SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—About 200,000 indigenous peoples of Central Luzon are confident they can recover several hectares of their ancestral domain inside the different military reservations in the country.
Lawyer Anatacio Addog, legal officer of the National Commission on Indigenous People in Central Luzon, said the final draft of the agreement between the Department of National Defense, Philippine Air Force, NCIP, and the local government of Capas, Tarlac is now in the final review and comment.
Addog said the IPs, counted based on the 2010 census, are confident they can recover their ancestral lands inside the military reservations in the Crow Valley Gunnery Range, now called Ravena camp, in Capas, along with lands in Subic in Zambales, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga, and others.
According to Addog, ancestral domains inside military reservations restrict IP movements, as they are still subjected to military checks and passes before they could get in touch with their brothers and sisters living in these areas, specially during the annual Balikatan military war games exercises.
The restriction also causes dislocation of the IPs’ livelihood and hinders resettlement in their community, forcing others to beg for alms in the main streets of the region, the lawyer added.
The IPs, mostly Aetas and Dumagats, want sustainable employment and livelihood based on their culture and surroundings, like farming, which they have practiced for hundreds of years, Addog said.
“All these practices are being addressed by the agreement, which is now in the final stage,” he said.
The land being claimed in the military reservation forms part of the estimated 500,000 hectares of ancestral domain of IP in the region.
The new multibillion-peso Clark Green City project in Capas, Tarlac is another case of contention, Addog noted. Twenty years after Republic Act No. 8371—which gives IPs rights and protection against exploitation—was enacted, the native people “have started to recover our land, although land grabbing still exists,” he added.
“We cannot discount the fact there is land grabbing that exist, but we must be specific in addressing these concerns as the issue might also involve vested interest existing before the effectivity of RA No.8371 (title properties) within the ancestral domain which are respected under Section 56 of the law,” Addog added.
The IP ancestral domains in the region are rich in natural resources and biodiversity, and are in hilly forest zones with less accessible roads. These are distributed in the other parts of the provinces of Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales and Bataan, Nueva Ecija and Aurora, he noted.
“The regional office of the NCIP had already distributed 179,000 hectares of ancestral domain to the IP covered by 19 titles, while another 327,000 hectares with 13 titles are being processed and another 188,000 are scheduled for distribution up to 2022,” Addog added.