Republic of the Philippines

Office of the President

NATIONAL COMMISSION ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
Cordillera Administrative Region
BENGUET PROVINCIAL OFFICE
Capitol Compound, La Trinidad, Benguet

FOR: ALLEN A. CAPUYAN

NCIP Chairperson

SUBJECT: Case Digest for the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title

(CADT) bearing No. CAR-ATO-1204-026- Atok, Benguet
Region: Cordillera Administrative Region

DATE: April 3, 2020

CASE BRIEF

I. FACTS

Owned by the Ibaloy and the Kankana-ey Indigenous Cultural

Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs), the ancestral domain (AD) of
Atok lies in the central part of Benguet Province. It has a total area of
20,017.6498 hectares and composed of 8 barangays, namely: Abiang,
Caliking, Cattubo, Naguey, Paoay, Pasdong, Poblacion, and Topdac.

Adjoining the subject ancestral domain are the ancestral domains of

Kibungan in the Northwest, Buguias in the Northeast, Tublay in the
Southwest, Bokod in the Southeast, Kapangan in the West, and Kabayan in
the East, all of Benguet Province.

In a survey made by the Atok Rural Health Unit (RHU), the ancestral
domain has a population of 19,419 as of 2018 distributed in 4,202
households. The data on population includes the migrant IPs and non-IPs
who co-exist with the native IPs.

Atok AD is primarily an agricultural community. People who live in

the parts of the ancestral domain which have cold climate are engaged in
highland vegetable farming while those who reside in areas of the
ancestral domain with hot climate devote their time in heirloom rice
farming and poultry. They consume the rice produced while egg production
is for commercial and personal purposes. Vegetable harvest is transported
to the Vegetable Trading Post in La Trinidad, Benguet where middle men
dictate the prices.

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 The biggest problem of vegetable farmers almost every year at the
peak of the cold season is frost (andap in the local dialect). In the entire
province of Benguet, it is only in Atok that a state of calamity due to the
destruction of wide tracts of vegetable plantation caused by frost is being
declared by the municipal government.

The ancestral domain is traversed by the Halsema National Highway

and there are Atok IPs engaged in the restaurant business along the stretch
of the highway. They cater to travelers not only from Benguet but also
from other provinces of the Cordillera Administrative Region as well as
local and foreign tourists.

Few remaining forests as well as terraces carved in mountain slopes

and planted with vegetables and flowers are easily noticeable in the
ancestral domain when one travels along the Halsema National Highway.
Forest fires, however, are rampant during summer. It has been reported by
the Atok firemen that one cause of forest fire is the throwing by
unscrupulous travelers of lighted cigarette butts. One perennial problem is
the dumping of garbage along the stretch of the highway within the
territory of the ancestral domain.

Currently, the big tourist attractions in the ancestral domain are the
Sakura Farm where Japanese cherry blossoms are found and the Northern
Blossom Flower Plantation, both located in Sayangan, Paoay, Atok,
Benguet. Local and foreign tourists flock to the area to have a glimpse of
them causing traffic jam and littering along the highway.

Motorists must also be cautious at all times when navigating the

highway within the territory of the ancestral domain as it is prone to
accident caused either by human error or natural circumstances like heavy
downpour, landslide or fog.

There is only one hospital in the Atok AD. This is the Atok District
Hospital that caters not only to patients within the ancestral domain and
from other neighboring ancestral domains but also to victims of vehicular
accidents. Worse, the hospital facilities are insufficient and there is only
one chief doctor and two regular doctors. One regular doctor is on duty
from Monday to Wednesday while the other one is on duty from Thursday
to Sunday.

