WHEN we speak of the indigenous people, we are referring to the first settlers in our land. They are the people in actual possession of the land that they occupied even before the Torrens titling system came to be. It is for this reason that the lands they have occupied since time immemorial are at their disposal, use, and maintenance.
However, with the onset of the Torrens titling system, wealthy individuals saw the opportunity to grab from the indigenous people the land that had long been theirs even before these greed-driven people were born.
Taking the case of the Dumagat indigenous group in the southernmost tip of the Sierra Madre, they have been settling there for who knows how long. They have been driven away many times given greed concealed behind “development.”
As it is, their ancestral domain continues to shrink amid the aggressive incursion of a business group masquerading as an environmental steward. I am particularly referring to the Blue Star Construction and Development Corporation (BSCDC) which has been lording over the upland areas of Tanay, Baras, and Antipolo, using a dubious document signed by a former Environment official.
BSCDC, which was later renamed Masungi Georeserve, embarks on well-oiled PR machinery that has been tediously working on its image. The PR stunts tend to show the private consortium as “very concerned” with the environment.
I live in Rizal and this province has been my playground for most of my life. I knew exactly the place these businessmen were occupying – the alterations on its surface, the sinister maneuvers of the greedy billionaires, and many more.
A portion of the area being occupied by the BSCDC is a socialized housing site for the employees of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and its attached agencies. But for some reason, the project was shelved after houses were built in the area.
BSCDC has been capitalizing on a spurious Memorandum of Agreement that was signed by the late DENR Sec. Gina Lopez in 2017. The same MOA is the subject of a petition urging the Environment chief to nullify the agreement for the simple reason that a mere MOA could not possibly supersede a law that was enacted by the Philippine Congress and signed by no less than the President.
Taking a closer look at the MOA, I knew something was not right. I am not a lawyer but from a layman’s point of view, the agreement is dubious. It effectively ceded control of some 2,700 hectares of land to just three persons – Benjamin Dumaliang and her two daughters.
Notably, the supposed MOA doesn’t even contain a detailed technical description of the area that was awarded to BSCDC.
BSCDC doesn’t have a Torrens title. So are the Dumagats. Torrens title is the certificate of ownership issued by the Register of Deeds, naming and declaring the owner of the real property described therein, free from all liens and encumbrances except such as may be expressly noted thereon or otherwise reserved by law.
Oh yeah, the law specifically says “otherwise reserved by law.” This is what makes the Dumagats far more legit than the construction company masquerading as an environmental advocate.
To be clear about this one, the law recognizes the tribal group as the de facto owner and steward of their ancestral domain. The area being claimed by the BSCDC belongs to the tribal community.
The Dumagats are neither land-grabbers nor squatters as Dumaliang would call them.
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