Interesting...

Manila-based ring preying on Ibaloi claims uncovered

By DEXTER A. SEE, Manila Bulletin

October 5, 2009, 7:20pm

BAGUIO CITY — Embattled representatives of an Ibaloi clan which claims a portion of Southdrive area in this mountain resort city as one of its ancestral land warned other claimants against the operation of a Manila-based syndicate that almost succeeded in illegally titling a bulk of a 24-hectare land which is to the disadvantage of legitimate claimants.

Some of the representatives of the heirs of Lauro Carantes, which has claims over a large portion of Southdrive, appealed to the public to beware of the alleged land grabbing syndicate who are working on large-scale dispensation of legitimate ancestral claims to the disadvantage of the real claimants.

They said the syndicate, which is led by a Manila-based lawyer, has been allegedly able to get hold of part of the land through a deed of assignment and transfer of rights signed by a certain Antino Carantes, one of the eight children of the late Luro Carantes.

They claimed the questionable deed of assignment and transfer of rights covered a total of 112,442 square meters or more than 10 hectares which is nearly one half of the ancestral claim of the Carantes.

However, the representative claimed Antino Carantes represented only one share of what his father owned, thus, he could not speak in behalf of the whole properties of his father.

Aside from Antino, the other children of Luaro Carantes are Adriano, Calixto (Fianza), Valentine, Placido, Crisanto, Adoracion (Comising), and Juliana (Balbines).

Sources disclosed that the Manila-based lawyer has been tagged by Land Registration Authority (LRA) head Benedicto Ulep, in a memorandum, as an alleged fixer.

Worst, a Manila-based company almost had the entire 112,442 square meters titled had not the Cordillera Small Business Assistance Center filed an adverse claim stopping the distribution of lands, especially in the ancestral claims in the region.

The disgruntled claimants pointed out that the Manila-based lawyer and his company should stop from interfering in the processing of the land claims of indigenous peoples, especially the heirs of Lauro Carantes and other legitimate ancestral land claimants in the city.

If the Manila-based lawyer was able to nearly fool the heirs of Lauro Carantes into giving up their claims, the concerned representatives warned the same could happen to other ancestral land claimants processing the titling of their claims under the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) which recognizes the existence of ancestral claims in the city provided that they had been existing prior to the passage of the said law.

IPRA empowers indigenous cultural communities and indigenous peoples to process the titling of their ancestral lands through the issuance of native titles in recognition of their ownership of the lands since time in memorial since the same was passed on from generation to generation

Jarius Bondoc Writes

OPINION

Law enforcers as lawbreakers

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc (The Philippine Star) Updated February 12, 2010 12:00 AM

One hundred and one years ago this month the US Supreme Court historically settled a long-drawn court fight. It deemed, by virtue of native title, Ibaloi tribal chief Mateo Cariño to be the owner of much of what is now Camp John Hay and Baguio City proper. The Philippine Supreme Court would later reiterate the jurisprudence. And from it arose 1987’s constitutional basis for ancestral lands, and 1997’s creation of a National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

Ironically Cariño’s heirs are today taking the NCIP to court. They cry that the agency not only is delaying release of their ownership title. Worse, it recently titled part of their land to another Ibaloi clan.

The plot in question is all of 69 hectares, covering the Baguio Dairy Farm. Last Nov. the NICP gave a certificate of ancestral land title (CALT) to the heirs of Ikang Paus. The Cariños point to 14 breaches in the titling of the area that in olden times was called Shuyo. Three of the flaws pertain to very rules of the NCIP. First is its memo of Sept. 2009 that Baguio CALTs would be issued only after screening by the city mayor as head of urban planning and development. The Paus CALT went through no such review. Second is proof of possession, like tax declaration. The NICP previously had rejected the Paus claim for absence of such document. Third is proof of clan inter-relationship. The Cariños contend that their and the Paus family trees show no ties, and that photos only prove the latter to be Ibaloi, not relatives.

