“TVI Doing it Right. Issues here are internal to the Subanons” – Chairman
(Left photo, left to right): Congressmen Mujiv Hataman, Joel Virador, and House Committee on National Cultural Communities Chairman Solomon Chungalao, hear statements from the indigenous people (IP) community led by Atty. Pablo Bernardo (right photo, standing) and government officials including (seated from left) National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) Chair Jannette Serrano and Siocon Mayor Ceasar Soriano. Seated extreme right with eyeglasses is TVI Pacific Corporate Advisor John Ridsdel.
“TVI has made a good start and is doing the right thing. The issues here are: `Who are the beneficiaries?’ and `How is their wealth to be managed?’ ” So stated Congressman Solomon Chungalao, chairman of the House Committee on National Cultural Communities, as the Committee called for a National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) census and registration of the Canatuan ancestral domain title holders and a meeting of the community to resolve the internal leadership dispute of the Tribe.
RIGHT TO LEFT: Congressmen Hataman, Chungalao, NCIP Chair Serrano, Congressman Virador, share lunch after what they felt was a successful meeting.
“TVI has been completely transparent about the expected life of this mine,” said Chairman Chungalao. “Even if they are confident they will discover another nearby deposit, we have to assume that the wealth TVI is providing to the IPs will be short-lived, and we must move quickly to ensure it is managed properly.” The representative from the lone district of Ifugao in northern Philippines added: “I am a 100% IP and I come from the mining area of the Cordillera, so I have personal knowledge of these issues.”
Jannette Serrano, chair of the NCIP, committed the support of her agency to help the community to develop its Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan (ADSDPP) to address this issue. She also agreed to conduct the official census of the ancestral domain.
To help resolve the continuing claims and counter-claims to the leadership of the community, the Committee called on Mayor Soriano of Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte – the municipality that has jurisdiction over Canatuan — to continue his efforts to get the two sides together to effect a reconciliation.
A meeting was called for February 17 under the leadership of the mayor, with the participation of the two sides, supported by representatives of the NCIP, the Office of the Presidential Assistant on the Peace Process (OPAPP), the Church and other stakeholders.
Accordingly, the Chairman postponed until February 28 his deadline for the submission of position papers on the inquiry under way to accommodate the results of this meeting.
Speaking for the current leadership of the Siocon Subano Association, Inc. (SSAI) and the Council of Elders, Attorney Pablo Bernardo stated that the community was “more than open” to such reconciliation. “We not only welcome them,” he said, “but we hope they will come. Boy Anoy and Onsino Mato are members of the Council of Elders appointed by the previous Chair of the NCIP, and they should come and make their rightful contribution to its deliberations, and participate in its benefits.”
“I have seen enough of this operation to know that TVI is doing it right and has made a good start,” Chairman Chungalao said. “The issue now is to make the benefits sustainable.” Among other suggestions, he said SSAI might want to consider forming a corporation with the ancestral domain beneficiaries as shareholders; requiring Subanon students who become SSAI scholars to stay and serve the community for a number of years after they graduate from school; and planting fruit-bearing trees to augment the beneficiaries’ livelihood program.
He also called on the NCIP to ensure proper accounting and transparency in the conduct of their business by the indigenous beneficiaries. “It is important to get this in place immediately,” he commented. While the royalties paid to the beneficiaries in 2005 was significant (P 6.5 million), the overwhelming majority of the funds due to the community will take place over the next six years.
The site visit followed the invitation of Atty. Eugene Mateo, president of TVI Resource Development Phils., Inc., to Committee members during a public hearing last December 14, which was prompted by a House resolution seeking an investigation into allegations of “encroachment” TVI in Canatuan.
