BISHOPS-BUSINESSMENS CONFERENCE FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

39th General Assembly & annual Meeting

July 13, 2015
Pope Pius XII Catholic center

Faith-Inspired Social Justice

For Inclusive Growth
Presenter: Fr. Valentin C. Dimoc
Bishop-elect, Apostolic Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe

I come from the Apostolic Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe, covering the territories of Ifugao
Province and Mountain Province in the Cordillera Region. I belong to the indigenous peoples
of Tuwali ethno-linguistic tribe in Ifugao Province.
I believe that inclusive growth makes us all benefit in terms of improving the quality of
our lives, materially and spiritually. When Investors and Indigenous Peoplessee and actually
treat each other as brothers and sisters in a business venture, improvement of life becomes
inclusive. Our efforts for integral human development and genuine social justice cannot
absolutely depend on what the civil lawsays, or what implementing rules and regulations
define, or what business agreement shows. Beyond the ordinary ways of doing business and
looking deeper to the cosmetics of socially acceptable normal business approach, there is
something in the realm of our Christian Faith which determines the means for inclusive growth.
Let me explain by starting with what I observed and what is actually happening in the ancestral
domains of indigenous peoples.
Business, particularly the Renewable Energy Developers (REDs), had started to take
advantage of the un-developed business consciousness of the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) and,
in effect, ignored their Indigenous Peoples Rights. The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA)
which is expected to correct historical injustice done to the IPs providesthat they have the right
to develop, control and use lands and territories traditionally occupied, owned, or used; to manage and
conserve natural resources within the territories and uphold the responsibilities for future generations; to
benefit and share the profits from allocation and utilization of the natural resources found therein;
the right to negotiate the terms and conditions for the exploration of natural resources in the areas for the
purpose of ensuring ecological, environmental protection and the conservation measures, pursuant to
national and customary laws; the right to an informed and intelligent participation in the formulation and
implementation of any project, government or private, that will affect or impact upon the ancestral
domains and to receive just and fair compensation for any damages which they may sustain as a result of
the project; and the right to effective measures by the government to prevent any interference with,
alienation and encroachment upon these rights (RA 8371, Chapter III, Section 7, letter b).
A businessman with MBA degree can fully understand what this means. But the existing
business consciousness of the IPsas owners of the natural resources (or natural capital) within
their ancestral domain due to their Native Title does not even come close to that kind of
business consciousness of the owner of cash and technology capital. This imbalance of
business consciousness can lead to social injustice and impossible realization of human
development among the IPs.
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Social Injustice is enshrined in a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) I saw from the

