KIDAPAWAN CITY—One of the unseen ways of depriving the Manobo of their tribal lands, particularly in barangay Manobisa, Magpet, Cotabato, is the cheap rental on their tribal lands.

Because of the cheap rental on their tribal lands, additional hardship is experienced by the tribe.

On the other hand, if only the tribe is organized, the outsiders would not be the one to decide. The tribe should be the one to decide on how much is the land rental per hectare, how many years is the rental contract.

At the moment, the outsiders are the ones deciding the rental cost: Three Thousand Pesos every hectare, contract is for six years, advance payment for two years, and the remaining rental is given yearly.

Datu Niopedel Umpan said, "This system of land rental is one of the ways of depriving indigenous people of their land rights, in exploiting the fertile land inside the territory (of the tribe)."

Datu Eduardo Eknad added that as of now, 60 hectares in barangay Manobisa has been rented by the affluent, particularly the PNOC (Philippine National Oil Company), Banggoy Farm, and others.

Ninita Masaglang said, "This (rental) system is one of the ways whereby the farmers are made as workers in their own lands..."

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