07/12/2023
With all due respect, Representative Jesus "JJ" Romualdo, are you aware that the House Bill 9608 that you are trying to pass has harmed Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples? Our rights as native people are being violated by this. In fact, IPRA 8371 was our only line of defense for preserving our customs and ancestral lands.
I'm not sure who you are trying to protect. However, I hope that your first action as a so-called representative in Congress is to uphold the law, not to further your own agenda.
The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997, also known as the IPRA Law, stipulates in Section 56 that "property rights within the ancestral domains already existing and/or vested upon effectiveness of this Act, shall be recognized and respected."
I hope that our President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. will veto this in order to stop this disrespect and violation of my fellow Indigenous Peoples' ancestral domain.
Together, let's work and pray for God's assistance in thwarting the evil schemes directed towards Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples.
