Xavier Science Foundation in partnership with the Asian NGO Coalition (ANGOC) and the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) conducted a forum on conflict resolution in Ancestral Domain on December 15, 2022, at Hotel de Susana in Valencia City, Bukidnon.
The forum was attended by the men and women leaders of the Pigsabuwahan hu Tribu ta Kalatungan Kaglambaga, an IP-led coalition from the 21 barangays in the Mt. Kalatungan landscape headed by their Chairman Datu Johnny “Bagusayana” Guina and the representatives of local government units with the participation of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 10 – Protected Area Management Office headed by Zorabel Ramos as a member of the Regional Land Use Committee (RLUC) of the Regional Development Council.
The knowledge sharing session is intended to support and assist the IP communities through information sharing, provision of inputs and general planning on preventing disputes and resolving conflicts in their ancestral lands given the growing commercial demand for land.
The IP communities in Northern Mindanao are experiencing increasing pressures on their AD and engagements with these organizations are reported to be non-transparent, lack of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) or manipulative. Without clear guidelines, lack of information and feeble organizational capacities, these communities are experiencing unfair deals, abuse of power and exploitation of their resources. Moreover, these mistreatments have increased during the time of pandemic.
With this, through the extension of the project Secure Access to Land and Resources (SALaR), the Pigsabuwahan coalition was able to draft plans to pursue tenure rights of ancestral domains by strengthening their organizational capacity through legal registration and to work closely with government agencies, including civil society organizations. ###