IP group slams BSU’s patent
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By KIMBERLIE NGABIT-QUITASOL
www.nordis.net
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — The La Trinidad Indigenous People’s Organization-Ancestral Domain (LTIPO-AD) is protesting the application of the Benguet State University (BSU) for Special Patents over several lots in this capital town and accused the university of falsifying public documents.
The LTIPO-AD, in a petition submitted to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), said BSU changed the university’s survey plans from Special Work Orders (SWO) to National Government Survey (NGS) to qualify for the issuance of a Special Patent.
LTIPO-AD mentioned that the lots BSU applied for special patent include several lots at Poblacion, Balili, Wangal and Alapang among others that were surveyed under the SWO in 1973 and 1974.
LTIPO-AD mentioned that SWO surveys according to Section 656 of DAO No. 98-12 cannot be a subject for titling because such surveys are for geographical and scientific investigations, experiments and are issued for particular use or purpose.
“Obviously, BSU’s altering the identification and title of their survey plans after 40 long years is an act of falsification of public documents which should not be tolerated but instead penalized under our existing laws,” the LTIPO-AD petition read.
The IP group asserted that their ancestors have already settled in La Trinidad long before the BSU reservation was proclaimed. They added that the NCIP already awarded them their Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT).
LTIPO-AD in their petition asked the DENR to disapprove BSU’s application for Special Patent and to conduct relocation surveys over BSUs land retention areas to once and for all determine exact locations of the lands with in the university’s proclaimed land area vis a vis IP legitimate claims.
The IP group asked the NCIP to impose a free prior and informed consent (FPIC) over BSU’s application for Special Patent and to review the university’s land use to check if there are areas that are not being utilized properly in accordance to the provisions for its proclamation. # nordis.net
