Busol Residents Assert Land Ownership

Published on August 22, 2009

By WENDY ATUBAN
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat

BAGUIO CITY? The ancestral land claimants at the Busol watershed who have been issued demolition orders despite having pending applications for ancestral land titles at the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) confessed being disturbed by labels such as “squatters,” “professional squatters,” and “informal settlers” used to refer to them especially by the media.

“We are not squatters, professional squatters, illegal settlers,” they said adding that they are beneficiaries of the heirs of Gumangan and Molintas.

The four families Ampaguey, Daluyen, Panayo and Padang who claim to be beneficiaries of the Gumangan and Molintas ancestral lands filed a writ of injunction through the NCIP. They claimed the basis of the demolition order issued against them is the Supreme Court order issued February this year enjoining the demolition of the houses of families who are not related to them. “The Supreme Court determined only the rights and defenses of the three respondents in that case,” adding “the decision is not an umbrella decision that covers all of us.”

In a statement, they supported the NCIP in issuing the temporary restraining order that stopped the demolition on July 28, invoking the above defense and the “radical” clause in the concept of native title which states “it is to be assumed that the claimants have title.” With this, they said they are vested the rights of ownership and right to introduce improvements. They further stated “it is only when the NCIP declares the claims as invalid that the right ceases.”

Gloria Abibuag, spokesperson of the four families, appealed to the city government to sit down with them to be able to arrive at an agreement for “peaceful coexistence” and “co-management” of the watershed. She lamented that the city neglected the position paper which they were required to come up with prior to the demolition.

Fighting to hold back tears, she said, “Busol is a place we call our own, we cannot just be displaced from the very land where we came from.” Echoing the ordeal that many indigenous peoples continue to struggle for their ancestral lands, which, although has the guarantee of the IPRA, are still largely unimplemented, she asked, “If you demolish our homes where will we be placed?”