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Reviving Culture, Regaining Paradise

Posted on November 21, 2014

Felipe Sagiyod tells the story of the origins of the Maeng tribe. (Photo: FPE-MIPPEG)

Felipe Sagiyod from Sitio Kili in Tubo, Abra, one of the elders of the Maeng tribe, recounts the early years of the tribe, when the ancestral domain boasted of a rich biodiversity, with a wide array of flora and fauna, a land filled with numerous species of birds, fishes, mollusks and algae and forests brimming with greenery and mineral resources.

The members of the Maeng tribe have been active stewards of the environment since the time of their forefathers. The tribe believes that the land, which contains all the necessary ingredients for living, is the foundation of peoples’ lives. It recognizes every tribe member’s responsibility to protect, preserve and develop the tribe’s territory and its resources. It has followed a system called lapat, a community-based resource management system of conserving natural resources.

Ilog Utip in Tubo, Abra, a major water source and tributary of Mts. Buasao and Poswey watersheds. (Photo: FPE-MIPPEG)

The lapat, which embodies indigenous knowledge, systems and practices (IKSPs), was established through the dap-ay – a system of governance that operates under the principle of collective decision-making, collective leadership and tribal solidarity. It seeks to conserve natural resources, provide protection against water and air pollution, prohibit the entrance of intruders who destroy the environment and maintain the ecological balance of the tribal communities. The implementation of the lapat has been so rigid and intensive that people from the neighboring municipalities and provinces who have tried to destroy natural resources have not only been driven away, but have also been meted punishment. Tribe members tell of stories of struggles, and of sacrificing blood and life, in defending their land against outsiders interested in mining and logging.

That was in the past.

Because of intermarriage and in-migration, the lapat culture started to decline and for a while faced the possibility of extinction. The increased disregard of the lapat caused the gradual erosion of indigenous resource management practices. The introduction of new technologies, the proliferation of illegal practices in harvesting (in fishing, mining and logging), the frequent occurrence of calamities, illegal water tunneling operations and an eroding culture contributed to the continuous decline of the domain’s environment.

A biodiversity monitoring and evaluation conducted by the Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE) in 2013 showed that while Tubo was still considered biodiversity-rich, the domain was under severe threat from encroachment. As such, the FPE, through the European Union-funded Mainstreaming Indigenous Peoples Participation in Environmental Governance (MIPPEG) embarked on a project that aimed to revive and strengthen the lapat system. The FPE worked with the Tipon Ti Umili Para Iti Panagsaluad Ti Nakaparsuwaan (TIPON), an IP organization of Maengs, to translate oral traditions and practices into the written form.

The tribe got together with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), FPE, Philippine Association for Inter-Cultural Development (PAFID) and the Community Working Group of the Municipality of Tubo, to enhance the tribe’s Ancestral Domain Sustainability Development and Protection Plan (ADSDPP).

The ADSDPP revitalized the functional structure and management system of the lapat, with each barangay now having its own lapat area. The system includes specific guidelines on how the people can protect their ancestral domain and delineates roles for community members in environmental protection, wildlife gathering, fishing, hunting and mining.

Fishing in rivers, lakes, and creeks follow a certain schedule. (Photo: FPE-MIPPEG)

The lapat rules for fishing allows the use of spear gun. (Photo: FPE-MIPPEG)

Harvesting of non-timber forest products such as rattan is regulated through the lapat system. (Photo: FPE-MIPPEG)

Lapat has been recognized by the national government as a culture-based system of forest management capable of being adopted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as a model for the management of other ancestral domains. The dap-ay and lapat systems have now been integrated into local and national government systems through the Global Environment Facility-United Nations Development Programme Small Grants Programme 4^th Operational Phase, which TIPON was able to access in 2011 to complement the MIPPEG project.

In the past, the Maeng elders handed down the practice of lapat orally to members of the tribe. The practice has now been formalized and its concept and provisions have been incorporated into barangay ordinances. Owing to the clamor for more effective environmental sustainability and to the rising concern for climate change, the lapat system has been adopted by the Department of Education for Abra. Lapat modules to help educate the youth have been developed.

The aim of the modules is to integrate the rich culture and practice of lapat into the basic education curricula and to gain recognition of the importance of having indigenous knowledge system that imparts knowledge of natural resources management to other members of the community.

The modules make it easy for the youth to understand the importance of environmental conservation and protection and to learn the practices of the lapat system. The modules seek to increase appreciation of the lapat as the environmental management system of the Maeng tribe. Likewise, it aims to develop attitudes and behavioral tendencies that show respect for ecological balance, love of nature and increased involvement in environmental conservation work.

Lapat proved effective for the ancestors of the Maeng tribe. The indigenous environmental conservation practices can be shared and utilized by more communities today in their fight for environmental sustainability.

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The sustainability of the Maeng Tribe’s IKSPs is supported by the Mainstreaming Indigenous Peoples’ Participation in Environmental Governance (MIPPEG) project funded by the European Union and implemented by the Foundation for the Philippine Environment and the Philippine Association for Intercultural Development. A Partners' Forum was held on November 26, 2014 at the Ang Bahay ng Alumni, UP Diliman sealing commitments from various agencies to further the causes for indigenous people’s participation in governance.