Not having been earlier awarded with a Certificate of Ancestral

Domain Claim (CADC) by the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR), the Atok ICCs/IPs deemed it best to file a direct
application for CADT before the NCIP after the enactment of the IPRA. The
application was granted when the Commission En Banc (CEB) passed a
resolution on December 14, 2004 approving the issuance of the Atok CADT
bearing No. CAR-BUG-0308-065.
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 Below is the indicative map of the Atok AD:

Without segregating the areas covered by individual titles previously

issued either by the DENR or DAR from the survey plan of the ancestral
domain, the Atok CADT was registered with the Registry of Deeds of
Benguet Province on June 7, 2006. Registration was made possible by the
MOA executed between NCIP and LRA on August 28, 2002 and the Joint
LRA-NCIP Memorandum Circular bearing No. 1, series of 2005. The
registered Atok CADT only bears the proviso that the same is subject to
Section 56 of the IPRA.

Records of the NCIP-Atok Community Service Center show that there

are two Atok IPs who have pending applications for CALT. They wanted to
have their ownership over their ancestral lands be formally recognized
because to them, the CALT is one of the best legacies that they can leave to
their children and grandchildren.

However, these applications are just gathering dusts in the service

center because of the office policy enunciated in En Banc Resolution
bearing No. 022-2012, series of 2012 and dated November 23, 2012 that
no CALT shall be issued embracing an ancestral land located within an

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ancestral domain already issued a CADT or covered by a duly approved
survey undertaken by the Ancestral Domains Office (ADO).

There are areas covered by earlier proclamations that overlapped

the ancestral domain of Atok. These are:

1. Proclamation No. 217 issued in 1929 establishing the Central

Cordillera Forest Reserve which embraced 2/3 of Benguet
Province to include the Atok AD;

2. Proclamation No. 634 issued on October 8, 1941 which

established the Mount Data National Park with an area of 5,512
hectares. The park covers one hundred meters of both sides of
the Halsema National Highway from Acop, Caponga, Tublay,
Benguet to Sabangan, Mountain Province. As earlier stated, the
highway traverses the Atok AD going north from barangay
Caliking up to barangay Cattubo; and

3. Proclamation No. 548 issued on April 19, 1969 establishing the

Ambuclao- Binga Watershed with an area of 196,250 hectares. It
affects the Atok AD and the ADs of Buguias, Kabayan, Bokod,
Itogon, and even La Trinidad.

Atok IPs who settled in these areas long before the issuance of the
proclamations were deemed squatters on their own lands because they
were unable to secure individual land titles either from the DENR or DAR.
These agencies can only issue titles to lots inside alienable and disposable
(A and D) areas as per land classification of the then Bureau of Lands, now
the Land Management Bureau. Lots falling inside forest reservations and
national parks are not alienable and disposable. This is the predicament of
the individuals who have pending CALT applications as stated earlier.

In relation to FPIC, there is one company known as Green Indigenous

Environment Development Corporation (GIEDCO) which would like to
construct two (2) hydro projects in Cattubo, Atok, Benguet to be known as
Cattubo 1 and Cattubo II hydro power plants. Allegedly, company
representatives are going around the ancestral domain to secure the
endorsements of the respective sangguniang barangays of the 8 barangays
and the sangguniang bayan of Atok to their project. The barangays officials
of Cattubo sought the advice of the service center on the matter and the
latter advised them not to endorse in writing the projects because the
same must have to undergo first the FPIC process. For its part, the
Sangguniang Bayan of Atok allegedly made a stand that it will only endorse
the projects after all the sangguniang barangays shall have made their
endorsement on the same.

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 UMA is the domain wide Indigenous Peoples Organization (IPO)
registered with the NCIP-CAR Regional Office following the IPRA IRR. It
stands for Ulnos ni Man-ilid Atok for the Ibaloy while it stands for Ulnos di
Man-ilid Atok for the Kankana-ey.

Registration of the UMA in accordance with NCIP Administrative

Order bearing No. 2, series of 2012 will be done after the Atok Indigenous
Political Structure (IPS) shall have been documented and confirmed by the
CEB.

The Atok Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection

Plan (ADSDPP) was prepared in 2007. It was duly adopted by the municipal
government through Resolution bearing No. 34-2008 passed by the
Sangguniang Bayan of Atok on February 28, 2008.

