12 May | The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Chairperson & R13 joined through Zoom by Central Office Officers conducted Ancestral Domain (AD) Leaders engagement meeting with the Manobo & Mamanwa Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) in CARAGA at the Agusan Del Norte Provincial Training Center, Capitol Grounds, Butuan City.

 

NCIP Chairperson led the activity along with NCIP XIII Region Director Ordonio P. Rocero, Jr.; while Chairman Lipatuan Joel Unad represented Mindanao Indigenous Council of Elders and Leaders (MIPCEL); also present were Elders and Tribal Leaders and NCIP Regional and Provincial staff. The rest joined the meeting through Zoom.

 

The meeting was to resolve issues pertaining to their royalty shares from the Carrascal Nickel Mining Corporation (CNC), which led to the recent barricading activity within the AD.

 

As ways forward, it was agreed that the AD’s Community Royalty Development Plan (CRDP) needs to be finalized and approved through a Commission En Banc Resolution. With regard to the claims among clans within the AD, delineation and land survey shall be conducted.

 

To conclude the session, the Chairperson reiterated the importance of a CRMDP to ensure that royalty shares are invested on sustainable programs for ICCs/IPs.