GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Tribal leaders, civil society leaders and representatives of various government and non-government agencies in Region 12 or Southwestern Mindanao will gather here Tuesday to assess and map out various strategies to ensure the protection of the indigenous peoples’ (IPs) ancestral domain in the region.
Rhoda Ruth Pillerin, executive director of the Tri-People Concern for Peace, Progress and Development of Mindanao Inc. (TRICOM), said the forum is aimed at strengthening the advocacy campaigns for the IPs ancestral domain claims and pursue building a coalition process "for a unified approach to secure ancestral domain claims and ensure future food security of the IPs."
Dubbed the First Regional Coalition Forum on Indigenous Peoples’ Ancestral Domain (RCF-IPAD), the forum is expected to gather at least 100 tribal leaders, representatives of claimant organizations, local government implementers and policy-makers and representatives of concerned government agencies and civil society organizations.
The two-day (June 3-4) forum, which will be held at the Labo Beach, Barangay Bawing in this city, is supported by TRICOM Inc., HESED Foundation, Partners for First People Foundation, Inc., Rural Development Institute-PhilNet Sultan Kudarat, Social Action Center of the Diocese of Marbel, League of Indigenous Peoples for Ancestral Domain in Mindanao and the Federation of Ancestral Domain Claim Organization in Southern Mindanao.
"It would be an advocacy campaign and program-based coalition building process with other stakeholders in the struggle of securing ancestral lands within the parameters of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act," said Pillerin, one of the forum’s lead convenors.
The forum will be highlighted by a presentation of studies, policy and legislation papers concerning the struggle of the IPs for their ancestral domain titles.
The activity also aims to "advance IP rights to their ancestral domain, for them to attain full and effective control over political, economic and cultural assets, thereby securing livelihoods and governance structures integral to their development as a people.
It will seek the unification of strategies in fast tracking the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) en banc deliberations of pending certificate of ancestral domain title (CADT) applications and hastening claim-making process.
The forum will lobby for a better and more responsive NCIP that is equipped with adequate budget for delineation and community support services to Congress and Office of the President and establish a mechanism for a coordinated and sustained advocacy campaign in the region.
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