Manobo leader debunks royalty claim of rival clan in Agusan mining project

SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews / 23 October) – A Manobo leader has refuted the claims made by a rival Manobo clan that a mining company has violated their rights to receive a fair share of royalty fee from ancestral lands currently being mined.

In a mobile phone interview on Tuesday night, Hawodon Taugdan Rolito Peñaloga, chieftain of the Bunawan Manobo Ancestral Domain Council, Inc. (BMADCI), said the Hallasgo and Rodrigo clan led by Mary Jean Rodrigo Hallasgo, who is residing in Barangay Consuelo and San Andres in Bunawan, has no legitimate claim to the one percent royalty from the gross annual income of Philsaga Mining Corp.

Peñaloga explained that a thorough validation by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) deemed the Hallasgo clan as migrants, despite their assertions of long-standing ties to the area as sacred hunting grounds prior to the arrival of Philsaga.

“The NCIP conducted a detailed genealogy of the Rodrigo and Hallasgo Manobo clan, which revealed no valid generational roots,” Peñaloga noted.

“In our case, we waited 10 years for the NCIP to process our claims before we were granted our CADT (Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title) 136,” he added.

CADT  refers to a title formally recognizing the rights of possession and ownership of indigenous peoples over their ancestral lands.

The dispute over royalty claims involving Philsaga Mining arose after the Hallasgo clan sought assistance from ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo, alleging that they had been denied their rightful shares amid the ongoing mining operations in Bunawan.

In response, Tulfo stated that the inquiry aims to bolster Republic Act 8371 (Indigenous Peoples Rights Act) and Republic Act 7942 (Philippine Mining Act) to better protect the indigenous peoples. He emphasized that the mining activities of Philsaga Mining deplete the resources of ancestral lands, adversely affecting the indigenous cultural communities entitled to a royalty share.

Tulfo criticized the mining firm for allegedly disregarding the rights of the indigenous communities and delivering royalties to other sectors.

“It is essential to explore stronger measures that enable private entities to serve as public agents of the state in protecting the rights of indigenous peoples,” he added.

Peñaloga also pointed to former NCIP chairperson Allen Capuyan, who allegedly exacerbated the conflict by favoring the Hallasgo clan’s claims without allowing the BMADCI to present their side.

“We attended meetings with Capuyan where he only listened to the Hallasgos and didn’t give us the opportunity to share our side,” Peñaloga said. (Chris V. Panganiban / MindaNews)