Members of particular Filipino ethnic communities who are counting on the services of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) may expect better support from the national government under the potential leadership of presidential candidate Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson.
In keeping with his pledge to be of service to the vulnerable sectors of our society, Lacson said he would provide better funding to the NCIP and work toward a more effective implementation of Philippine laws to protect the interests of indigenous peoples (IP) nationwide.
The presidential aspirant addressed the issue of internal displacement among several members of the IP community during a town hall forum in San Jose de Buenavista, Antique, where he and running mate Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III campaigned on Wednesday, April 20.
Lacson said municipal Mayor Elmer Untaran informed him that the main problem of their IP sector is their inability to secure land titles for their ancestral domains, thereby forcing them to relocate elsewhere.
As far as the veteran statesman is concerned, the NCIP is the national government agency tasked to help address these issues. The organization was created by virtue of Republic Act (RA) 8371 or ‘The Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997.
‘’Unfortunately, it has been largely underfunded,’’ Lacson lamented.
“Alam niyo sa budget? Kakaunti ‘yung kanilang (NCIP) budget (Did you know that under our budget, the NCIP only has a meager share?). Parang going through the motion... Parang gusto lang nila i-comply ‘yung batas. Dapat implementation... Ang susi po ng marami nating problema implementation (It appears they’re just going through the motions... Like they only wanted to comply with the law. There should be proper implementation... The key toward solving our problems is implementation),’’ he pointed out.
“Kaya nagiging vulnerable sila (IP) sa recruitment ng mga NPA (New People’s Army) kasi kina-capitalize ‘yung kanilang mga misery, ‘yung kanilang malulungkot na istorya sa buhay... (That’s why they are getting vulnerable to the recruitment of because some groups are capitalizing on their misery or the sad stories of their lives...) Palakasin po natin ‘yung ahensya na nangangasiwa sa indigenous peoples sa buong kapuluan (Let us strengthen the agency in charge of looking after the welfare of our indigenous peoples across the country),’’ he added.
Sotto, for his part, proposed to mandate the designation of an IP representative in every concerned local government unit (LGU) to help address the concerns of the ethnic minority groups. They plan to enforce this policy through the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
‘’There is a stipulation in the law that you have to be related up to the fourth degree of consanguinity for you to be classified as an IP, and it was also stated under the same law that we passed that you need to have representation in the provincial government, right?’’ he asked.
‘’If Senator Lacson and I are elected, we will direct the DILG to require all to designate an IP representative in the provincial government. You may rest assured that we will implement that (policy),’’ he added.
Both Lacson and Sotto expressed that proper execution of relevant legislations is the best solution to the problems plaguing our IP communities not only in Antique, but other provinces in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, too.