After more than five decades of hardships, families belonging to the Tagbanua Indigenous Peoples (IPs) of the Calauit Island in Busuanga, Palawan province are now living in a progressive and peaceful environment.

This, as the Calauit tribal community on Sunday culminated the three-day 2nd anniversary celebration of winning jurisdiction over their island through a Supreme Court (SC) ruling that upheld the Court of Appeals (CA) decision to dismiss petition for certiorari filed by the Palawan provincial government in 2022.

The petitioner opposed the implementation of the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) approved by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) En Banc. The CADT empowered the Calauit Tagbanuas to reclaim the entire island.

Remedios Mondejar Tradio, 82, was among the IPs residing in Calauit Island, before their ancestral domain was taken from them by the Palawan local government. She and her six children were sent to a nearby island with all the others.

“Pero mula po noon ay hindi naman kami tumigil na ipaglaban ang aming karapatan. Yung ibang mga kasamahan ko ay bumabalik-balik sa Calauit kaya lang, lagi rin silang pinaaalis (But since then, we had never given up out fight for our rights. Some of us kept on coming back to Calauit but only to be sent away every time),” Remedios, then only 35 years old, said.

Roberto Solis Palma, currently a Board of Director member of the Calauit Island, echoed the Remedios’ narratives.

Palma, who works as a Finance Committee director, said they came back to the island in 1986, well-determined to reclaim their ancestral land, which was protected and fought for by their ancestors.

“Determindo talaga kami noon na hindi kami aalis kahit ipagtabuyan kami. Ipinaglaban ito ng aming mga ninuno sa mahabang panahon at hindi namin ito pababayaan na mawala sa amin (We are really determined then that we would not leave even if they push us away. Our ancestors fought for it for such a long time and we would not allow to lose it),” Palma said.

Now, Tradio and Palma said all of them are living harmoniously with one another in Calauit Island. They said they were blessed to have their new chieftain, Apong Dakulo Fidel Mondragon Sr. and chairman Roy D. Dabuit of the Municipal Federation of Tagbanua Calamian Busuanga.

“Sa ngayon, may mga pamilya na rin ang aking mga anak at maayos at masaya silang lahat. May kanya-kanya kaming tinataniman na lupa at meron kaming malawak na dagat sa paligid para pangisdaan. (Currently, my children already have their own families, and they are all good and happy. Each of us has a piece of land to plant on and we have a wide ocean around us to fish,” Tradio said.

“At alam ng lahat na hindi namin makakamit ang tagumpay kung hindi kami tinulungan ni Atty. Eugenio Insigne. Dininig nya ang aming hinaing at kahilingan at hindi nya kami pinabayaan hanggang sa ngayon (And everyone knows that we could never have this victory without the help of Atty. Eugenio Insigne. He listened to grief and appeal and he did not leave us until now),” she continued.

Insigne, NCIP chairperson from 2008 to 2010, have guided the Tagbanuas in their legal pursuit to regain their ancestral domain.

Until now, he serves as a consultant and legal counsel not only to the Tagbanuas Indigenous Peoples, but also to other ethnic groups around the country.

“Dalawang taon na ang nakaraan at ngayon lang tayo nagkaroon ng pagkakataon para gunitain at ipagdiwang ang inyong tagumpay. At nagagalak ako na makibahagi sa inyong kasiyahan (Two years have passed and it’s only now that we had a chance to commemorate and celebrate your victory. And I’m happy to become a part of this gathering),” Insigne said during the kickoff event of the commemoration of the SC decision on Sept. 13. (PNA)