More “bogus” party-list groups exposed

By Dateline Philippines

MANILA, Philippines – Four days before the deadline, an indigenous peoples (IP) party-list group submitted Monday to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) its list of nominees while exposing another dubious rival.

The KATRIBU party-list bared the names of its five nominees, namely: Beverly Longid, Genasque Enriquez, Nelson Mallari, Karlen Fanagel, and Virgelio Aniceto.

“In submitting the names of our nominees ahead of the Comelec deadline, KATRIBU would like to set an example and challenge other party-list bets who claim to represent indigenous and Moro peoples to be transparent about their platforms and nominees,” said KATRIBU spokesperson Piya Malayao in a statement.

KATRIBU said that its first nominee, Longid, is a grassroots activist from Mountain Province, while second nominee, Enriquez, is a Manobo farmer from Surigao del Sur. The third nominee, Mallari, is an Aeta community organizer from Pampanga, while Fanagel is a a B’laan from Sarangani Province and Aniceto hails from the Ibaloi tribe in Benguet.

“It’s about time that the historically marginalized and neglected indigenous peoples in the country be heard in Congress with a voice of their own,” she added.

At the same time, Malayao exposed another list of government officials who are reportedly being invited to represent another indigenous peoples group.

Malayao said, “Two commissioners of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Eugenio Insigne and Jannette Serrano-Reisland, are reportedly the nominees of the Agapay Indigenous Peoples Rights Alliance (A-IPRA) and Partido ng Katutubong Pilipino, respectively.”

According to NCIP’s website, Insigne is the commissioner for the Cordillera Autonomous Region and Cagayan Valley Region (Region I). Serrano currently heads Central Mindanao (Region XII).

Last January, the Office of the Ombudsman filed administrative charges against Insigne and Serrano, among other NCIP commissioners that were held responsible for the awarding of Forbes Park forest reserved lots to private applicants. The Ombudsman charged Insigne and Serrano with grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty.

The administrative cases against the NCIP commissioners, filed by Baguio City Mayor Reinaldo Bautista, stemmed from the award of Forbes Park forest reserved lots to the heirs of Lauro Carantes.

The city government maintained the award was spurious considering that the contested land is considered a forest area and thus inalienable.

Also, KATRIBU said that another indigenous peoples party-list group, Abante Tribung Makabansa, has the backing of the government.

Malayao said Abante Tribung Makabansa was formed by the Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Conference for Peace and Development, whose council of advisers include Jesus Dureza, presidential adviser on Mindnao and chair of the newly-formed Mindanao Development Authority.

Other advisers are Energy secretary Angelo Reyes and Army Col. Allen Capuyan, KATRIBU said.

They added that Capuyan was a former head of the Intelligence Services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) who figured in the controversial “Hello, Garci” wiretapped tape that confirmed massive cheating in the 2004 presidential elections.
Capuyan was purportedly one of the ISAFP’s men who ordered to wiretap the conversation between then Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“We fear that the Arroyo administration is capitalizing even on the marginalized condition of indigenous peoples by investing on certain party-lists. It is deplorable that many of the President’s appointees, let alone her relatives, are all over the party-list system,” Longid said.

Garcillano was also heard in the “Hello, Garci” discussing the fate of another indigenous group, Ang Laban ng Indiginong Filipino or ALIF.

On June 14, 2004, Garcillano replied to an unidetified caller and said that “ang mauna siguro iyong ALIF. Pero gusto ko masabay-sabay [We put ALIF first. But I want it all at the same time].” Other party-list groups questioned the seeming favorable treatment of the poll body to the said group, which was proclaimed ahead of other winning groups.

About 187 party-list groups accredited for the May 10 polls will be competing for the 52 congressional seats, or a fifth of the House seats, duly reserved for them by the 1987 Constitution.

The numbers doubled compared to some 90 party-list groups that ran in the 2007 elections. About 60 party-list groups were accredited for the 2004 general elections.