This is not the first time the NICP is facing hostility in Baguio. In 2008 City Hall protested its titling to yet another clan more than 23 hectares of the Forbes Park Reserve. The area consists of the Botanical Garden (now called Centennial Park, near Camp John Hay’s old gate), and six pumping stations of the city watershed. The NICP is under the Office of the President. Malacañang bigwigs are known to have built mansions in the disputed lands.

* * *

Open Letter to Eugenio A. Insigne

CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL COMMISSION ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

This is in response to the news article in the People’s Journal Tonight, February 15, 2010, lead story NCIP to Nat’l Heroes Heirs End Trial by Media! written by Tess Lapuz-Lardizabal.

Who are you to say that “nobody was authorized to come out with such a press release in the name of the family?”

We are the proud descendants of Mateo and Bayosa Cariño, grandchildren of his fourth child Dr. Jose Ma. Cariño. We have the right to say anything we please and nobody can say otherwise, especially since we speak the truth.

The truth is that the NCIP has perpetrated a landgrab by awarding the Baguio Dairy Farm to fraudulent claimants, the Heirs of Ikang Paus, and this can be ascertained by any independent investigation of the case.

The truth is that the fraudulent Paus claim was already denied in Land Registration Case No. N-29 in 1976, was revoked in the NCIP chaired by Reuben Dasay Lingating in 2003, but was resurrected and hastily approved by NCIP under the chairmanship of Eugenio Insigne.

The truth is that this landgrab was approved by the committee en banc, and facilitated by the NCIP Baguio Office and Cordillera regional office without due process to the much earlier and legitimate claim of the Mateo and Bayosa Cariño Foundation. Insigne’s claim that he was out of the country at the time this was approved is irrelevant, as he is the chair of the Commission, and the commissioner from the Cordillera, and this would not have happened without his initiative and full backing.

The truth is that the survey which was made by Engineer Victor Bumatnong of the Baguio Office for the Cariño Foundation was instead used in the Paus application, and the Baguio NCIP Office through Gladys Lasdacan accomplished all requirements for Paus in a record two weeks time, while sitting on the Cariño application for years.

The truth is that the NCIP has violated its own rules and procedures, with the NCIP en banc arrogating unto itself the mandated functions of the Regional Hearing Officer after the Cariño Foundation filed its protest, thereby subverting due process.

The truth is that after the NCIP had awarded 68 hectares of the Baguio Dairy Farm to Paus, they made an offer to the Cariño Foundation to accept the remaining 25 hectares. While the Cariños were arguing over whether to accept the leavings or to expose the landgrab, the NCIP awarded an additional three lots to the Paus, thereby leaving only the crumbs for the Cariños. And crumbs stick in the throat and cannot be swallowed.

The truth is that the Certificates of Ancestral Land Title which have been awarded to Ibaloi families in Baguio by the NCIP have all come at a price. This is common knowledge, whether these families will admit to it publicly or not. While we fully support the legitimate claims of the Ibaloi claimants, we assert that the NCIP should not make these Ibaloi families feel that they are beholden since this is their birthright, which they have been fighting for for a long time.

The truth is that the price which Ibaloi claimants have to pay in exchange for their CALTs is not only the percentage of their land which they have to give up for “administrative costs,” but perhaps even more so the infighting, dis-unity and further loss of dignity among the Ibaloi clans which the NCIP system engenders.

The truth is that the very institution that has been set up to protect the rights of indigenous peoples is the very mechanism for their further oppression.

Now, the NCIP wants to throw a cañao in Baguio City, and expects those who have been awarded CALTs to contribute for the occasion and endorse Chairman Insigne’s bid for congress through the partylist. Enough of this shame!

We call on all Ibalois in Baguio to unify and stand up for our dignity. Let us not allow ourselves to be treated so shabbily. Isimphet tan itakshel e shayaw tayo.

