NCIP to validate ICCs in Naga City

By Paulo DS. Papa

THE regional office of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in Bicol awaits the report of its provincial office in Pili, Camarines Sur on the indigenous cultural communities (ICC) in the 3 barangays of Naga City located near the slopes of Mt. Isarog.

Agnes Salvino, NCIP’s provincial head in Camarines Sur, reported during the regular session of the Sangguniang Panlungsod on December 6, 2022 the existence of agta or aeta in the barangays of Panicuason, Carolina and San Isidro.

Remains to be the major concern of the IPs in these barangays is for the government to provide them with the certificate of ancestral land title and the certificate of ancestral domain title.

Salvino, in an interview, said that NCIP-Camarines Sur has already conducted a base line survey to identify the exact population and location of the ICCs in the city’s upper barangays.

NCIP Regional Director Agosto Maglunsod told Bicol Mail on Monday, Feb. 20, that the report is needed in the validation of the ICCs/IPs in the city.

He said the NCIP’s regional office will instruct its provincial office to conduct a thorough validation on the IPs settlement in the area. He added that the validation is needed to be able to establish the year the IPs in the city have started to occupy the land and the tribe from which they originally belong, whether they are Agta Tabangnon, Agta Simaron, Agta Isarog, or Kabihug Minede.

Maglunsod said that the reference will be compiled into a recognition book which the NCIP national office requires. Upon approval, the NCIP will issue the certificate of ancestral domain title (CADT) which guarantees the ICC/IP in the area of their rights over the ancestral land.

The Article 7 of the RA 8371 or The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 cites that the rights of ownership and possession of ICCs/IPs their ancestral domains shall be recognized and protected. Rights such as the rights of ownership, to develop lands and natural resources, to stay in their territories, right in case of displacement, to regulate entry of migrants, safe and clean air and water, claim parts of reservations, and to resolve conflicts.

As of this writing, the NCIP has 17 identified ancestral lands in Bicol although Maglusod said that such domains will be increased by those in Naga City and in towns of Pili and Balatan in Camarines Sur upon the issuance of CADT.

IP’s population in the region, as validated by the NCIP, now reaches 135,000 including the 85,000 IPs in Camarines Sur living in certain areas of Iriga City, Buhi, Ocampo, Tigaon and Sagñay.