On the matter of IP mandatory representation, Atok has its own

municipal IPMR and each of the 8 barangays also has its own IPMR. All of
them are receiving salaries or emoluments similar with those of the
regularly elected members of the sanggunian to which they belong.

II. ISSUES/CONCERNS

A. Right to Ancestral Domain and Ancestral Land

1. Non-issuance of CALTs,
2. Need to process legitimate ancestral land claims found in
reservations,
3. Expansion of vegetable farms in forested and watershed areas,
4. Need to regulate the visit of local or foreign tourists inside the
ancestral domain, and
5. Need for the conduct of FPIC process on the proposed hydro
projects of GIEDCO.

B. Right to Self-governance and Empowerment

1. Need to update the Atok ADSDPP, and

2. Need for the documentation and confirmation of the Indigenous
Political Structure (IPS) of Atok and registration of UMA following the
latest guidelines.

C. Social Justice and Human Rights

1. Need to address the plight of Atok IP farmers in relation to the

pricing of their agricultural products and their predicament on the
destruction of their crops caused by frost,
2. Need to upgrade the facilities of the Atok District Hospital and
addition of medical or health personnel,
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 3. Need to adopt measures to prevent the occurrence of forest fires,
4. Need to address the problem on the dumping of garbage along the
stretch of the Halsema National Highway within the Atok AD, and
5. Need for the strict enforcement of speed limit for motorists using
the Halsema National Highway,

D. Right to Cultural Integrity

None as of the moment.

III. RECOMMENDATIONS/ACTIONS TAKEN/OBSERVATIONS

A. RIGHT TO ANCESTRAL DOMAIN AND ANCESTRAL LAND

1. Non-issuance of CALTs

It is respectfully recommended that the office policy on “no CALT

inside a CADT area” be revisited by the CEB. The IPRA defines the CALT as
referring to a title formally recognizing the rights of ICCs/IPs over their
ancestral lands. It makes no distinction whether such ancestral lands are
found inside an ancestral domain with a CADT or not.

The issuance of the Atok CADT is a formal recognition of community

ownership over the ancestral domain but the issuance of CALTs to
legitimate claimants (individuals, families or clans) would complete the
picture.

2. Need to process legitimate ancestral land claims falling within the

reservations

It is respectfully recommended that the processing of legitimate

ancestral land claims found inside the reservations and the issuance of the
corresponding CALTs be allowed to give justice to the IP claimants. It would
be a disservice on the part of the office if it will not do its mandate.

3. Expansion of vegetable farms in forested and watershed areas

Concerted efforts must be exerted by the public and private sectors

of the Atok AD including the concerned line agencies of the government to
prevent the expansion of vegetable farms in forested and watershed areas.
While it is true that most Atok IPs are engaged in highland vegetable
farming as their primary source of livelihood, there is also a need to protect
these environmentally critical areas from being encroached upon by the
farms. Conservation of these areas is also for their own benefit because
without water, their source of livelihood will be adversely affected.

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 Moreover, the responsibilities of ICCs/IPs to their ancestral domain
such as maintenance of ecological balance and restoration of denuded
areas are being given emphasis whenever IECs on the IPRA are conducted
by NCIP field personnel in the community.

4. Need to regulate the visit of local or foreign tourists inside the

ancestral domain

The municipal IPMR or any other member of the Atok Sangguniang

Bayan can sponsor an ordinance to this effect if only to maintain peace and
order as well as health and sanitation. If there is already one, the same
must be strictly enforced by the Local Chief Executive.

5. Need for the conduct of the FPIC process on the proposed hydro
projects of GIEDCO

Assuming that the company would be able to secure the

endorsements of the local government units to its projects, it will still be
required to undergo the FPIC process because the FPIC of the Atok ICCs/IPs
is separate and distinct from the endorsement of the LGUs.

