One of the unsettling issues in the Framework Agreement (FA) is
the question of the indigenous peoples (IP). While the agreement
recognizes the IP as natives or original inhabitants, they want their
specific identity, ancestral domain and rights to 'self-determination'
recognized and respected within the Bangsamoro.
Both the GPH and the MILF have shown not only flexibility but also
openness in grappling with the issue of the IP. The government and the
MILF not only recognize the legitimacy of their claim but also accept
the 'origin narrative' of Tabunaway and Mamalu that defines the
relations between the Muslims and the IP—natives or original inhabitants
of Mindanao 'at the time of the conquest and colonization.'
The emerging Bangsamoro identity is a young political construct that
was coined in the early 70’s by the Moro National Liberation Front. The
said identity would go through a process of 'winnowing' and
'integration.' Its acceptability and ownership even among those
considered natives would depend on how it navigates the perilous yet
earlier boundaries of ethnicity, religion, languages, and kinship.
The IP are recognized as Bangsamoro. They are 'natives or original
inhabitants' not only at the time of the conquest but even before the
coming of Islam. The process of owning the new emerging identity would
depend whether such LARGER identity would be pluralist and inclusive.
There is always the danger and the temptation that the new Bangsamoro
identity becomes 'monolith' and exclusive. The moment it goes this way,
its sustainability in the long term would be jeopardized.
An emerging notion of 'nationhood' or 'bangsa' has to be inclusive of
all the 'permanent' inhabitants of its constituent units. It should
accept pluralism within the emerging 'bangsa.' But the concept of
inclusiveness is the glue that 'sticks' them together. For one, the new
identity should NOT make any distinction among the 'constituents' in
terms of privileges and entitlements else the seeds of discontent and
dissensions are already planted at the beginning. And in time the ugly
face of discrimination would surface and would burst forth into a new
crisis.
No doubt, the ownership of the
Bangsamoro identity by the IP is an ongoing process. While they do
assert that they have specific identity within the Bangsamoro, they,
too, dream of exercising the rights to determine their local affairs
within their ancestral domain.
There are
several instances in the Framework Agreement that these rights are not
only recognized but also respected. To cite a few of them, the FA
specifically mentions the following:
- The IP’s 'freedom of choice shall be respected' (No. 5);
- The 'customary rights and traditions of indigenous peoples shall be taken into consideration in the formation of the Bangsamoro's justice system'; and
- The 'recognition of indigenous processes as alternative modes of dispute resolution' (No. 6).
When we speak of IP within the identified Bangsamoro core territory, it
refers to the Tedurays who are traditional inhabitants of that vast
territory that used to be labeled in earlier maps as the Tiruray
Highlands, south of Cotabato City. There are also their blood relatives,
the Lambangian and Dulangan Manobo, who live right in the midst of the
Maguindanao traditional sultanates.
They
Tedurays are the prominent inhabitants of the three towns of Upi (North
Upi, South Upi, and Datu Blah Sinsuat). There are also large Teduray,
Lambagian, and Dulangan Manobo communities in the municipalities of Datu
Odin Sinsuat (formerly Dinaig), Talayan, Datu Saudi, Datu Unsay,
Shariff Aguak, and Ampatuan.
The IP’s major
concern is the ancestral domain that has been subjected to many and
differing land tenureal system through the years. They believe that
under the Indigenous Peoples Act or IPRA, the IP's right to their
ancestral domain is a prior system that is both recognized and
respected.
However, there is a 'controversial'
reading and application of the said law. It holds that IPRA does NOT
apply in the ARMM because of the provision in the RA 9054 that the
Regional Legislative Assembly has to enact its own IPRA.
Because of this 'erroneous reading,' the IP within the ARMM have been
deprived of the right to assert their collective ownership over their
ancestral domain. This fact puts the IP within the ARMM into a great
disadvantage—very unlike the other IP elsewhere in Mindanao, Visayas,
and Luzon that have either filed their claim and/or perfected their
'native titles' over their ancestral domain at the National Commission
of the Indigenous Peoples or NCIP.
For this
reason, the IP would like to participate in the drafting of the
Bangsamoro Basic Law that will guarantee their rights and dreams not
only of having their 'homeland' recognized and respected but also to
enjoy their own 'autonomy' within the new autonomous political entity
aka Bangsamoro.
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