Thursday, February 5, 2009 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
By Jane Cadalig
TO RESOLVE conflicts in bugging environmental protection and the bid to uphold the rights of indigenous peoples, the historical approach would help, a regional executive suggested.
Juan Ngalob, regional director of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), said history tracing would work best in addressing conflicts in the implementation of laws, particularly for environmental protection and the indigenous peoples, history tracing would work best.
Ngalob made the recommendation as a tool to help resolve the conflicts between the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) whose regulations often clash.
In determining what law should prevail over the issuance of ancestral domain titles and the preservation of natural resources, he said the history books would help.
"Until IPs have established that they have occupied an area since time immemorial, then the laws of the DENR should prevail," Ngalob said.
In the region, conflicts arise when IPs raise their ancestral claims over an area the DENR deems as either a reservation or protected area.
Ngalob, however, cautioned that the passage of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act repealed some of the regulations, which fall under the jurisdiction of the DENR.
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