultural and social changes, some outsiders since the 1980s have
begun logging from the Mandaya's forests. In 2004 mining activities, which the late former
Mayor Margarito Cualing spearheaded, began.
To protect their community from further environmental destruction brought about by
logging and mining, the Mandaya applied for a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title to their
ancestral domain. The CADT, covering more or less 4,000 hectares, was awarded in 2001 and
has since been kept at the municipal tribal office. They also helped in crafting their Ancestral
Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan in 2003, but this has yet to be
implemented. While the ADSDPP remains unimplemented, the national government has already
proposed a hydroelectric project within the Mandaya's ancestral domain.
Like the Mansaka, the Mandaya at first were mere spectators of the various
developments unfolding before them. But in recent years they have begun to assert themselves
and their rights to their ancestral domain. They recently blocked the entry into their community
of small-scale miners from Diwalwal, another community known for its gold rush and
unregulated private mining activities. They also began protecting small-scale mining operations,
which they themselves own and operate. And even as the ADSDPP has yet to be implemented,
the Mandaya people continue to fine-tune it, to ultimately guide and regulate the development of
their lands and resources primarily for themselves.
(Masinaring, M.R.N. (2011). Understanding the Lumad: A closer look at a misunderstood culture. Baguio City: Tebteba
Foundation). xxx Now, the Mandaya are having problems with their ancestral domain claim. The
Mandaya lamented the delay in the processing of their Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title
(CADT). They think the NCIP in Davao Oriental is "too slow" in processing their claim.
The Mandaya’s ancestral domain covers part of Compostela Valley, Caraga and Manay.
But no CADT has been issued to them yet. About 6,000 hectares of land within the ancestral
domain have been occupied by the lntegrated Forestry Management Agreement (lFMA) of Asian
Evergreen. Diano said the lFMA was approved and adopted by the Sangguniang Bayan without
consulting the Mandaya.
xxx ln interviews with Tebtebba researchers, Mandaya elders strongly lamented the
encroachment by outsiders into their lands. Their forest areas have dwindled. "Yang lopa
pyagabunoan gayod yaan, kinabowi man god yaan (We should fight for our land because it is
our source of life)," says Engr. Eleuteria Monday, a Mandaya woman. Logging companies
operate in their area for many years now. They even buy dapdap (erythrina orientalis) and all
types of timber trees. The Mandaya people use dapdap to make coffins. "Yahadlok kami na
kaapektuhan yang supply ng tubig ngadi kanami kay yang dapdap iyan magtubo sang daplin ng
tubig (We fear that our rivers would dry up when all of the dapdap trees growing alongside the
river banks are gone)."
The Mandaya fear that the denudation of their ancestral domain might bring about all
kinds of calamities. Forest denudation and more cutting of trees might threaten their springs.
The Manobo Experience. Logging and mining activities began as early as the 1960s in the
ancestral domain of the Manobo of Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, in Mindanao. Part of the Manobo
ancestral domain is the Agusan Marsh, a vital habitat of crocodiles and other wildlife species.
To protect their ancestral domain, the Manobo had applied for a CADT and was finally
given. They also helped craft an ADSDPP, which was finally done, but they still lack the
logistical support to fully implement it. Despite this, they have a functional indigenous peoples'
organization and structure, which continues to see how best to serve and protect the interests of
the community. A federation of Manobo peoples' organizations is also doing its part to help
implement the ADSDPP. This federation continues to help lead other Manobo organizations in
consulting, meeting and training members of the indigenous community about their rights to
their lands as provided for in the IPRA and in the UNDRIP. The Manobo community also looks
up to this federation in helping settle various forms of conflicts.
The Tagbanwa Experience. The experience of the Tagbanwa (also spelled Tagbanua) of Coron,
Palawan is a good case of how indigenous peoples could actively and critically engage with
government agencies. But before they could engage with the government, particularly the
DENR, the Tagbanwa organized their ranks first. The Tagbanwa first sought the help of PAFID
(Philippine Association for Inter-cultural Development), a nongovernment organization specializing in the use
of maps to help indigenous peoples in their development plans.