GREAT GRANDCHILDREN OF MATEO & BAYOSA CARIÑO

GRANDCHILDREN OF DR. JOSE MA. CARIÑO

Insigne answers: People's Journal, 14 February, 2010

End trial by media!

by Tess Lapuz-Lardizabal

Sunday, 14 February 2010 19:04

NATIONAL Commission on Indigenous Peoples Chairman (NCIP) Eugenio A. Insigne speaks candidly, yet very carefully. It’s as if the chief makes sure every word he says doesn’t hurt anyone, even himself. Like a wounded tiger, the NCIP head has come out to parry the accusations being hurled at him like poisoned spears. Inheriting his ancestors’ bullheaded bravery, the full-blooded Tinggian from Abra says he is ready to face the legal war launched by his opponents. But in the proper arena called the courts, and not via media. In an exclusive interview with People’s Tonight, Insigne clarified issues raised by some descendents of national hero Mateo Cariño regarding the clan’s claims over their alleged ancestral land in Baguio. The NCIP chief noted that the case has been published in several dailies, including People’s Tonight. “Why are they bringing the case to the media? They should go to the court if they want to question the NCIP. There’s a proper legal venue for this,” said Insigne. Insigne explained that it is beyond the NCIP to “give back parts of Camp John Hay” to the claimants because their claim has to be endorsed first by the Baguio Ancestral Land Clearing Committee. This is pursuant to Baguio City Council Resolution No. 406, series of 2009 and the NCIP En Banc Resolution No. 090, Series of 2009. “Based on these two resolutions, applications for ancestral lands inside Baguio City can only be acted on by the commissioner after it passes the clearing committee,” he said. He added that NCIP En Banc Resolution No. 060-2009-AL, dated March 19, 2009, dismissed the claims of Mateo’s heirs’ claims for lack of merit, particularly for their failure to present evidence of continuous possession and to authenticate the survey plan they submitted of the area claimed. “The NCIP had carefully studied the pieces of evidence presented and did not issue a CALT to the Paus family in recored time. It took the NCIP six years to study the case from the time it was turned over by the DENR in 2003,” the NCIP chief added. Insigne also revealed that the Cariños have not appealed the resolution during their motion for reconsideration. He also belied claims that graft charges were filed against the NCIP commissioners. He explained the complaint filed was that for grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty. “The issue before the Ombudsman is whether the NCIP can issue titles over an inalienable forest reserve. It is the stand of the NCIP that it can. The DOJ supported the position in the case of LRA vs NCIP.” The NCIP chief revealed that he had gathered from the Mateo Cariño and Bayosa Foundation that “nobody was authorized to come out with such a press release in the name of the family.” “I would like to emphasize that I did not participate in the two resolutions as I was out of the country on an official mission. The losing party in the family dispute has taken their case to the media not so much to win the case but to foment disinformaion and malign those who would follow the rule of law. That they have resorted to extralegal means on the wings of Mateo Cariño, a regional hero and an icon in IP rights, shows the disgraceful extent to which this group will go to further their personal interests,” said Insigne. “I tried to help them (the Cariños). I was the one who filed the resolution to fast-track their claim. Inabutan lang ng clearing committee. I want to make it clear that I have always been sympathetic of their claims. And I had nothing to do with the two resolutions. I never asked anything from them,” stressed Insigne.

People's Tonight article, 31 January 2010

‘Give us part of John Hay back!’

