Camiguin lone district Rep. Jurdin Jesus “JJ” Romualdo (Romualdo’s Facebook page)

Camiguin lone district Rep. Jurdin Jesus “JJ” Romualdo recommended a meager budget of P1,000 for the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) over concerns of the agency’s failure to address the supposed illegitimacy of Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in his province.

During the House plenary budget debates on Wednesday, Sept. 25, Romualdo criticized the NCIP for “always insisting” that there were IPs in Camiguin.

He pointed out that “since time immemorial” there was no such record of IPs in the island province.

The lawmaker claimed that workers not native to Camiguin, who were earlier blacklisted in their places of work, applied to be IPs in the province to avail of financial assistance, among other benefits.

“I’m not against IPs per se, as long as it’s legitimate,” he stressed.

Quirino lone district Rep. Midy Cua, the budget sponsor of the NCIP, noted that the agency has long requested a joint validation with Romualdo and local officials to determine the legitimacy of the IPs.

Romualdo, however, pointed out that the province already made a resolution on the status of IPs. This means that there’s no need for a dialogue, he said.

Following the congressman’s recommendation of a P1,000 budget, the lower chamber moved to tackle his request at the appropriate time.