DA eyes food production sites in Lumad communities

DAVAO CITY — Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol has ordered the creation of a team that would prepare a master plan for the transformation of ancestral domains into food production areas.

“President Duterte has once again shown a more profound understanding of realities on the ground when … he ordered the agriculture department to help the country’s tribal people to develop thousands of hectares of ancestral domains into food production areas,” Piñol said in a statement.

He said the Department of Agriculture (DA) would work closely with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and other agencies to transform the country’s “vast tribal lands” into food production areas.

Program

Piñol said heeding the President’s order was not difficult to implement because the DA had already prepared a program on the development of ancestral lands.

“I presented [it] to then Environment Secretary Gina Lopez [but it] was not implemented because she failed to make it through the Commission on Appointments,” he said.

Piñol said under the “Bantay Kagubatan” program that he submitted to Lopez, “Lumad” (indigenous peoples) would be asked to engage in tree farming “with intercrops of cacao, coffee, abaca or black pepper.”

“The participating families will also be supported with livelihood projects like raising native pigs and free-range chicken,” he said.

But Mr. Duterte’s plan to open up Lumad areas to investments generated criticisms from indigenous peoples.

Rights violation

“This is a direct violation of the rights of Lumad. [Mr. Duterte] is only showing that he is anti-Lumad,” said Datu Jomorito Goaynon, chair of Kalumbay Regional Lumad Organization.

Goaynon, a Higaonon tribal leader, said it was akin to taking away the land of the Lumad. —Reports from Allan Nawal and Jigger Jerusalem