by People's Tonight

Sunday, 31 January 2010 19:51

WHEREVER he is, national hero Mateo Cariño must be watching proudly and beaming like an undefeated king at his descendants. The Igorot chieftain had passionately defended his ancestral land to the tomb. Like him, his heirs are bent on winning his battles with the unique ferocity and gentle fervor that characterize members of the clan. As part of efforts to recover the Baguio Dairy Farm, they are set to file fraud and graft charges against National Commission on Indigenous Peoples commissioners. Heirs of the national hero are set to file charges against NCIP Commissioner Eugenio Insigne and other commissioners. They are also set to file prohibitory actions against the NCIP and the Philippine courts over the issuance of CALTs covering 22 hectares of much more expensive properties in Baguio City which the NCIP allegedly issued to a spurious land claimant. Last year, Baguio City filed graft charges against the seven commissioners because the NCIP had issued a CALT covering the Baguio Botanical Garden, the Ilusorio Park and even parts of Camp John Hay, which are being claimed by the Cariño family as part of their ancestral domain. Joaquin “Jack” Kintanar Cariño, publisher of the Baguio Yearbook, and writer Linda Grace Cariño said the NCIP erred and ignored its own rules and guidelines, due process and the IPRA Law when it issued ancestral land titles covering more than 90 hectares of prime property of the Baguio Dairy Farm in Baguio City to a family claiming to trace their lineage to Bayosa Ortega-Cariño -- acknowledged owner of the said property and wife of Mateo. Jack and Linda Grace are grandchildren and heirs of ex-Baguio City Mayor Dr. Joe Ma. Cariño, a son of Mateo. Jack Cariño said the family’s claim has been with the government as early as 1990. Despite a favorable recommendation by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, processing of the claim by the NCIP had been painstakingly slow. As if adding insult to injury, the NCIP approved in record time the issuance of the CALTs to the Paus family on the major premise that they are descendants of Bayosa Ortega. The complainants cited that the family tree of Bayosa has been featured in several publications. They challenged the Paus claimants and the NCIP to enlighten the public on how the Paus family became descendants of Bayosa. They claimed that Bayosa only had nine children and all are accounted for. “This is a classic case of identity theft,” said Jack. Linda Grace added that the Paus claim is filled with fraudulent loopholes, citing the claim that they have been religiously paying taxes on the property in question since 1918. She revealed that all tax receipts attached to their file are dated 2008. In a letter to the Paus family dated April 29, 1996, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources held in abeyance their claim pending submission of alleged tax declaration dated 1918. The Paus file contains no such tax declaration. “How can such large-scale fraud happen under the very office that is supposed to protect indigenous people’s rights?” Linda asked. According to her, the land value of Baguio in the aforementioned area is estimated at P5,000 per square meter. “You multiply P5,000 times 90 hectares -- or 900,000 square meters total. This will give you a rough amount to P4.5 billion . With development investments, the property value within a year will certainly quadruple. Surveyors of a huge property firm are already surveying the area, fueling speculations that the property had already been sold even prior to the issuance of the CALT,” she added.

Elections mar Dairy Farm claims

Baguio Chronicle, February 16, 2010

BAGUIO CITY--THE HEIRS of Baguio pioneer Mateo Carino and wife Bayosa Ortega this week conceded that any favorable action from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) on their ancestral land claims at the old Baguio Dairy Farm will have to wait until after the elections.

Joaquin “Jack” Carino on Thursday revealed the NCIP en banc is about to go on recess this week without changing its original stance on the 78-hectare property at the Baguio Dairy Farm awarded to the heirs of another ancestral land claimant, Ikang Paus.

Carino added that the alleged offer by the NCIP to award to them 25 hectares of the original 98-hectare property was a token effort to appease the clan. He said accepting such an offer would be like admitting that the Paus clan are legitimate ancestral land claimants and thereby alter the historical context of the property initially called Chuyo by the early Ibalois residing in the Baguio area.

Meanwhile, the Paus clan sent feelers to the Chronicle they will address the issue “at the proper time and forum” and begged off from giving further comments.

As this developed, Carino said they intend to pursue their claim by filing fraud, graft and perhaps even plunder charges against NCIP Commissioner Eugenio Ensigne and seven others.

“This is a classic case of identity theft,” Cariño said. “They took our history and our great-grandparents’ particulars, and claimed them to be theirs. It’s ridiculous how an office that calls itself an NCIP can sanction such maneuverings,” he said.

The Carinos noted that the Paus claim is riddled with loopholes, such as their claim of religiously paying taxes on the property in question since 1918. Tax receipts attached to their file are all new and dated 2008, they alleged. In fact the DENR, in a letter dated April 29, 1996, and addressed to the Paus family, held in abeyance the Paus’s claim pending submission of their alleged tax declaration dated 1918, Cariño said.

“How can such large-scale fraud happen under the very office that is supposed to protect indigenous people’s rights?” Carino asked.

He elaborated that the value of the said property along the boundaries of Baguio and Tuba municipality is estimated at P5,000 per square meter . At 90 hectares or 900,000 square meters, the estimated total value of the area is around P4.5 billion.

