Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Bugis boundaries of the Kalingas

by Peter A. Balocnit

A congress of peacepact holders and elders formally asked recently the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to recognize the "bugis" (boundaries) of the Kalingas as an established territory of an "ili" (settlement).

In its resolution to the NCIP, the body during the "bugis" congress held at the Pastoral Center here requested for an en banc approval of the delineated "bugis" of the ancestral domain of the different sub-tribes in the province.

The bugis, according to the Congress, is defined as the territorial boundaries of a particular ili or group of ilis under the "pagta" (peacepact bylaws) of their "podon" (peacepact) and encompasses all lands and natural resources traditionally owned by the sub-tribes by themselves.

The bugis is handed down from ancestors and constitute the ancestral domain to include ancestral lands, private properties, forests, pasturelands, agricultural and residual lands, hunting grounds, bodies of water and subterranean deposits.

The bugis since time immemorial is being self delineated by Kalingas' forebears indicating the significant natural landmarks and recognized collectively by all "pindonans" (peacepact ties).

The resolution also asked NCIP to formally accept the bugis as a native title, its metes and bounds to constitute the same as a legal instrument to show proof of ownership by a particular ili or group of ilis.

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