Looking at IP displacement

CHEERS TO TV Patrol for looking at the displacement of indigenous people in Mindoro.

TV Patrol’s Kabayan Special Patrol (KSP) two-part report on April 28 and 29 looked at the impending displacement of Iraya Mangyans of Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro from their ancestral domain. The local government is building a 10-hectare sanitary landfill to address the problem of waste management in the tourism town.

Puerto Galera mayor Hubbert Dolor said the municipal government was able to buy the land from a private individual in 2008 for Php 4.7 million. The land is part of the almost 5,000 hectares to which the Iraya Mangyans have held a certificate of ancestral domain title since 2004. The landfill construction will affect about 40 families of Iraya Mangyans.

The local government has plans to relocate the families, but when KSP visited the relocation site, there were barely any structures ready in the relocation area.

The Iraya Mangyans refused to endorse the landfill, but the news team found an agreement document in which two private individuals and the barangay captain were signatories. The barangay captain was nowhere to be found for the KSP interview.

If displaced, the Iraya Mangyan’s livelihood and their access to a newly-built classroom will be affected. The report also said the location of the landfill could potentially affect the nearby Tamaraw Falls, a tourist spot and one of the water sources of the Iraya Mangyans.

KSP found the environmental compliance certificate issued to the local government. The ICC indicated that “This certificate shall cover the category II sanitary landfill project … this is to certify, further, that in issuing this certificate, it should be understood that the same is a planning tool and not a permit.”

The report said the ECC has 25 conditions and four prohibitions with which the local government has not fully complied.

The Standard had earlier reported on the possible displacement of the Iraya Mangyans in the town of Puerto Galera. (“Iraya Mangyans: P66-million Galera dump will displace us”, April 17; “Mayor to Mangyans: Leave land by 30th or be evicted”, April 23)