Rights of IPs to be respected, Deles assures

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles. KRISTINE SABILLO/INQUIRER.net

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Indigenous peoples in Mindanao would not become “second class” citizen under the Bangsamoro entity and that their rights would be respected, Presidential Peace Adviser Teresita Quintos-Deles said.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Deles said this was the assurance she gave to IP leaders when they met in Manila on July 25.

Among those who attended the meeting, she said, were representatives from the Teruray and Manobo tribes.

“We will never allow you to become second-class citizens in Mindanao,” Deles recounted what she told the IP leaders, who represented the Teduray Justice and Governance, Gempa te Kelindaan ne Erumanen ne Menuv (Manobo tribes), and representatives of the peace group, Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID).

Earlier, Timuay Labi Sannie Bello, supreme chieftain of the TJG, told the Inquirer here that what they wanted was the full inclusion of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (Ipra) in the Bangsamoro Basic Law; the speedy delineation of their ancestral domain claim and the allocation of necessary budget for this purpose; and the respect of their free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) in all issues that concern them.

But while pressing for their demands, Bello said the IP groups also wanted the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to “remain steadfast in the process for the realization of the Bangsamoro’s right to self-determination and for the achievement of genuine, sustainable and inclusive peace in Mindanao.”

Bello said it has been 17 years since the Ipra was passed but its implementation in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was very slow.

In the July 25 meeting, Deles said Datu Roldan Babelon issued assurances about the IPs support for the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

“We were witnesses to the historical injustice they experienced. We support achieving lasting peace in Mindanao,” she quoted the lumad leader as saying.

Deles said in response, she told them that indigenous peoples “shall be respected in the future Bangsamoro region that will be created to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) by 2016.”

“We have always made sure in the peace process that the new Bangsamoro must be inclusive. That means there will be respect for minorities within this minority area (future Bangsamoro region),” she added.

Deles said even the MILF supports the “inclusivity” of the CAB, the basis for the BBL.

“…It is for all the Muslim ethnic tribes, the Christian settlers, and the indigenous peoples in the prospective Bangsamoro government territory,” she quoted Murad Ebrahim, MILF chair as having said in March.

Deles said Mohagher Iqbal, chair of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and of the MILF peace panel, also issued a similar assurance to IPs. Allan Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao

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