BAGUIO CITY — Ibaloys here are opposing a proposal being discussed by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to freeze all ancestral land titling in the city due to a succession of Supreme Court decisions asserting that the agency has no jurisdiction in Baguio.
On Thursday, Ibaloy clans gathered at an NCIP dialogue organized by NCIP Commissioner Gaspar Cayat because of a suggested moratorium covering all applications for Certificates of Ancestral Land Title (CALT) and Certificates of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) within the Baguio townsite reservation.
Cayat said the NCIP commissioners sitting en banc on Feb. 28 discussed the future of Ibaloy ancestral land rights in the city because of three high court rulings issued on Sept. 25, 2019 (penned by retired Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio Jr.); on April 26, 2023 (penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen); and on July 11, 2023 (also penned by Leonen), that said Baguio is excluded from the coverage of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 (Republic Act No. 8371 or Ipra).
All three decisions cited Section 78, a special provision that states: “The City of Baguio shall remain to be governed by its Charter and all lands proclaimed as part of its townsite reservation shall remain as such until otherwise reclassified by appropriate legislation: Provided, That prior land rights and titles recognized and/or acquired through any judicial, administrative or other processes before the effectivity of this Act shall remain valid … ”Leonen, in the July decision, said that Ipra “exempts Baguio City from its coverage [because] the text of Section 78 is categorical that Baguio City is governed by its own charter [and] Thus, no ancestral title under [Ipra] may be issued in favor of claimants within