With a detailed map and management plan of their ancestral domain, the Tagbanwa
forwarded this to the DENR. The DENR and other agencies were at first reluctant to officially
recognize the plan and their application for a CADC. But their level of organization and their
trainings have enabled the Tagbanwa to assert their rights to their lands as provided for by the
1987 Philippine Constitution and as later affirmed by the IPRA in 1997.
After difficult legal struggles, the Tagbanwa's initiatives and efforts paid off. In 1995, the
DENR granted them stewardship rights to their ancestral domain. This was later converted to
CADC in 1997 and finally awarded as a CADT in 2004. The Tagbanwa ancestral domain covers
24,520 hectares, which also include the seas and 7,458 hectares of land. There is one distinct
feature of the Tagbanwa's ancestral domain. Besides incorporating the seas, they have officially
spelled out in their title that their domain includes the air above and around their territory.
But when they finally got their CADT, the Tagbanwa still faced problems. Some
community members sought individual claims and titles, which led to some disunity among the
Tagbanwa. One clan, for example, titled and fenced off a beach property for a resort, a move
which, according to other Tagbanwa, ruined the peoples' sense of communalism and
community spirit.
Since Palawan has become aggressively promoted as a tourism destination, many
outsiders would want to invest in tourism facilities in Coron. The Tagbanwa are thus banking on
the IPRA's free, prior and informed consent process to help deter outsiders' intention to intrude
into the island.
There have been companies also seeking to apply for mining concessions in Coron.
The Tagbanwa have been asserting themselves as key stakeholders in the growing tourism
industry in Coron. But they need help to help them cope with the demands of the industry. For
example, they need financial aid to help them enlarge and improve their small boats, which they
use to ferry tourists.
Besides the individual titling of lands, the tourism industry and the cash economy that it
brought about have helped adversely affect the strong sense of community solidarity and
cooperation of the Tagbanwa. But through their organizations and federation, the Tagbanwa
continue to educate and empower themselves on how to address all these rapid changes even
as they protect and develop their ancestral domain.
The Mangyan Tagabukid Experience. The Mangyan Tagabukid of Diego, Sibuyan, Romblon
in central Philippines were gifted with eight clean rivers and thick forests. But their rich forests
and rivers have begun to be ruined since 1972 when logging operations started. Ironically, the
logging operations at that time were permitted by the town's mayor.
With the help of PAFID, the Mangyan Tagabukid began processing their CADC in 1994.
They eventually got two Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles. But there was a problem.
Despite the CADTs, mining companies were able to enter the Mangyan Tagabukid
community.
The Dumagat. With the technical help of PAFID, the Dumagat people of Aurora province in
northern Philippines were awarded their CADT in 2009. The NCIP had questioned the help
PAFID extended to the Dumagat. But the Dumagat could not totally rely on the NCIP, saying
without the technical help of NGOs like PAFID, they could have not processed their CADT. They
had actually applied for their title much earlier, but the application had been delayed also at the
Land Registration Authority.
The Dumagat have yet to move beyond Phase 2 of their ADSDPP. Their problem:
budget lack. Up to the few days before the 1-3 July 2010 conference in Baguio City, the
Dumagat had not heard from the NCIP about any progress of their ADSDPP. Dumagat leaders
have reported that they have to raise money for the per diem of NCIP personnel who help
process the ADSDPP. That the NCIP continues to drag its feet in processing the Dumagat's
ADSDPP reinforces their perception that the reason must be their inability to raise the per diem
for the agency's personnel. This had raised questions among other participants because helping
indigenous peoples to process their ADSDPP is part of the NCIP's mandate and job description.
The Mindoro's Mangyan Experience. The Mangyan people of Mindoro have the same
problem faced by the Dumagat of Aurora. They have applied for a CADT covering seven tribes.
But only recently were told that their application at the NCIP national office could not be
processed for lack of budget. A Mangyan leader asked: "Why do you (NCIP) refuse to act on
our application and are too slow to process the paper works? Is it because we have nothing to
give for your per diem?"
