The three tribes or indigenous peoples of the municipality of San Vicente—-Agutaynen, Tagbanua or Tandulanen and Cuyunon—-are now fighting for the right person to seat as Indigenous People Mandatory Representative (IPMR), who is going to be their official voice in the Municipal Council.
This is after the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)-Palawan declared the position vacant amidst protests since September of this year due to the complaint raised by the Agutaynen group questioning the former IPMR Reynaldo Rodriguez from Tandulanen tribe in continuing his term.
Agutaynen spokesperson Pinky Leido Evio Dela Cruz sought the assistance and intervention of the regional office of NCIP and of Malacanang Palace to pressure the provincial office of NCIP to resolve the matter but they never heard any reply from the office of Engr. Roldan Parangue of NCIP Palawan, the very reason they sent copies of their letter to Palawan Daily News to seek for an answer.
“Sa kasalukuyan wala po kaming IPMR pang-bayan na mahirap po sa parte naming mga katutubo, apektado po. Sa ngalan na rin po ng lahat ng katutubo ng San Vicente, nanawagan po kami sa NCIP Palawan, sapagkat sila na lang po ang walang kasagutan sa aming mga nire-request regarding po sa IPMR pang bayan na sana po magkaroon na ang San Vicente sapagkat meron na pong binaba si NCIP Regional Director natin si Sir Almonte ng memo po sa NCIP Palawan. Nag-intervention na rin po ang ating Malakanyang. Kumbaga by means of law sa batas natin, yun ang aking panawagan, kumakatok sa NCIP Palawan na sumagot na sila, para naman po magkaroon ng tulong ito sa ating mga katutubo, dahil pa boom kami andito ang mayayamang tao nag-invest, kailangan na rin naming mga katutubo na makasimula kami sa aming mga inaasakaso,” Dela Cruz said.
In an exclusive interview with PDN, Engr. Parangue stressed that the matter should be replied to first by their NCIP Roxas branch that covers San Vicente as well OIC Mary Ann Delos Santos who was the first one to address the complaint and not his provincial office.
But to satisfy Dela Cruz’s group, he gave his stand on why until now they didn’t answer the letter. He said that he already talked to his Regional Director on how to answer the issue by first having the official legal opinion from NCIP Legal Department.
“Isa pa yan sa hinihingan ko ng opinion. Kasi kung ako magbigay, hindi naman ako abogado maaring sabihin na hindi naman ako abogado. Yan ang sinabi ko sa aming Regional Director nung nakaraan, na sana ang magsagot yung legal para at least yun yung tamang interpretasyon ng batas,” Parangue further explained.
He said that this conflict is an internal word of honor issue among the three tribes. He is also aware that there is an agreement that they will allow the Tandulanen to seat first as IPMR for one term, to be followed by the Agutaynen and then by a Cuyunon. However this rotation agreement was changed due to the new guidelines imposed by the NCIP effective March of this year.
Sec. 6 of the guidelines mandate that the official IPMR should be selected from the tribes who have Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT), and not because of their population or Certificate of Ancestral Land Title (CALT).
Among the three tribes as per Parangue, only the Tagbanua has the CADT, making them the only tribe to qualify to seat as IPMR Pang-Bayan in San Vicente, and that’s what Rodriguez is holding to continue his term even though he already served his first term.
Parangue said, “Tagbanua lang ang recognized dahil sila lang yung pupuede, dahil sila yung netibo dun, ang mga Agutaynen migrant from Agutaya.”
The new rules were amended in 2018 and was fully implemented only this 2019.
“Ang hinabol ng isa may agreement daw nung una, with the assumption na hindi mababago ang guidelines, mauna ang Tagbanua sunod ang Agutaynen siguro pangatlo yung Cuyunon, yun yung agreement noon, lumalabas na siyempre sinunod nila etu, ang tanung dyan ay yung sinasabing palabra de honor yung usapan ba nun ay mabalewala,” Parangue explained.
Provincial Director Parangue added that as much as possible he doesn’t want to answer the letter sent by the Agutaynen in the spirit of fairness.
However, he is waiting for the official legal opinion of the regional office, explaining that NCIP Palawan has no lawyers to answer such so he is relying on the legal team from the regional office. He is about to leave Palawan by this week to follow up for the said opinion.
“Kung ako ang sasagot na i-cite ko yung batas na ito siyempre masakit sa kanila, eh di ipasagot natin sa legal, kasi legal interpretation, kung babasahin nila sa sarili nila hindi talaga sila makaka-upo, kung word for word sundin mo yan, I-challenge nila yung guidelines hindi yung kami ang i-reklamo,” Parangue added.
The said kind of issue is not only in San Vicente, as the City of Puerto Princesa is also having the said kind of conflict among the Tagbanua, Batak and Cuyunon due to the new guidelines. “Hindi rin makakaupo si kuwan hanggang hindi nare-resolba, pinapa-resolba namin yun patas para sa lahat hindi lang para sa kanila, hindi lang sila yung maapektuhan nyan, pati yung dito sa Puerto ganun na rin yung ginawa,” Parangue said.
Dela Cruz sent a message to PDN that they are willing to wait for the said opinion in order to resolve the issue.
“Totoo rin po talaga na kaming mga tribu nung nakaraan may mga misunderstanding with each other. Imbes na kami ay magsama-sama ngayon para umusad yung mga concern namin, nagkaroon ng kunting problema, pero iisa lang yung dapat namin ma-come up, dati rin po kaming magkakaibigan na tribu, sana mawala yung kung anumang nabuo sa kasamahan naming tribu na sama ng loob, sana mawala,” Dela Cruz said in closing.
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