NCIP TRAMPLES IBALOI LAND RIGHTS OVER CHUYO

Press Statement

Bayosa Ortega was the great granddaughter of Kidit, the hero of the battle of Tonglo during the Spanish colonial period. Kidit’s son, Minse Apulog, likewise a prominent leader, persuaded an influential cousin in Tublay, Pablo Carino, to give his son Mateo Cariño in marriage to his granddaughter Bayosa. Through this marriage between Bayosa and Mateo, the important Baguio branch of the Cariño family was established.

Certain areas in Baguio are linked to the residences of specific Ibaloy families. The area of Chuyo (a plateau in the present-day Green Valley), the central section of Kafagway (a grassy clearing in the basin now covered by Burnhan Park, City Hall and surrounding areas) and Ypit and Lubas (now Camp John Hay) were the ancestral lands of the Cariños

Chuyo is an Ibaloy term meaning bowl. It is also an old Ibaloy place name referring to the Green Valley and Dontogan area of Baguio City. Bayosa Ortega Carino developed this land as pasture land and farm land, aside from setting up her residence in the area, even before the coming of the Americans. This fact is affirmed by accounts of original Ibaloy settlers and elders of Chuyo, aside from historical accounts by historians, like Otto Scheerer, during the early years of the American colonial regime. The government likewise recognized Bayosa and Mateo Carino’s ownership with the issuance of an approved survey plan, duly approved by the Director of Lands as early as 1920 covering 325 hectares in Chuyo. Bayosa was also able to get a Tax Declaration over the Chuyo property in her name dated July 6, 1929.

However, these legal documents provided no protection to Bayosa when President Manuel Quezon signed Executive Proclamation 603 in 1940 expropriating two lots within Chuyo without rightful compensation “for animal breeding station purposes, under the administration of the Director of Animal Industry.” The declared government reservation covers 94 hectares of Chuyo, that is now the site of the Department of Agriculture and Bureau of Animal Industry and Baguio Stock Farm.

Thus the Carino’s were deprived of their rights to this prime piece of land through its declaration as a government reservation. Government buildings were built in the area - DA, Phivolcs, BAI, including residential structures of government employees - that continue to stand on this property.

After the inclusion in the 1987 Constitution of a provision recognizing indigenous peoples rights especially to ancestral land, many indigenous groups showed interest in acquiring paper titles for their lands.

On 9/05/90 the Carinos filed application with DENR-STFAL for 329.6604 hectares located at Chuyo, Tuba, Benguet and Baguio City signed by Atty. Albert Caoili and Atty. Sinai C. Hamado pursuant to SO#31, Series of 1990 and DENR DC No.03, series of 1990 and denominated as Docket nos. BG-J-286A and BG-J-286B.

After some months, on 12/18/91, Danilo Luna of DENR-STFAL gave an investigation report of ocular inspection of the claim which was favorable and mentions that the documents attached to the Carino application were authenticated, particularly approved plan II-13320 of 1920 and Tax Declaration No. 244/31 issued by the municipality of Tuba on July 6, 1929.

The processing of papers slowly progressed through many years and several terms of NCIP commissioners, until it reached the office of the President, awaiting approval. After many years of inaction on the claim and the subsequent passage of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), the Carinos re-filed their application over Chuyo on 11/22/99 with the NCIP Regional Director Amador Batay-an under IPRA.

However, a hindrance arose with the entry of bogus claimants in the persons of Heirs of Paus. Using false papers, but with the backing of then NCIP Chairperson Dave Dao-as, the Heirs of Paus were able to file an application for CALT over parts of Chuyo. In particular, the false claim of Paus covered the area of the BAI reservation using fraudulent papers such as a special work order and genealogy. The file of the Carino claim over Chuyo had also mysteriously disappeared in the process and the NCIP Baguio office said that they had no complete file of the Carino claim.

On 1/30/04 the Carinos Filed Protest to Petition for Validation of Certificate of Ancestral Land Claim and for Issuance of Certificate of Ancestral Land Title against the heirs of Ikang Paus with docket no. NCIP BC-0122-GVJ as being fraudulent.

Because of the requirement that the Carino claim be processed at the NCIP Baguio office, the Heirs of Mateo Cariño and Bayosa Ortega (HMCBO) also re-filed an application for CALT over Chuyo on December 27, 2004 at the NCIP Baguio office with complete documents. The application was issued petition no. BC-0364-CJ.

The processing of our application for ancestral land claim over Chuyo by the NCIP Baguio Office has been inexplicably and painfully slow. Despite having been filed as early as September 1990 at the DENR, transmitted to the NCIP in 1999, and re-filed at the NCIP Baguio Office in 2004 in compliance with the requirements and procedures defined by the government, the Carino’s petition for Certificate of Ancestral Land Title over Chuyo has not been issued to this date.

We have done our best to abide by the procedures defined by the NCIP. However, we are dismayed that the NCIP itself violated its own procedures with regards the application of the Heirs of Ikang Paus over a piece of land overlapping with the Cariño claim at Chuyo.

Ms. Gladys Lasdacan of NCIP Baguio endorsed the Paus Claim to the NCIP Commission En Banc for their action, despite knowing fully well that the Cariños have a claim over the same area, despite a positive report made by Engr. Victor Bumatnong recommending the issuance of a survey work order for the validation survey over the Cariño claim over Chuyo, and despite the fact that the validation survey had been completed on November 14, 2009 and was just awaiting the report of Engr. Bumatnong.

On November 17, 2008, the Paus claim was suddenly and surreptitiously transmitted from the National NCIP Ancestral Domains Office to Baguio for completion. It is amazing that within a period of 2 weeks, the claim of the Heirs of Ikang Paus had been completed, processed and endorsed by NCIP Baguio to the NCIP Commission En Banc. This all happened while the Carino claim was stuck on file at the NCIP Baguio office without being acted upon since it was filed with the DENR in 1990. We were not even informed that another overlapping claim had been filed and due process was never accorded to our claim. As indicated in the NCIP flow chart for processing ancestral lands, we should have been informed at the very least and a settlement process should have ensued as soon as the Paus claim had been transmitted to the Baguio office, as this covers the same piece of land, which is the subject of the Cariño claim.

Because the Cariños were treated unfairly by the NCIP Baguio, we filed an official protest and sought a speedy and fair resolution of this case at the national level by the Commission En Banc. We believe that our documents, unlike those of the Paus, would pass the scrutiny of anybody who is truly after the truth of the matter.

Despite all attempts for a fair and speedy resolution to the case, we were flabbergasted to learn that the NCIP had hastily approved the application of the Paus and issued them a CALT on March 2009 covering 69 hectares in Chuyo within the BAI reservation, even without closely studying the protest filed by Carino.

The Carinos filed 2 motions for reconsideration against the Paus CALT in 2009 but these were both denied by the NCIP En Banc. Instead, they approved Carino’s application for CALT over Chuyo in November 2009, however excluding the areas they had already granted to the Paus. In addition, they issued another CALT to the Paus covering 9 hectares in November 2009, antedating it so that it would again be excluded from the area recognized as the claim of the Carinos.

This is a sad day indeed for the rightful Ibaloy land owners of Chuyo. Even as we celebrate Baguio Ibaloy Day on February 23 marking the 100^th year of the decision on Native Title recognizing indigenous peoples rights to the land they have used and owned since time immemorial, we lament the gross violation of these rights by the NCIP itself, the very government agency that is tasked to advance the rights of indigenous peoples in the Philippines.