by Yasmin D. Arquiza

BALABAC, Palawan—Sannol Casim, leader of the Molbog tribe, almost cried when he chanced upon some people stripping the bark from an upright mangrove in this southern Palawan town a few years ago. The tree, he recalls, literally bled to death as red sap oozed from the trunk and flowed down to the muddy sea.

"If I were God," says Casim in Tagalog, "many of these environmental violators would have been dead by now." But at that time, he could only report the incident to authorities, without much hope that anything would be done to stop the harvesting of the mangrove tanbark, which is widely sought as a clothes dye in Malaysia.

These days, Casim and the Molbog Indigenous Cultural Community Association, Inc. (MICCAI) which he heads no longer feel as helpless. In February, the group was granted a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) for 34,400 hectares of land, mangroves and ancestral waters in Balabac.

The title gives the Molbog more leverage to take care of the natural resources of Balabac, where much of Palawan's last 40,000 hectares of mangroves are found. Their territory covers the historic Cape Melville and the remaining forests in the southern part of the island. The CADT gives 473 families—mostly pure Molbog—control over, as well as the responsibility for, protecting the area.

The Molbog are the latest in a growing list of indigenous peoples whose claims to their ancestral territory are getting official recognition. Indeed, tribal communities have come a long way since 1993, when the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issued Administrative Order No. 2, which gave them a chance to reclaim their land. Although they are still ignored by much of the general population, indigenous peoples are asserting their rights more forcefully and even reviving ancient tribal practices for modern-day use.

"The indigenous peoples have been thirsty for tenurial security," says the Palawan NGO Network's Cleofe Bernardino, who has spent much of her life promoting the rights of indigenous people in this province. With a CADT or Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claim (CADC) to back them up, many communities are being revitalized by the knowledge they can no longer be driven away and they have greater control over their resources.

Armed with a CADT, the Pala'wan tribe scored a victory when they booted out rattan and almaciga concessionaires who had sucked out the profits from the forest in Rizal town in southern Palawan, says executive director Dionesia Banua of the Nagkakaisang Tribu ng Palawan or Natripal.

On the island of Coron, ancestral home of the Tagbanua, kagawad Rey Abella of Banuang Daan reports that their fish catch has more than doubled since their pre-CADC days, when they would be lucky to get five kilos of fish in one day. He adds that the community has a patrol boat it uses to chase away fishers who use illegal or destructive methods of fishing, but it does not restrict access to others who employ environment-friendly ways.

Banuang Daan barangay chair Rogeldo Aguilar also says that the Tagbanua have become more cohesive as a result of the tribe's CADC. Even municipal councilor Patrick Matta agrees that the CADC grant revived pride in their culture among tribal elders.

Major decisions come from a 12-member council composed of elders who are known as balian, sometimes jokingly referred to as "bawal iyan (that's forbidden)" because they help dispense justice. Since getting their CADC in 1998, the Tagbanua have revived their tribal justice system called panglaw. This includes the customary punishment of tying up the offender's hands and placing his feet inside the holes of a wooden contraption where he is made to stand for several hours in full view of the public. Later, the council of elders gives him 30 lashes with a rattan cane.

The practice had gone largely unnoticed until lately, when the Tagbanua began asserting their right to punish anyone who violates tribal law inside their domain. On August 9, tribal elders announced that they would impose panglaw even on visitors. But the Tagbanua do give all offenders a choice between submitting themselves to customary law and having a court case filed against them.