The chair of the National Commission for the Indigenous Peoples and executive director of the National Task Force-to-End the Local Communist Armed Conflict bared that the whole-of-government and the whole-of- nation approach is the right formula to address the problems of the indigenous Filipinos and the insurgency problem in the country
Allen Capuyan, chair of the NCIP and executive director of the NTF-ELCAC said asserting their rights is one of the problems besetting the tribal Filipinos nowadays.
He said there is a need to bridge the gap between the IP communities and line-government agencies for the latter to understand that the Indigenous Peoples have the right to be respected especially now that by law, they are already recognized as the real owners of their ancestral domain.
Capuyan conveyed line agencies of government need to understand and to respect the rights of the IPs.
“The actionable item for now is respecting the rights of the Indigenous Peoples. It is one of the points of convergence with the whole-of-government, whole-of-nation approach,” he stressed.
Capuyan said the Indigenous Peoples are gifted with four basic rights based on the Republic Act 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act and these rights have 36 sub-rights that have to be highlighted, respected and must be protected.
He stressed that two years before the Duterte Administration ends, the transitory requirements of the IP communities have already been complied and a clearer direction of the NCIP leadership will be realized whoever runs it.
“We must not be complacent with knowing only our rights. We have to assert and this is a continuous struggle that these 36 rights of the IPs will truly be recognized,” Capuyan said.
As executive director of the NTF-ELCAC, he expressed satisfaction that the campaign through the Executive Order No. 70 to rid of the communist insurgency has been understood down to the level of the barangays.
Capuyan remains confident that the government down to the barangay has already reversed the momentum of the campaign against the insurgents.
“In a matter of time, we will be deliberate, purposive, and systematic with the basic respect for the rights of every individual,” he said.
Capuyan led the line government agencies in the consultation of IP communities in the first 65 ancestral domains in the country. (PIA XI-Joey Sem G. Dalumpines)