Lumads seek entry to ancestral land

THE saying “so near, and yet so far” aptly describes the current plight of these Indigenous People. After a century of displacement, they are still awaiting reinstallation to their ancestral land.

The Anglao clan of the Manobo-Pulangiyon tribe from Butong, Quezon, Bukidnon, descended to the National Commission of Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Region 10 office in Cagayan de Oro City today. They participated in the Joint Regional Task Force-10 meeting held at the Philtown Hotel on December 18. The meeting aimed to discuss, among other things, the installation of the clan to their ancestral land currently occupied by the Kiantig Development Corporation (KDC).

Recalling the incident on April 19, 2022, involving KDC guards and members of the clan, the former shot at the latter as they entered a portion of the one-thousand-plus hectares of the KDC plantation. While the incident had no fatalities, it resulted in injuries to several clan members.

The incident gained national attention as the clan was accompanied at that time by Leodegario ‘Ka Leody’ de Guzman, a Presidential candidate during the 2022 National Elections. In August 2023, the clan was awarded their Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title, but up until the present time, they are still awaiting the opportunity to enter their land.

“Daghan na nahitabo sa among clan: naa nay mga nangamatay sa katigulang, sa sakit, ug uban sa disgrasya diha sa area, mao nga amo unta ma dali na ni ang pagpasulod na sa amo didto sa among yutang kabilin,” lamented Datu Rolando Anglao Jr., the clan’s leader. “Hinaut nga ma tutukan na ni ang among kahimtang sa NCIP ug uban ahensya sa gobyerno para maka sulod na mi,” he added.

The clan has endured numerous hardships, living in makeshift shelters along the side of the road outside the fenced KDC plantation. The constant danger lies with the passage of speeding large trucks transporting sugarcane to the Crystal Sugar Milling Company and Bukidnon Sugar Company.