PUERTO GALERA, Oriental Mindoro—The mayor of this town stands firm on his decision to evict 47 Mangyan families from their highland village to make way for a P66-million dump.
In coordination with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Mayor Hubbert Christopher A. Dolor gave the Mindoro tribesmen, led by Ciriaco Bibo, an ultimatum until the end of this month to vacate the village and transfer to a nearby mountain as their relocation site.
Mayor Dolor stressed that his decision is backed by Republic Act No. 9003, entitling the local government to provide for an ecological solid waste management program to ensure the local folk’s public health and the town’s environment.
Bibo however said the natives would not leave the mountain sitio because it is their ‘lupang ninuno’ (ancestral land). The mayor however said that when the municipal government bought the land in 2008 from its private owner, sitio Lapantay was not an ancestral domain.
The Iraya Mangyans refused to sign a resolution endorsing the proposed Categorized Waste Disposal Facility/Sanitary Landfill located on a 10.4-hectare Mangyan village and a coconut farm at sitio Lapantay, Bgy. Villaflor.
A total of 4,000 young coconut trees planted by the natives are already numbered, scheduled for cutting by a private contractor as soon as the April 30 ultimatum passes.
“Ito pong mga itinanim naming mga punong niyog ay bigay pa sa amin ng gobyerno at hindi pa namin lubos na napapakinabangan tapos puputulin na lang basta nila. Di po kami pumapayag,” says Tison Candava, another Iraya Mangyan.
