Gov’t assures Lumads of full support

DAVAO CITY – Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (PAPP) Secretary Jesus Dureza urged government agencies to work together in addressing issues related to the issuances of approved Certificate of Ancestral Domain Titles (CADTs) to allow the Lumads take full advantage of the resources from their ancestral domains within the five-province CARAGA Region.

“There has to be a convergence of efforts. This has been the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte,” Dureza said in a statement.

The chief peace adviser said he believes the convergence of government agencies will be instrumental in addressing the ancestral domain claims of the IPs in Mindanao.

Dureza encouraged the National Commission on Indigenous People’s (NCIP), Land Registration Authority (LRA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and Department Agrarian Reform (DAR) to commit to resolve all CADT-related concerns.

Dureza said among the concerns in the issuances of CADTs include the lack of funding that keeps the NCIP from processing the delineation of ancestral lands within the ancestral domain and the need for beneficiary communities to undergo the process of social preparation once CADTs are issued.

Addressing around 400 delegates during IP Summit in CARAGA on Monday, Dureza said OPAPP will provide technical assistance to six ethno-linguistic tribes in the CARAGA upon the request of the Lumads in their resolution submitted to his office because some of the approved CADTs have been held pending registration by LRA.

The RA 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) provides that the rights of the IPs to their ancestral domains by virtue of native title will be recognized and respected. It said a formal recognition, when solicited by IPs concerned, shall be embodied in a CADT, recognizing the title of the Lumads over the territories identified and delineated.

The IPRA also delineates ancestral domain from ancestral land; offers a concept of ownership over their ancestral domain within which all lands and natural resources belong to all generations of IPs that cannot be sold, disposed of, or destroyed as they form the bases of the cultural integrity of the IPs.

Dureza said it’s up to the Lumads if they want to venture into mining but they should be the ones to benefit from it.