ILOILO CITY – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. was urged to review the appointment of former Mayor Alex Centena of Calinog town in Iloilo province as Visayas commissioner of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
President urged to review appointment of NCIP commissioner from Iloilo
By Tara Yap
“We humbly and earnestly appeal to your good office to reconsider and review the appointment of Mr. Centena,” said former Vice Mayor Renato Casinao in a letter dated May 27, 2025.
As president of the Calinog Indigenous Peoples Organization (CIPO), Casinao alleged that Centena is not a member of the Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs).
Centena’s appointment allegedly violates Section 41 of Republic Act No. 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997.
The law states that appointed NCIP chairperson and six commissioners must be bona fide members of ICCs/IPs.
“It would signal a grave circumvention of the legal and cultural safeguards designed to ensure that our voices are genuinely and appropriately represented in national policymaking by an IP member who has deep knowledge and understanding of our culture and identity,” Casinao said.
Calinog is one of the areas in Panay Island where Panay Bukidnon IPs reside.
Casinao also claimed that Centena allegedly does not have a Certificate of Confirmation (COC) needed to validate his IP identity.
Centena maintained that he has IP blood as certified by an IP elder in the mountain barangay of Alibunan in Calinog.
Centena said that his mother belongs to the Caro and Castor clans who have deep IP roots.
He said politics must be the reason for Casinao to question his appointment to NCIP. They are long-time political rivals.