PORAC, Pampanga – “Hindi na magpapalaboy-laboy o mapapalayas pa (mula sa kanilang lupang tinubuan) ang mga kapatid nating mga Ayta sa Porac dahil nakuha na nila ang kanilang CADT (Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title) No. 123.”
Thus, spoke Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda after 848 Aeta families received on Tuesday their CADT over 18,660 hectares of land.
With former president and 2nd District congresswoman-elect Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Vice Gov. Lilia “Nanay” Pineda as witnesses, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples chair Allen Capuyan handed CADT No. 123 to Ayta Mag-indi and Ayta Mag-antsi leaders at the covered court of Barangay Villa Maria here, 13 years after approval by the agency. The CADT came in the form of an Original Certificate of Title in its entry in the Registry of Deeds.
NCIP records showed the area covered by the CADT spans the barangays of Camias, Diaz, Inararo, Villa Maria, and Sapang Uwak in Porac; Sapang Bato in Angeles City; portions of Floridablanca, also in Pampanga; and San Marcelino town in Zambales.
In his social media page, the governor said: “Bilang governor at kasama si Mayor Jing Capil, hinimok ko po sila na mag-usap at mag-plano ulit para maresolba ang problema nila sa lupang ninuno. Nagbunga po ang mga dayalogo.”
He also expressed his gratitude to all those who made the IP’s long struggle for the recognition of their rights over their “luatan tua” or ancestral domains come to fruition.
“Maraming salamat po sa antabay ni former president at Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at Vice Governor Nanay, sa NCIP lalo na kay chairman Allen Capuyan, sa Porac LGU, sa Milkapa, Magkaalbapa at sa lahat ng mga nagmamalasakit para sa karapatan at kagalingan ng mga katutubong Pilipino,” the governor said.
In a statement, the NCIP said the issuance of a CADT gave IP communities the “responsibility to have and to hold in ownership the ancestral domain… as their private but community property which belongs to all generations.”
“They shall develop, control, manage and utilize collectively the ancestral domain with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities subject to the condition that the said ancestral domain or portions thereof shall not be sold, disposed or destroyed,” it added. Punto News Team
*Photos by Jun Jaso/Pampanga PIO
