IPMR position still vacant

UNTIL the certificate of affirmation for newlyappointed Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) Cherry Ann Codilla is released and she takes her oath, the position remains vacant and her attendance to any meetings will remain unofficial, said Davao City Vice Mayor Bernie Al-ag.

Because of surfacing issues on the genealogy of Codilla, of whether or not she is of a qualified Bagobo-Klata descent, and of her fluency to speak the local dialect, her appointment had been questioned. This delay had caused eight straight Council sessions with no IP and Muslim represen- tative.

“What we’re really doing now is intervention. We’re already on our eighth session that they do not have representatives. That’s two months. And we need to do something about it because we don’t know, we might be approving ordinances that might be stepping on their rights and we didn’t know. They do not have a voice there,” Al-ag said.

He also called on the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) that in order to avoid similar circumstances from ever happening again, the shortlisted representatives should

be qualified even before the selection process. He said the current outcome and process is very unorganized. Objections, he said, should have been made earlier on and not when a representative had already been appointed.

“It is the objective of NCIP to put up an IPMR in the council every three years. They should have anticipated this three years ago. And this is not the first time that we are making an IPMR. This is the third time. This is not a new process. It saddened me, that with this process, the procedure of NCIP is improper in selecting the IPMR of the city council,” he said, adding that the selection process should have also been made as early as six months before former IPMR Bai Halila Sudagar left her position.

While Sudagar left the position on March 30, the selection process started on April 12. According to Al-ag, Sudagar sent a request if she could still function as IPMR while waiting for the official appointment of her replacement. However, Al-ag said this request was not approved by NCIP.

Meanwhile, if NCIP would not be able to solve this issue with Codilla as soon as possible, Al-ag said he would temporarily assign Committee on Cultural Minority and Muslim Affairs Vice Chair Councilor Victoria Advincula to be the IPMR.

As Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio returns office on May 31 after taking a leave, Al-ag said he would suggest for NCIP to talk with the mayor regarding this concern.