Altermidya
By SHERWIN DE VERA
www,nordis.net
BAGUIO CITY (Updated May 1, 6:55 AM) — Members of the Bago tribe in Labayug, Sison, Pangasinan, are seeking the suspension of top officials of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, pending the resolution of the complaints filed against them.
In an April 20 petition filed before the Office of the Ombudsman, Freddie Castillo and Jessica Doctolero said NCIP Chairperson Allen Capuyan and Commissioner for Regions 1 and Cordillera Gaspar Cayat can “influence potential witnesses or tamper with records” vital to the case. They also argued that the evidence against the NCIP officials “is not only strong but evidence of conviction.”
Castillo and Doctolero filed grave misconduct, malfeasance complaints, and violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act last March.
They accused Cayat of influencing the issuance of the Certificate for Non-Consent (CNO) without conducting the free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) process to renew the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement of the Northern Cement Corporation/San Miguel Northern Cement Inc. (NCC/SMNCI). The complainant included Capuyan for his “toleration and inaction” despite being informed of the “obvious irregularity and illegality” committed by his subordinate.
“This being the case, an order to preventively suspend both respondents Cayat and Capuyan becomes a matter of significance so that the instant case is not preempted and that the respondents are not allowed to manipulate this Honorable Office,” stated the petition.
Harassment of complainants
Also stated in the petition is the allegation of harassment against the complainants committed by personnel from the NCIP Sison Community Service Center (CSC), who asked for their genealogy and personal information on March 29.
Finding it irregular and suspicious, Castillo and Doctolero wrote the head of the CSC the following day. They also furnished the regional office with their letter.
On April 11, the same CSC personnel returned and apologized, saying they were following the instruction from the NCIP Central Office.
Aside from this incident, the complainants also learned that several persons have been looking for them for unknown reasons.
“Bending the law”
In their March complaint, Castillo and Doctolero accused Cayat of “literally (bending) backward to favor NCC/SMNCI” by concurring for the issuance of an unnumbered CNO to the company without FPIC in May 2022. The document completed the requirement for renewing the company’s 25-year MPSA, which the Mines and Geosciences Bureau approved and commenced on March 12.
NCIP issues a CNO to prove that a site covered and affected by the project is not within or falls on any part of the ancestral domain of any IP group or community. However, the field base investigation report of the office noted that the area applied for by the company for its cement manufacturing plant “falls within the (ancestral domain) claim of the IPs of Sison, Pangasinan.”
Aside from forgoing the mandatory FPIC, NCIP Regional Director for Ilocos Harriet Abyadang also stated in her June 2022 report to Director Caesar Ortega of the Ancestral Domains Office that the office did not issue any CNO for the project.
“Verily, the unnumbered CNO subject of this Memo was NOT issued by this Office, nor is there any record of its issuance by this Office,” the report said.
In a memo dated July 29, 2022, Abyadang informed Capuyan that the affected indigenous peoples “denied giving consent to the issuance” of the CNO. She also forwarded a copy of the community resolution “vehemently denying the alleged unanimous support” for the project.” # nordis.net