record of the NCIP which states that the share of the indigenous community is half centavo
per kilowatt hour. In effect, for every PhP 5.90 gross revenue per kilowatt hour by the REDs,
only PhP 0.005 is shared to the community of IPs, who own the natural capital. Even with the
legally and socially acceptable cosmetics of the MOA cannot hide the obvious imbalance of
such socio-economic relationship.
Is this socio-economic relationship of REDs with the IPsreflective of our theme today?
How can Inclusive Growth be attained when the IP community obviously cannot attain Human
Development like tertiary education for their children with just half centavo per kilowatt hour?
It is a growth for Business but not for the Human Development of the Indigenous People.
Trying to look good by having Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects is not enough
and even deceiving. The kind of CSR that is needed by the IPs is for Business to translate the
IP Rights into a socio-economic relationship of partnership that provides what other Filipinos
need for socio-economic development rather than be treated merely as beneficiary of REDs.
How can Business expect the IPs to stand on their own and assert their IP Rights in the
urban world of business? Using the CSR to attract and make them sign a MOA that legally
imprisonsthem to half centavo per kilowatt hour is something they are not prepared to deal
with. Even government or NCIP was not able to prepare them to understand the socioeconomic value of their natural resources in the world of Renewable Energy Business. This is
the source of social injustice.
This kind of social injustice leads to the impossibility of attaining human development
through tertiary education for the children of IPs in whose ancestral domains REDs are
operating. IPs in my home province are happy when they are capable of sending their children
to tertiary education. Their life is dependent on the environment. But poverty which is more
defined as their incapacity to send their children to tertiary education is driving them to expand
agricultural activities even in critical watershed areas. They know that tertiary education is the
way out of poverty for the next generation, as what they experienced and observed since the
coming of CICM and ICM Religious Missionaries at the beginning of the 20 th century. They
have inkling that being schooled professional and possessing appropriate skills to succeed are
the key to avoid converting cloud forest into kaingin or vegetable gardens.
Two simple examples might be helpful to understand this development perspective of
the IPs. The skills of IPs in Barangay Bayyo (municipality of Bontoc) are related to the
transport industry. They can assemble jeepneys and mini-buses, repair vehicles, and operate
or drive passenger jeeps. Where are they now? It is estimated that 70% of their Barangay
population are doing well and permanently settled in the urban jungles of Baguio City and
Quezon City (Kamuning). According to a community leader in Barangay Bayyo, they do not
have any unemployment problem in the community. In fact, they are now facing a current
problem of fewer people working in the rice fields. But their cloud forest is preserved and they
have overflowing crystal clear water exiting to the Chico River.
A second example is the IPs in the municipality of Sadanga: their specialization is stone
works (outdoor stonewalling or crazy cut indoor stone art-work). Where are the river stonework experts now? They are stone-work contractors of real estate developers in many parts of
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the country. But in other municipalities, the IPs have no other alternatives but to continue
clearing forests and using their vegetable gardening skills to survive and send their children to
school.
The existing syndicated or manipulated or inefficient vegetable industry that exists in the
mountains renders a one-hectare vegetable garden insufficient to sustain decently a family of
five members. The unjust socio-economic relationship between the vegetable traders and the
vegetable farmers gives pressure to IP families to clear their remaining ancestral forest and to
expand their vegetable gardens. Being aware of the end-sources of water in my two provinces
and the map of creeks and rivers in the Ifugao Atlas of Dr. Harold Conklin, it is easy to
conclude that the cloud forest watershed has to be preserved. The boundary of the two
provinces is the watershed cradle of the Chico River, Siffu River, Alimit River, and Ibulao River.
If Business people see the water resources in the ancestral domains of the IP
communities as a means to sustain economic growth in the urban areas which are highly
dependent on renewable energy, then there is a need to develop the human resources of the
IPs through tertiary education scholarships. This is the common good. This is inclusive growth.
This can happen if only REDs see the IPs as their partners of development and not
beneficiaries of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)projects only. We cannot wait for one or
two decades to help them develop their business consciousness so that they can assert their
IP Rights and demand what is due to them in the context of Renewable Energy Development.
If we wait that long, the critical watershed areas along the boundary of Ifugao Province and
Mountain Province would be reduced further and what you will rather see is agricultural land.
Even DENR, PNP or LGUs are helpless now (and in the past) to deal with this environmental
issue.
In this life-situation of IPs, CSR has to evolve and Business is challenged to take the
road less travelled and voluntarily share MORE than what is cosmetically acceptable business
practice. This is social justice. Why? Because we all know that IPs cannot effectively lobby for
the legislators to specify a just percentage share from the gross income of REDs. The lobby of
Business is certainly powerful than that of the IPs. As a proof, there is a law that specifies tax
holidays for seven years and tax exemption for imported equipment. How about benefits for
IPs who preserved their watershed within their ancestral domains? Surely, they have less in
law for they are politically powerless. Their power is in God who will demand social justice in
the hearts of Christian Businesspeople.
For me and my fellow Christian IPs who celebrate the Year of the Poor, we know that
the liberating God who communicated with Prophet Micah is the same loving and merciful God
revealed in the life and teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Book of the Prophet Micah,
the different sectors denounced for correction by God because of their unjust acts and
uninspired teachings were the prophets, the priests, the rulers, the officials or influential
people, the judges, and the business people. But God offers us a formula for inclusive growth
in Micah 6:8 You have been told, O man, what is good and what Yahweh requires of you:to
do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Walking humbly with God and

following his divine will leads us to be members of Gods Family (Mark 3:35), and this livedthrough identity opens our hearts to love the IPs as our brothers and sisters. Our Lord Jesus
Christ showed us what love is and he exhorts us when he said, This is my commandment:
Love one another as I have loved you! (John 15:12). This kind of communion with Jesus
Christ and with our IP brothers and sisters will surely redefine and make more meaningful the
practice of social justice in the context of development of renewable energy sources within
ancestral domains.
Our Lord Jesus Christ constantly reminds us of what is essential so as not to forget
when we talk of socio-economic inclusive growth, I am the vine and you are the branches. As
long as you remain in me and I in you, you bear much fruit; but apart from me you can do
nothing (John 15:5). As business people, the Lord Jesus wants you to be joyful, not the kind of
happiness that the world can give and leave your life meaningless but the liberating, diffusive
and lasting joy that comes from our Savior Jesus Christ (John 15:11; 16:24; 17:13).
An example of a joyful and transforming encounter with the Lord Jesus is that
experience of a tax collector and wealthy man, Zaccheus (Luke 19:1-10). I am looking forward
for businesspeople to encounter the Lord Jesus and see what concrete response they can do
for their IP brothers and sisters whose God-given resources are being eyed for the common
good.
There are three challenges that I would like to present for discussion:
1. The IPs need their just share (not token share) from the Renewable Energy
Developers so that they can be able to send their children to tertiary education. This will
lessen the pressure from converting their critical watershed into agricultural lands.
2. The IPs need direct outlet for their vegetable products so that they can avoid the trap
of unjust trading relationships, and consequently find sufficiency in the existing
vegetable gardens that they cultivate. The fulfillment of this trading need of vegetable
farmers will reduce the pressure to expand their vegetable gardens due to survival
reasons. The pressure would be reduced to very minimal.
3. The IPs need Food Processing Centers so that they can be able to access BFAD
certification for their processed fruit products from the forest (passion fruit puree,
tamarillo jam, dagwey prunes, coffee, etc.) and other processed food products from
agricultural or farm lands (ube jam, patopat,muscovado, spices, smoked meat, etc.).
Part of this is their need for prominent products display areas so that they can make
their food products available to tourists and consumers.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, may we not lose sight of Jesus Christ, the Good
Shepherd who leads us to fullness of life in this world (John 10:10) and to eternal life in the
next (John 3:16). God bless you all and your family members with well-being and protection.
Amen.
THANK YOU!
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