Lumis to step down as IP representative

Palawan’s Indigenous People (IP) will have a new representative in the Provincial Board (PB) when the session resumes on the first week of July.

Board member Joel Lumis Jr., the current IP Mandatory Representative (IPMR) at the PB, said that he will vacate the post before June 30 as he was recently elected as a councilor of Aborlan town.

Lumis said that his replacement will come from the Palaw’an IPs in Rizal municipality, but he did not give his name.

He also said that he is awaiting the approval of the certificate of affirmation of the incoming IPMR before he finally leaves his post at the Provincial Board.

“May napili na pero may mga hinihintay pa na dokumento. Kaya anytime na ibaba [ang mga kailangan na dokumento] ay bababa na tayo dito [sa pwesto at opisina]. Ayaw ko lang talaga mabakantehan ang office. Ang sabi ko noong nakaraan manalo o matalo tayo ay bababa sa posisyon,” Lumis said.

An IPMR can be chosen among the seven IPs in the province — Cuyonon, Cagayanen, Agutaynen, Tagbanua, Batak, Palaw’an and Molbog to sit in the Provincial Board.

He said that the IP representative goes through a selection process of tribe chieftains.

Lumis, a Tagbanua, represented the IP community on June 9, 2017, taking over the post after the late Noel Jagmis.

“[Noong namatay si uncle Noel] napag-usapan namin ng mga katutubo na ipagpatuloy ko ang termino niya. Sa amin kasing mga katutubo kahit walang kasulatan basta sumang-ayon na ang lahat ay ‘yon na ang susundin,” he added.

Lumis said that there are still pending measures that he has filed in the PB that concerns the IP community.

These are ordinance seeking a co-management arrangement with the province over tourist attractions located inside ancestral domains, and an ordinance prohibiting the use of non-authentic props and accessories in the performance of cultural dances in any public theatrical play depicting indigenous cultural communities (ICCs) in Palawan.