The operating team allegedly destroyed their bangkaso (sacred altar), a grave violation to their culture as Indigenous peoples.

CAGAYAN DE ORO — Due to unaddressed concerns, several members of a clan of Lumad—a collective term for non-Moro Indigenous peoples in Mindanao—were forced to slip into what they claim as part of their ancestral land in Purok 5, Barangay Dalwangan, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon.

They did this to assert their right. State authorities went to the area on February 21 and arrested three Lumad, including Datu Aldren Gulinsao.

Gulinsao, speaking for the clan, told Bulatlat that they have been claiming 358 hectares of land within the National Beef Cattle Research and Development Center managed by the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Bureau of Animal Industry. 

The land, he said, is part of the 700-hectare ancestral domain that they are currently filing at the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

Filing for a certificate of ancestral domain claim (CADC), however, is their last resort, as the Gulinsao clan which is part of the Talaandig tribe already has a land title obtained during the Philippine Commonwealth, the transitional government prior to the country’s independence in 1946. They also have a Tax Declaration of Real Property. 

Gulinsao said that before World War II, based on the testimonies of their ancestors, a prominent person borrowed the disputed land to develop it into a ranch. But they all fled when the war broke out, seeking refuge on Mount Kitanglad and in Barangay Can-ayan, Malaybalay. When their ancestors returned, the land was already fenced.

Their forefathers Damasco and Ricardo, sons of land owner Maximo, started to claim the land in 1990. Gulinsao said that their ancestors were encouraged by the DA to take care of dairy cows instead.

Bae Rosana Lukinhay, Gulinsao’s aunt, told XFM Bukidnon in an interview that she was raised beside the disputed land, recalling when she was young how her father had been claiming the land as their family grew. 

“If the war did not happen, that would not have been left behind,” Datu Norberto, cousin of Gulinsao’s father, also said in the same interview in the vernacular.

Their documents were presented at meetings with the DA and other concerned government offices. Gulinsao said that four meetings were done from 2021 but there was no resolution, which led to their forcible entry into the disputed land in February. Their last entry was in April.

Gulinsao said that the contested land they entered used to be the area where their ancestors performed their rituals. The most painful thing, he said, was when the operating team allegedly destroyed their bangkaso (sacred altar), a grave violation to their culture as Indigenous peoples.

“If I were to say it, I would no longer appeal to them since they won’t listen to us anymore. We will just comply with what the NCIP needs,” Gulinsao said when asked for his message to the DA, admitting as well that acquiring a CADC is another challenge due to its rigorous process, especially for the Lumad who have low educational attainment.

The cases filed against Gulinsao were usurpation of authority, illegal possession of bladed weapons, and disobedience of a person in authority. He said that he has been facing the charges filed against him head-on to respect the law. 

However, once they were dismissed, he vowed to subject the personnel who destroyed their bangkaso to their traditional sala, a customary law of the Lumad to resolve conflicts. (DAA)