T'bolis welcome delineation of ancestral domain, but fear resistance from landowners

DAVAO CITY, Philippines - The Tiboli Manobo S'daf Claimants Organization (TAMASCO) expressed relief when, after a long wait, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) finally started the perimeter survey delineating their ancestral domain claim including portions of the coffee plantation of owned by the Consunji clan in South Cotabato province.

Victor Danyan, TAMASCO chairperson said, “we have waited so long for the survey to start in order to fast-track the approval of CADT or Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title.”

TAMASCO is claiming as their ancestral domain an estimated 6,000 hectares of lands, which included a large portion of the coffee plantation in the hinterlands bordering the villages of Ned in Lake Sebu town and Santo Nino in Bagumbayan in Sultan Kudarat province.

The NCIP is the primary government agency that formulates and implements policies, plans and programs for the recognition, promotion and protection of the rights and well-being of Indigenous Peoples and the recognition of their ancestral domains and their rights.

But TAMASCO members fear that security personnel of Silvicultural Industries Incorporated (SII) would sabotage the delineation after one of its members was allegedly harassed on January 31 while on his way home from an organizational meeting.

In a report by the organization, Akilis Anaw, TAMASCO coordinator, was reportedly accosted by three armed men wearing camouflage uniform at around 5 p.m. along the boundary of Sitio Segowit and Sitio Tuburan, all of the village Ned. One was identified as Tikboy Kinilis, head of SII security manning the coffee plantation, a certain Johnny and one unidentified man, armed with M14 high powered rifle each.

The report said Kinilis asked for the whereabouts of the survey team which conducted delineation mapping in neighboring areas from January 20 to 30 and told Anaw that the areas inside the plantation should not be included. “He said that they are ready to die if survey will be conducted in the plantation,” Anaw quoted Kinilis as saying.

The Legal Rights Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan/ Friends of the Earth Philippines (LRC-KsK/FOE) Davao Regional Office, which has been assisting TAMASCO communities since 2000, urged authorities to look into the issue and ensure that the perimeter survey will be completed soon.

“With the start of the official delineation of their ancestral domain, the T'bolis will definitely earn the ire of the Consunjis. The NCIP should be able to address as well the security of the communities," said Erwin Quinones, campaigns paralegal of the LRC-Davao. “On the other hand, the NCIP should recognize the urgency of the delineation process.”

TAMASCO's claim forms part of an application for Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) covering an estimated 16,000 hectares of land by T'boli Ubo Claimants Organization (TUCO).

The Tri-Peoples Concern for Peace, Progress and Development of Mindanao, Inc (TRICOM) and LRC has been assisting in the processing of the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) of TUCO filed in 1999.

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