Estrada fails to deliver promises to indigenous groups – NCIP exec

SAN FERNANDO — Despite his pro-poor, pro-masses pronouncements, President Estrada seems to have choked on his project called "EHEM," among other projects supposed to help indigenous communities throughout the country, since the start of his administration.

Rosalina Lopez-Bistoyong, Central Luzon director of the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), told The STAR yesterday that the full budget for her agency has never been released since September 1998.

"Funds for the maintenance needs of the NCIP are being derived from our central office’s savings. The budget for livelihood projects for the indigenous (groups) has never been released since then," she said.

Because of this, the NCIP project called "Edukasyong Handog ni Erap Para sa Mahihirap na Indigenous Peoples" or EHEM, could not be fully carried out.

Last year, Bistoyong said she succeeded in negotiating with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) the release of some P20 million out of the P67 million allocated for scholarships of indigenous groups. The rest of the amount was released only later.

This year, however, no scholarship funds have been released despite allocations already specified in the General Appropriations Act, she said.

Bistoyong said that when Mr. Estrada assumed the presidency, officials close to him worked for the ouster of NCIP executive director David Daoas whose term was supposed to last for three years.

"It seemed that they didn’t like him since he was an appointee of former President Ramos, so they built up graft charges against him. The NCIP budget was consequently withheld pending the results of his investigation by a special committee in Malacañang," Bistoyong said. Daoas, however, has remained in office because no evidence of any wrongdoing could be dug up against him.

When the investigation was finished sometime last year, Bistoyong said the NCIP budget remained frozen. Later, Justice Isagani Cruz questioned the constitutionality of the Indigenous People’s Right Act (IPRA) passed by Congress, further blocking the release of any funds for NCIP operations in the countryside.

Salung Sunggud, NCIP assistant regional director, said the NCIP is in charge of 14,822 Aeta families or 75,012 individuals in Central Luzon alone, as well as the different ethnic communities throughout the country.

Bistoyong said at present, the NCIP in Central Luzon relies heavily on the help of non-government organizations, particularly the British Eva Foundation, in providing livelihood and education to local indigenous communities.

"Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora was recently confronted by some congressmen on the freezing of the NCIP budget, but the scandal triggered by the jueteng exposé seems to have overshadowed his promise to look into the NCIP’s case," Bistoyong added.

Bistoyong said that because of the lack of scholarship funds this year, many of the 1,000 elementary, 2,500 high school and 10,000 college indigenous students, who are supposed to benefit from the President’s EHEM project, failed to enroll.

Only those being directly helped by the Eva Foundation still go to school, she added.

Bistoyong said the foundation has also contributed some P200,000 for the livelihood projects of the region’s tribal folk.