NCIP to partner with LGUs, 

NHA on IP housing projects 

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Oct 9 (PIA) – National Housing Authority has funds available to help build houses for the indigenous communities, but that would need counterpart funds for the lot to build the house, shares National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Bohol during the recent Kapihan sa PIA. 

A radio forum set to commemorate and announce the 23rd anniversary of the enactment of the Indigenous Peoples’ (IP) Rights Act in October, Bohol NCIP team led by Sisinio “Boy” Amplayo hoped they could engage local governments to put up the counterpart funds for the noble cause. 

Faced with the enormous task of introducing a 23 year old law that is hardly read by most, the NCIP in Bohol has modestly rated its accomplishments, as far as cascading the law that protects the indigenous peoples and their communities is concerned. 

Speaking at the Kapihan sa PIA, Amplayo and information Officer Emmilou Gonzaga both bared that working with indigenous peoples especially in Bohol where there are three of such groups with different cultures, is a both a challenge and a test of commitment especially with the law not so well read and understood by many. 

Working with three of the 110 recognized indigenous groups in the country, the NCIP in Bohol have in their plates the Eskaya, the Badjao which resettled in Bohol from Zamboanga Peninsula and the Ati, which also resettled from Panay Island and Iloilo since 1950s. 

By indigenous people, NCIP means homogenous self-ascribed or others ascribed tribes identities, who have continuously occupied a community with defined limits, share common language, customs, traditions, cultural traits and have kept their way of life protected from invasion of foreign or alien culture, Gonzaga explained. 

And while the Eskaya have occupied territories since their ancestors can recall, it is a different case with the Ati and Badjaos. 

For the Eskaya, they have, as of the last survey of the ancestral domains claim, they have 3,175 hectares of lands in barangays Taytay Duero, Biabas Guindulman, Cantaub Sierra Bullones and Lundag in Pilar, and are in fact already self-governing as they have also elected their leaders. 

There may be some issues on some portions of the ancestral claims, Amplayo said but they have initiated the segregation of issued certificates of land ownership awards as well as other issued legal instruments that run counter to the ancestral domains claim of the tribe. 

He case is different for the Badjaos and the Ati however. 

Resettling here in private properties, the government is now trying to make arrangements for these indigenous peoples to have what they can properly call as their own. 

We used to have arrangements on a Badjao resettlement in Bingag, it did not work out. Then, there was one in Loon, and still it did not work out, reports Amplayo who has succeeded in seeking congressional help for the funds for lot acquisition for the resettlement site. 

But Badjaos, sea gypsies in their own right, have their ways of life that can never be taken away from the sea. 

For the Ati, arrangements with the local government unit have already apparently shown good results. 

A priest of the Diocese of Tagilaran has helped put up houses for some members of the ATI tribe here, and this has become a good start, according to Amplayo. 

And as for the Badjaos, the least understood IPs in the region, it may be long sailing in rough waters but with local governments doing something with them, the resettled tribe in Dauis have found been help in organizing and shepherding their tribe to calmer waters. 

With groups interested in helping the NCIP out in communities, they have become hopeful that the tribes may be in to a better future. 

That however may be one of the least concerns of the NCIP. 

Faced with a 1997 law that protects the rights of the indigenous peoples who have existed since time immemorial, NCIP has shared their entanglements with line national government agencies and private persons, who have also similar claims to what the law has asserted for the IPs. (rahchiu/PIA-7/Bohol) 

MODEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS AFTER 23 YEARS. NCIP Bohol head Sisinio Amplayo said the task has been challenging and their commitments stretched but then, the office says there is already something tha Bohol indigenous peoples can proudly boast of. (PIABohol) 

NEXT THING UP. For the NCIP in Bohol, next among its priorities is to bring the issue of IP representation in government, which is now being provided by law. The Indigenous People’s Rights Act has made sure that IPs are protected and that they can actively participate in the development planning of a place, explains Emilou Gonzaga. NCIP Bohol Information Officer. (PIABohol)

PARTNERSHIPS IN NEW INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS. The Eskayas of the mountains of Bohol show their new books which mass-produced their unique writings in a bid by private companies to keep their culture  in the younger generations. Here, children hold the new books as they stand before posters and charts to be used by teachers of the Eskaya language. Partnerships have been key in perpetuating support to the Eskayas, NCIP said. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

GETTING KIDS TO SUSTAIN THE UNIQUE CULTURE. While the NCIP is helping indigenous people have decent homes, it is dissuading others from adulterating the culture which these natives have been practicing. (PIA Bohol