Island grabbing?

During the many years I spent in Palawan, I learned of the ways land was surveyed by government agencies, determining what was A&D or alienable & disposable, what was forested, grazing or pastureland or mineral rich areas ideal for mining.

The general practice back then was to apply for or pay for tax declaration for A&D land. That was how many individuals started the process of land acquisition. Many of them were local residents or government personnel given provincial assignments who knew or understood the system and used the knowledge to their benefit and advantage.

The smart and entrepreneurial individuals generally sold their imagined “rights” under the tax declaration while others leased out their “claimed property” to developers, leaving all the legal work to the lessee. To this date, the practice exists in many parts of the Philippines and not just in Palawan.

After a few years, the process progressed towards legalizing those claims by titling. This entailed having a land survey that legally documented the location, bearings and boundaries of the property being applied for titling. From tax declarations to survey to titling, the process could take a minimum of two years.

Back then the one scam that “land grabbers” resorted to was placing an application for tax declaration on top of an existing claim or a tax declaration for even titled land. This was done in cahoots with some corrupt official or a scam on top of a scam, where they offer property and processing to foreigners or city slickers.

Nowadays, the common practice, just like in the United States, is “squatting,” “trespassing” or organized and funded occupation of properties in exchange for millions of pesos ransom. What I have not heard of until two weeks ago is “island grabbing” or “tribal eviction by claim.”

For the longest time, Palawan was like the Wild West. There was so much land and islands and the only known, true inhabitants were nomadic people who moved from one island to another. During my stay, the so-called indigenous people were actually true nomads called the Tagbanuas, who were generally fisherfolk/hunter gatherers. They did not have permanent dwellings or fixed villages.

The indigenous communities as well as those with established villages were often named in relation to their location or town or island name. So the residents of the fourth class municipality of Cuyo are referred to as Cuyonin. The long existing communities are relatively small and intimate that everybody knows everybody generationally.

They know each other even going back three generations because if they were born there, they automatically went to the same schools for six to 10 years, attended the same churches and interacted in town. In hindsight, the concept of indigenous people is odd, given the communities are established villages.

Two weeks ago, I received a letter coming all the way from the municipality of Balabac almost on the southern tip of Palawan. The letter was a strongly worded warning from “Chieftain Ariel Monsarap” addressed to the Sambilog-Balik Bugsuk Movement not to use the name or character of the indigenous Molboc tribe of Balabac island.

In the joint statement, the Molboc tribe condemned the unlawful use and usurpation by the Sambilog-Balik Bugsuk movement of their name and their inherent rights as the true heirs of their ancestral domain in Bugsuk and Mariahangin island. They stated that they have long coexisted with different communities in the surrounding islands as well as the mainland, which is now threatened by the ancestral claims and actions of the Sambilog group.

The statement claimed that “the Sambilog group hides behind the mask of being protectors of indigenous peoples’ rights, the group is composed of individuals who have no connection to the municipality of Balabac and are actually from mainland Palawan and are not even indigenous people. Their roots or origin clearly shows they are outsiders and have no right to take or claim our ancestral lands.

“Furthermore, the Sambilog group actually applied under the CARP for Certificates of Land Ownership Awards or CLOA, which is an actual admission that the land they were making a claim to was titled private property which is contradictory to the provisions of the Indigenous People’s Rights Act or IPRA which is based on Ancestral Domain.

“Realizing the defect in their actions, they reinvented themselves into the Balik-Bugsuk Movement. However, their attempt to establish indigenous status is unacceptable under the law. Their initial actions clearly proved they have no legitimate rights or claim to the lands they want to take control of.

“We strongly object to the continued use by the Sambilog Balik-Bugsuk Movement of the Molbog community for their self-interest. They are not part of our community and have no connection to our culture and history. Instead, they are outsiders, intent on taking our lands for their political agenda. We call on the public and concerned agencies to be wary of such groups. The wrong use of the term ‘Katutubo’ or indigenous is disrespectful of our ethnic identity and ancestral domain.

“Our position is clear: The lands and sea of Balabac are for the Molbog people who have long cared for our ancestral domain. We will not allow the use of our (tribal) name/identity for devious purposes of illegitimate groups. We issue this statement to protect our dignity, identity and our rights to our ancestral domain.”

Whether it is unlawful occupation, squatting, double titling scams or island grabbing, it is time for the national government as well as the DOJ to look into these.

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]