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First Posted on Inside Mindanao: April 4, 2007

Sea-dwelling tribe claims sea as ancestral domain
By Ellen Red

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In a Memorandum written by Celestino Talpis, Sr., former director of NCIP Region IX to the Commission En Banc of NCIP, "Bajaus are generally wary to outsiders and awarding CADT to their ancestral domain claimed area in Sangali and Victoria will somehow infused to their mind that they are equal to all human beings in this world, worthy to own properties that they will be proud of possessing—a territory free from exterior manipulation and exploitation that have caused most of them to flee to other areas in the country and beg."

In a document submitted to NCIP, the Bajau in Zamboanga City traced their ancestors as coming from the Sulu Sea down to Sabah, Malaysia.

The Bajau in Zamboanga City and the Bajau in Sitangkai share the same culture. They use the same language, calling their tribal leaders as panglima and their houses as lumah. They also build their houses on the sea itself.

While the Bajau in Zamboanga City is recognized by the Philippine government, through the NCIP, for their inherent right to the sea, the Bajau in Sitangkai and other parts of the Sulu Sea have yet to receive similar recognition from the Philippine government.

As Ms. Arquiza reported to the UN, the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act is a difficult law to use for claiming their right to ancestral territory because the law is tailored specifically for land-based culture while the Bajau tribe only recognizes ancestral seas.

She added, "On the other hand, the law for Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has only succeeded in setting up limited political machineries presently exclusively enjoyed by elites and political aspirants among majority Bangsamoro tribes. For an economically marginalized and socio-culturally excluded group such as the Sama Dilaut, there is no useful provision in the ARMM Act." --Inside Mindanao

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