B. RIGHT TO SELF-GOVERNANCE AND EMPOWERMENT

1. Need to update the Atok ADSPP

It is respectfully recommended that funding for the updating of

ADSDPPS be given primordial consideration by the office. The Atok ADSDPP
prepared 13 years ago needs updating to be attuned with the current
situation of the ancestral domain. A project proposal on this matter has
been prepared by the NCIP- Atok Community Service Center and referred
to top management for its kind consideration.

2. Need for the documentation and confirmation of the IPS of Atok and
registration of UMA following the latest guidelines

Documentation and confirmation of IPS should also be given utmost

attention by the office. To realize what is provided in NCIP Administrative
Order bearing No. 2, series of 2012, the service center has prepared the
necessary project proposal and the same was referred to top management
for its kind consideration.

One preliminary activity in the IPS documentation is data gathering.

It is heartwarming that the barangay IPMRs in the Atok AD already started
this activity in coordination with UMA using funds secured by the municipal
IPMR from the Atok LGU. The service center provided them the
questionnaire for the data gathering.

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 If the documentation and confirmation of the Atok IPS would
materialize, the registration of UMA in accordance with the latest
guidelines follows.

C. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

1. Need to address the plight of the Atok IP farmers in relation to

the pricing of their agricultural products and their predicament
on the destruction of their crops caused by frost.

Atok farmers at times cannot recoup their expenses in the farm as

well as in transporting their harvest to the trading post due to the low
prices of vegetables by middle men.

While frost is a natural phenomenon, there has to be measures also

to be adopted to mitigate its adverse effect and to enable the concerned
farmers to cope up.

It is then respectfully recommended that concerned agencies like the

Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry and other
agencies that can be of great help should come to the rescue of the
farmers. Likewise, expert advice from both the public and private sectors
on the said concerns is urgently needed.

2. Need to upgrade the facilities of the Atok District Hospital and the
addition of medical or health personnel

It is humbly recommended that the municipal IPMR will sponsor a

resolution in the Sanggguniang Bayan asking the legislative caretaker of the
lone district of Benguet to file a bill in the House of Representatives to this
effect. The services of the Atok District Hospital are very crucial as it is
strategically located midway of the Halsema National Highway.

3. Need to adopt measures to prevent the occurrence of forest fires

More IECs on forest fire prevention should be conducted by the

Bureau of Fire Protection in the ancestral domain. The establishment of
forest fire lines should also be explored by all concerned sectors to prevent
the fire from spreading if it has started.

The installation of CCTV cameras by the government along the

stretch of the Halsema Highway can also be considered to deter passers-by
and others from throwing lighted cigarette butts that may ignite forest
fires.

4. Need to address the problem on the dumping of garbage along the

stretch of the Halsema Highway within the Atok AD
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 The barangays traversed by the highway in the ancestral domain
going north are Caliking, Topdac, Abiang, Paoay, and Cattubo. Concerned
barangay officials and residents do their clean-up drive in their respective
barangays every Friday.

Notices were likewise posted on strategic locations on the side of the

highway that whoever throws or dumps garbage will be inflicted with skin
disease (magudgod in the vernacular). Such notices may have somehow
deterred travelers and other people from throwing their wastes but the
problem still persists.

The installation of CCTV cameras as stated earlier if it will materialize

may help in the production of evidence to prosecute perpetrators.

5. Need for the strict enforcement of speed limit for motorists using
the Halsema National Highway

One way to prevent the occurrence of vehicular accidents along the

highway is the strict enforcement of speed limit for the motorists.
Accordingly, the maximum speed limit is supposed to be 40 kilometers per
hour owing to the mountainous terrain. There are motorists, however, who
can go as high as 70 kilometers per hour.

It is then respectfully recommended that the Highway Patrol Group,

Land Transportation Office, and the Philippine National Police should
always make their presence felt along the highway to dissuade motorists
from over speeding. Posting of notices on speed limit along the highway is
also imperative.

Should the installation of CCTV cameras be realized, pieces of

evidence may also be produced to prosecute motorists who have no regard
to road safety.

For your approval.

Thank you.

(Signed)
ATTY. SEVERINO MANUEL G. LUMIQUED
Legal Officer

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