DENR, NCIP Reaffirms Commitment through Project Epanaw

SAN FERNANDO CITY—National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Region 3 Director Atty. Roland Calde turns over the Project Epanaw Coffee Table (CTB) Books 1, 2, and 3 today to Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 3 Executive Director Engr. Paquito Moreno, Jr. at the latter’s office in Diosdado Macapagal Government Center. The turn-over was witnessed by NCIP and DENR officers and staff. Highlights of the meeting are the following:
1. Cooperation on supporting and promoting the Ancestral Domains as livelihood and production center for agricultural products;
2. Ensuring unhampered implementation of projects by the ICCs/IPs inside their domains overlapping protected areas, landscapes, and seascapes;
3. Strict adherence to relevant policies and guidelines promoting the welfare of ICCs/IPs particularly the guidelines on securing Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) before the implementation of any programs, activities, and projects;
4. Conduct joint community-based Information-Education Campaigns (IEC) and consultations to over 55 Ancestral Domains in the region to address needs, issues, and concerns by ICCs/IPs;
Being an IP himself from Ifugao, RED Moreno thanked the NCIP for the Project Epanaw CTBs. He added that it will be a boost to their mandate particularly CTB 3’s highlight on key biodiversity and protected areas found inside ancestral domains. For his part Director Calde vowed to support the programs of the department by ensuring that the duties and responsibilities of the ICCs to their ancestral domains are fulfilled.