The City Government of Davao has abstained from the second selection of the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) to the City Council pending the courtâs decision on the case filed by selected representative from Bagobo Klata tribe last year.
Assistant City Legal Officer Osmundo Villanueva said the decision was in deference to the pending ruling by the Regional Trial Court on the petition of Cherry Ann Ortiz-Codilla who was chosen by Bagobo Klata tribe to sit as IPMR.
It was the turn of the Bagobo Klata tribe to select the IPMR, succeeding the Kagan tribe represented by Bai Halila Sudagar.
The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), however, disqualified her on the basis of her lineage and track record as member of the tribe.
Villanueva said the city government has decided not to support any selection process until the court hands down its decision on the Codilla petition.
âWe also find serious procedural and substantial flaws in the manner by which the process of disqualification was accomplished, not to mention the attendant blunders committed in the selection process,â he said.
Villanueva said he also recommended that the court defers the selection process until after Codillaâs pending case is resolved. CIO
