Cultural Groups ask GMA to recall executive order

Cultural groups from different regions in the country recently asked President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to recall Executive Order No. 364 transforming the Department of Agrarian reform (DAR) in to the Department of Land Reform (DLR).

The Executive order, signed by the President last September 17, aims to consolidate related functions of government offices concerned with land problems. The order includes under DLR the Presidential Commission on the Urban poor (PCUP) and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

Both under the Office of the President, PCUP handles urban land reform concerns while NCIP handles ancestral domain reform concerns. The groups said the executive order violates the Indigenous People’s Rights Act (IPRA).

In a resolution signed Oct. 19 at the Camelot Hotel in Quezon City, cultural groups led by Ang Katipunan ng mga Samahang Maharlika (Ang KaSaMa) said “the transfer of the NCIP to the DLR comporomises the independence of the NCIP as required by the IPRA and will further weaken the NCIP and eventually derail the implementation of the IPRA.”

Among the signatories of the resolution were representatives of AKSM, Sibato Bukidnon TribalCommunity Leaders, Council of Elders. Office of the Supreme Council of Datus, Katututbong Samahan ng Pilipinas, Kasugbu – Cebu, Kaliwat – Western Visayas, Ang Katilingban sang mga Taga Aton, Bugtaw Akean, Kasaru – Bicol and Kuntak Mindanaw.

Some 110 indigenous peoples in Baguio City belonging to the Federation of Baguio Land Claimnants Association Inc., Baguio Benguet Indigenous Cultural Communities, Sto. Tomas Farmers Association and several community associations in Baguio City signed a separate appeal to the President.

“Many of our tribemates are losing hope in your administration and this feeling can be corrected if you immediately revoke EO 364 and instead immediately award the certificates of ancestral domain titles and certificates of ancestral land titles that are ready for awarding,” they said.

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reported by Rex G. Hidalgo in Journal Visayas - Vol. 5 Issn 15

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