KIDAPAWAN CITY, Cotabato Province (PIA) -- In an effort to fortify governance of indigenous peoples communities, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), in collaboration with IP organizations, is pushing for the strengthening of the so-called "11 Building Blocks" of the ancestral domains.
About 300 IP leaders, women, and youth, along with members of the 1002nd Infantry "Bagwis" Brigade of the Philippine Army met in Kidapawan City on June 17 and 18 for a workshop intended to operationalize the 11 Building Blocks of the Ancestral Domains.
The workshop was headed by the NCIP XII under the Peace, Law Enforcement, and Development Cluster of the National Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) in partnership with nongovernment associations, namely: the Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Council of Elders (MIPCEL) and the Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Youth Organizations)
As provided by the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 (Republic Act 8371), the 11 Building Blocks are: 1) Confirmation of Indigenous Political Structure (IPS); 2) Registration and accreditation of Indigenous Peoples Organizations (IPO); 3) Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) and Certificate of Ancestral Land Title (CALT) delineation process; 4) Establishment of Ancestral Domain Management Office (ADMO); 5) Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan (ADSDPP) formulation; 6) IP Wealth Management-Community Resource Management Development Plan (CRMDP) Formulation; 7) Institutionalization of Certificate of Precondition (CP), Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), and Exercise of Priority Rights (EPR); 8) Effective Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) in the local legislative bodies; 9) Efficient and enhanced MOA/MOU/MOC formulation; 10) Socio-economic activities with IP cooperatives; and 11) Ancestral Domain Defense System.
Datu Bawan Jake Lanes, executive director of MIPCEL, said the healing, reconciliation, and operationalization workshop was primarily aimed at establishing a common understanding among the stakeholders, including members of the government security forces, former rebels, IP leaders and youth, and local and national government officials, among others, of the 11 building blocks that will make IP communities resilient, relevant, and responsive for national peace, security, and development.
"These 11 building blocks symbolize our self-governance. Without these building blocks we cannot claim that our communities are already self-governed," Datu Bawan said.
Establishing self-governance by operationalizing the 11 building blocks will ensure that the benefits of President Rodrigo Duterte's whole-of-nation approach in addressing insurgency and the delivery of government services in the IP communities will be sustained, he added.
"Now that they (communist terrorists) have been cleared from our communities, it is important for us to grab the opportunity to establish our self governance, thereby, ensuring that government programs will continue to come into our communities," Datu Bawan told the participants.
Participants of the workshop at NDKC gymnasium came from IP communities in Davao Occidental and parts of Davao del Sur, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato and Bukidnon, which are under the operational jurisdiction of the 1002nd Infantry Brigade.
Datu Bawan said the event in Kidapawan was the fourth in a series of workshops to operationalize the 11 building blocks of ancestral domains. Earlier workshops involved IP communities covered by the 1003rd, 1001st, and 701st brigades.
