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By Fritz Dacpano, Researcher
(Part 2/Conclusion)
SITIO Balagbag, which lies at the foot of the
mountain bearing the same name and in the Dumagat ancestral domain,
is touted by Mayor Pedro Cuerpo of Rodriguez as a potential tourist
resort that could give Tagaytay a run for its money.
“I am pursuing a lot of development projects
in the mountains where you can see Metro Manila 360 degrees. You can
see Makati, Bulacan, Bataan. You can get there now. I had roads
built for that,” Cuerpo said.
“We are also developing a 147-hectare property
of the municipality of Rodriguez that overlooks Metro Manila and
Manila Bay,” he added.
Preventing ‘the tragedy of the commons’?
But this is also why the Dumagats and some Balagbag
residents are wary of Cuerpo’s “self-appointed stewardship” of
the area, a feeling shared by the city government of San Jose del
Monte, Bulacan.
Balagbag than his avowed promise to preempt the
“tragedy of the commons” from happening. (Garrett Hardin in his
1968 Science article “The Tragedy of the Commons” used the
phrase as a metaphor to illustrate the conflict between individual
interests and the common good.)
A close reading of the certificate of ancestral
domain title (CADT), granted to the Dumagats on February 18, 2004,
by the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), shows that
the 1,817 hectares of land cover “Sitio Karahume, Barangay San
Isidro, San Jose del Monte City; portions of Sapang Munti, Barangay
San Mateo, Norzagaray, all in the province of Bulacan; and portions
of Sitio Licao-Licao, Barangay Macabud, Municipality of Rodriguez,
Province of Rizal.”
Furthermore, the map of the National Mapping and
Resource Information Authority shows that Mount Balagbag, a
woodland, is beyond the Rizal provincial boundary line.
Not Cuerpo’s territory
“How can you spend money on something that is
outside your territory? I cannot develop a hospital in Quezon City.
I don’t think we are allowed to do that,” said Mayor Angelito
Sarmiento of San Jose del Monte City.
“It is not for him [Cuerpo] to decide. We
shouldn’t take the law into our own hands. We should respect the
responsibility of the real authority. Cuerpo is a mayor, not a
governor. As a mayor, he is taking the law into his own hands,”
Sarmiento stressed.
The Dumagats have asked Sarmiento to intervene
on this matter several times. But his hands are tied because the
Local Government Code says that boundary disputes shall be settled
by the provincial board of the provinces involved.
“That is what many people do not understand.
They think it is a mayor’s problem. It’s not, it’s a
provincial problem,” said Sarmiento, a former congressman.
Fighting for the turf
“Hindi ko sinasabing sakop nila. Pinaglalaban
ko na sakop namin [I’m not saying Sitio Balagbag is within their
territory. I am fighting for our claim to the territory],” Cuerpo
said, referring to the disputed land situated between his
municipality and San Jose del Monte City.
He said the conflict should be resolved through
continuing talks. “It has to be discussed and resolved. At present
we are fixing things, but many organizations are thinking of making
trouble, including intruding and squatting,” Cuerpo said.
He also believes the lands should be protected,
preserved and developed as negotiations proceed. This way, he said,
ensures that no illegal activities would take place and no squatters
would take advantage of the row.
“What happens if the dispute between the
provinces is settled only after five years and too many people are
already in the territory?” Cuerpo asked.
He gave orders to screen residents crossing the
Licao-Licao checkpoint and required payment of P500 as
“registration fee.”
The payment is for a tag or sticker that
identifies a person as a legitimate resident and his house as the
residence of his family.
Additionally, other fees are required for land
surveys and ownership.
Nothing to fear
The Dumagats have nothing to fear, Cuerpo said,
because the municipality of Rodriguez recognizes the law covering
ancestral domains.
“That is a different issue. I recognize what
is ancestral,” he said. “The Dumagats are answerable to either
Montalban [Rodriguez] or Bulacan. If they are answerable to Bulacan,
then I will respect that. As for the rights of the other minorities,
I recognize them. They will not be disregarded.”
In addition, he said, the Dumagats do not have
to pay the checkpoint fee.
“Those who have been duped by Cambasi [Camarin-Bagong
Silang group] will undergo screening. We will know who among the
settlers are illegal through the tagging and census system. If they
are Dumagats, under the agreement between the National Commission on
Indigenous People and the municipality, they will be given
consideration,” said Councilman Amang Katayok, who helps oversee
the checkpoint with Danilo Santos, its officer in charge.
But other residents in Sitio Balagbag fear
environmental degradation once Cuerpo’s plans for recreation and
development push through.
Said a resident, “Our freshwater supply comes
from the mountains. If they set up the resort, they will dump their
waste on us here and contaminate our water.”
Cuerpo assures residents that his projects are
complying with environmental laws. He said, “The checkpoint has
been set up to ensure that illegal activities will no longer
continue. In three months everyone should register. Those who do not
register cannot pass through.”
