CAGAYAN DE ORO – The Lumad community in Camiguin, one of the provinces in the Northern Mindanao region, is asserting their identity, expressing dismay after the provincial government ignored their existence.

In May 2023, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Camiguin reportedly passed Resolution No. 48 declaring the non-existence of indigenous peoples (IPs) in the province since time immemorial, attaching similar resolutions approved by different municipal councils. Leaders of the Kamigin tribe have been protesting this matter until they decided to bring the issue to a wider audience by visiting Cagayan de Oro as the regional center.

Camiguin Representative Jurdin Jesus Romualdo, the father of incumbent Provincial Governor Xavier Jesus Romualdo, said in a video clip posted on social media that he will never agree to have IPs in the province, accusing them of being “land grabbers.”

However, the Kamigin tribe, which has over 15,000 members, has a certificate of recognition issued by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). This was confirmed by the agency, affirming these native inhabitants are part of the 110 indigenous tribes in the Philippines.

IP leaders in the province also claimed that before the passage of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997, the Kamigin tribe was already recognized in the early 1990s by the Office for Southern Cultural Communities (OSCC), a government agency created in 1987 under the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino.

In addition, a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claim (CADC) was also issued to the tribe by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the 1,006 hectares of combined total of land in three barangays in Sagay town and a barangay in Mambajao town. The process to convert it into a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) has been ongoing.

They exist 

Antonio Montalvan II, a Mindanao anthropologist, told Bulatlat that it is “ridiculous and preposterous” to say that Kamigin Indigenous People do not exist, saying the move declaring their non-existence will be a huge injustice and will negate their true identity.

He explained that linguistics, a scientific study of human language, is one of the ways to determine the existence of indigenous peoples. American linguists, he said, already discovered that the Kamigin tribe belongs to the “Proto Manobo family of language speakers in Mindanao.” 

Montalvan further explained that the Manobos are a large clan across the island, and those from Northern Mindanao are part of the Proto Northern Manobo, who are speakers of Higaunon, Talaandig, and Kagayanen languages, including Kinamiging—the language used by the members of the Kamigin tribe.

“This is no longer a hypothesis. It is an established fact. The Manobo language speakers have long been studied by linguists of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, which was formerly based in Bukidnon,” he said, adding that linguists studied practices and processes that will lead to the identification of the interrelationship of languages.

The Mindanao anthropologist recalled the thesis of one of his students when he was still teaching masters at the Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan about the Kinamiging speakers in Sagay town, Camiguin. Based on the study, he said, although it was not a dying language, Kinamiging became endangered due to the influx of Boholanon (people from Bohol) migrants to the province since the Hispanic period.

Nevertheless, Montalvan said NCIP’s recognition should be enough basis, being the government agency that has a mandate to protect IPs’ rights and well-being.

Call for respect 

Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (Katribu), a national alliance of IP organizations in the Philippines, expressed concerns pertaining to the denial of the Kamigin tribe’s indigenous identity through local legislation, notwithstanding the issuance of NCIP’s certificate of recognition.

The situation was even more troubling, the group said, considering that the resolution of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan was approved in 2023. It stressed that the IPs’ rights must be respected.

“It does not seem like the Kamigin community and other concerned stakeholders were meaningfully consulted before this resolution was passed,” Katribu National Convener Beverly Longid said in a statement sent to Bulatlat.

Katribu added that such resolve undermines the IPs’ rights to self-governance, which could have serious implications on their rights, dignity, and survival.

“It is very sad to think that our brothers and sisters in Camiguin, and some of them are IPs, got the courage to deny [our existence],” Datu “Momot” Adriano Ebcas, provincial tribal chieftain of Camiguin, told Bulatlat. “Why does the local government unit deny all of these despite the documents we have?”

Raising this issue amid the election period sparked speculations about the intent but the tribal chieftain pointed out that this is about their identity as Lumads. (RVO)