BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya (PIA) - - Governor Carlos Padilla recently hailed the decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) favoring the conduct of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) within the Ancestral Domain (AD) areas of the Bugkalot tribe covered by the operations of the Casecnan Multi-Purpose Irrigation and Power Project (CMIPP).

“We hope that there will be no more impediments along the way so that the FPIC which has been more than two decades-long wait for the Bugkalot tribe will now be finally implemented,” he said during the joint meeting of the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC), Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council (PADAC) and National Task Force-End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

In a February 21, 2023 decision, the CA denied the Petition for Certiorari filed by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) seeking the nullification of the letter-reply dated December 17, 2021 of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

NCIP letter-reply backed by the officials of the Bugkalot Confederation required NIA and PSALM to secure a FPIC and Certification Precondition under the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) with the operation of the CMIPP.

Padilla said with the CA decision, a new private contractor of the CMIPP is required to follow the FPIC which will open – up opportunities for the Bugkalot tribe to claim their percentage share from the income of the CMIPP, among others with the utilization of the natural resources within the tribe’s AD.

He also advised the NCIP to prepare and laydown the groundworks for the impending conduct of FPIC within the AD areas of the Bugkalot tribe.

“I hope our fellow Novo Vizcayanos, particularly the Bugkalot tribe will be united in this endeavor with the assistance concerned government agencies,” Padilla said.

In 2021 and 2022, a road block and barricades by the Bugkalot tribe prevented the workers of the CMIPP from entering the project’s Intake Weir in barangay Pelaway in Alfonso Castaneda town in Nueva Vizcaya.

The NCIP last year attempted to settle the FPIC demand of the Bugkalots with representatives of the NIA, PSALM and CMIPP contractor SOOSAN ENS but failed. (BME/PIA NVizcaya)