A tactical move
Eduardo Roquero, former mayor of San Jose del
Monte City, may support Cuerpo’s desire to prevent illegal
activities and ward off squatters, but his last agreement with
Cuerpo in 1997 stipulates that the disputed land should be left as
it is.
This was their agreement on the 400 hectares
that the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA)
ruled as having undefined boundaries.
“Even before the NAMRIA survey and even before
the negotiations, Rodriguez, through Mayor Cuerpo, carried out
certain activities without consulting the San Jose del Monte City
government. It transferred people. So many people were made to
settle within the 200 hectares of the total 400,” said Roquero.
“A road was even built. It could be a tactical move. It seems as
if Cuerpo is controlling the passage of people there. He says his
municipality owns the area, but we are disputing that.”
The issue was brought to Roquero’s attention
by San Jose del Monte residents, barangay officials and the Dumagats
during the last years of his mayoralty.
“The barangay captains, kagawad [councilmen]
and other residents were alarmed. They did not like what was
happening, because they believe their land is part of San Jose del
Monte,” Roquero said.
In no time both mayors pursued a series of
“sincere” talks. Included in the talks were the councils and
representatives from the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources. The talks covered the risk of intrusion into the main
forest reserve within the area.
The two local governments went a step further
and each put up a P500,000 bond for NAMRIA to determine the final
boundaries of the disputed area.
They signed a memorandum of agreement, paid the
bond and NAMRIA went to work. The result was still vague.
“It turns out the disputed area has no
specific boundary lines. But it has the 400 hectares that are being
claimed by San Jose del Monte and Rodriguez,” Roquero said.
Gray area
So, for lack of a final ruling on the
boundaries, the parties agreed to maintain the status quo.
“This means no activities should be done
within the disputed boundary. Hindi sila pwedeng magdagdag ng tao o
gumawa ng development doon [Both parties are forbidden to add people
or develop the area],” Roquero said.
As for the Dumagats, Roquero thinks that
encroachment on their ancestral domain might be an entirely
different issue altogether.
There is a possibility that the 400 hectares may
be within the ancestral domain. That is why the Dumagats have been
on edge owing to the building of roads passing through Karahume
toward Balagbag.
“Our boundaries are being disputed and yet
another problem concerns the ancestral domain. It could be that the
land title actually overlaps the disputed area with Rodriguez. It is
not yet clear. It is still a gray area,” Roquero said.
Pass the buck, raise hell
Mayor Sarmiento has reported the dispute to the
Bulacan governor and sought the help of Environment Secretary Mike
Defensor about the case. While doing so, he managed to reach an
agreement with Cuerpo on the dispute.
“We agreed on mutual respect for mutual
signatures, and the support and protection of our citizens. And that
he would respect the mutual imaginary boundary line with Roquero,”
Sarmiento said.
Although Sarmiento has asked for a copy of the
agreement between Cuerpo and Roquero, he cannot enforce it, because
he is not one of the signatories.
“Congressman Roquero should follow up on his
agreement with the mayor because he is the one who signed it. He
knows it has not been honored. He represents the people who voted
for him,” Sarmiento said.
He is also urging Roquero to work on a final
solution, since disputes on provincial boundaries are a national
issue.
“If the agreement has been dishonored, he
should raise hell in Congress. If I were a congressman, I’d fight
it out there, because I am representing [San Jose del Monte
City].”
‘Fait accompli
Roquero fears that Cuerpo intends to annex the
areas under Rodriguez permanently.
“The problem is if they are already spending
for and developing the area, then they will have a basis to say,
‘We have already positioned ourselves here.’ I think they did
that so they could have the advantage,” Roquero said.
It would have been all right for the development
to go on if it was temporary or if the developers notified or asked
permission from the San Jose del Monte City government, he said.
Unmindful of reservation and the issues raised
by the Dumagats, Cuerpo continues to develop the disputed area.
“[I will keep on developing the area. They
could fight as long as the dispute remains resolved. I spoke to
Congressman Roquero and told him, ‘You should thank me because we
could get used to fighting over the boundary until one day the
problem in the area is already too big that even you wouldn’t want
to take care of it yourself. This is only my point],” Cuerpo said
in Pilipino.
Preparing for violence
While a resolution is nowhere in sight because
of the bickering of the local leaders and the inaction of the two
provincial governments, the Dumagats will just have to cling to the
legal assurances given by the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act
through the certificate of ancestral domain title.
“[The area is in the ancestral domain; that is
why I disagree with Cuerpo’s claim. It is really in our territory.
This is what I know],” Dumagat chieftain Alberto Ramos said in
Pilipino.
In the meantime, after undergoing arms training
in January from the San Jose del Monte police, the Dumagats are bent
on putting up more outposts in their area to secure their territory
and stop the abductions.
“[We plan to set up outposts to stop
abductions, such as those of the previous barangay captains],”
Ramos said in Pilipino.
Experience has taught him that despite the long
arm of the law, more violence is waiting to erupt.
Part 1 |
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