With developments, the property value within a year is expected to increase four-fold, Carino said. Reportedly, surveyors of a giant property firm are already surveying the area fueling speculations that the property had already been sold even prior to the issuance of the CALT.

The Carino case is the latest in a string of related investigations involving the NCIP’s questionable award of Certificates of Ancestral Land Titles (CALTs) over vast areas of Baguio City.

Late last year, the Office of the Solicitor-General has started investigating the alleged unlawful awarding and sale of a 23-hectare portion of the Forbes Park watershed and forest reservation near Pacdal.

Earlier, the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 60, granted the city government’s petition for a 20-day temporary restraining order (TRO) to enjoin the Register of Deeds from acting on any transactions that involved controversial land titles.

A civil case has been filed by the local government of Baguio against the NCIP and the alleged property owners. The city legal office has also filed before the Office of the Ombudsman an administrative case against NCIP Commissioners Ensigne, Rolando Rivera, Rizalino Segundo, Atty. Noel Filongco, Jannette Serrano-Riesland, Felicito Masagnay, and Miguel Imbing Apostol who awarded the forested Forbes Park reservation to the heirs of Lauro Carantes.

Forbes Park is one of the few remaining forested areas in Baguio City that includes portions of Camp John Hay, the Botanical Garden (now renamed Centennial Park), Ilusorio Park near the Baguio Country Club, and Panagbenga Park at Camp John Hay’s old main gate.—adam o. borja

Ibaloi family cries foul over land claim mess

Philippine Daily Inquirer

First Posted 23:32:00 02/12/2010

Filed Under: People

BAGUIO CITY—THE HEIRS OF Ibalois Mateo and Bayosa Cariño are suing the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) because it ceded parts of their ancestral land claims to another family, whose supposed lineage suggest they are illegitimate Cariño cousins.

The great grandchildren of Cariño announced that they had initiated legal action against the NCIP for issuing a certificate of ancestral land title (CALT) to the Ikang Paus clan over 78 hectares of the government-owned Baguio Dairy Farm.

Their lawyers also asked the Court of Appeals to revoke the Paus CALT over the farm, which is still under the custody of the Department of Agriculture.

The NCIP issued the Paus CALT in March 2009 on the basis of the clan’s supposed lineage to Bayosa Cariño, although former NCIP Chair Reuben Dasay Lingating had rejected the clan’s claim during his term in 2003.

Linda Grace Cariño, one of the heirs, said they were furious because the Paus clan documents approved by the commissioners “impugn that my great grandmother, a 19th century woman, had children out of wedlock.”

Citing the published works of German author Otto Scheerer, the family said Paus never surfaced in the lineage of Mateo and Bayosa Cariño that historians had documented a hundred years ago.

Mateo Cariño was the Ibaloi who won a 1909 United States Supreme Court land case over what is now Camp John Hay.

This decision is enshrined in Philippine jurisprudence as the 1909 Doctrine of the Native Title, which legislators used as reference in drawing up Republic Act No. 8371 (the 1997 Indigenous Peoples Rights Act or Ipra).

Joanna Cariño, the oldest heir who spoke at the news conference, said the NCIP accommodated what she called “identity theft.”

The Cariño family contested the title because, it said, it also has a stake over portions of the dairy farm. It lost its final appeal in October 2009.

Joanna Cariño said Ibaloi families had approached Baguio Bishop Carlito Cenzon to complain about NCIP officials who offered to process ancestral land titles in exchange for a share of the lots.

Amador Batay-an, NCIP Cordillera director, said he participated in a September 2009 meeting convened by Cenzon and Secretary Silvestre Bello III, chair of the oversight committee on Ipra, but the claimants failed to substantiate their allegations.

Batay-an said the agency processed the claims in good faith, in spite of the controversy.

In the early 1990s Ibaloi families were embroiled in a controversy over the dairy farm when the Department of Agrarian Reform ruled that a certificate of land ownership award (CLOA) could grant control over the government lot. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon