Happy Hallow as ancestral domain as historical heritage proposed

The City Council, during last Monday’s regular session, approved on first reading a proposed ordinance creating the ancestral domain of happy Hallow barangay as a historical, heritage and ecological district and providing funds for its protection and development.

Under the proposed measure authored by Councilor Isabelo Cosalan, Jr, the Happy Hallow ancestral domain should be recognized in the list of national historical, heritage and ecological sites for conservation, protection and restoration.

Happy Hallow barangay is embraced by the original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. 0-CALT-58 containing an area of 146.4182 hectares more or less.

The ordinance stated that it will be a declared policy of the local government to recognize, protect and promote the culture and heritage of the indigenous peoples, the native Ibalois and Kankana-eys of the city, bestowing those opportunities for development under national policies.

Further, the proposed measure added that as a historical, heritage and ecological site, the ancestral domain of Happy Hallow shall be zoned as an ecological-heritage district in the city’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) and zoning ordinance.

The ordinance claimed that all activities inside the ecological-heritage district shall be by the ancestral domain sustainable development and protection plan (ADSDPP) of the domain, the permitted uses of the area, and the guidelines set by the National heritage Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) for such a particular site.

The ordinance tasked the City Planning and Development office and its unit designated for the indigenous peoples sector to oversee and monitor the implementation of the activities in the ecological-heritage district.

The ordinance proposed the creation of an inter-agency committee to aid the CPDO in the determination, formulation, implementation, and monitoring of appropriate programs for the enhancement and adaptation of the ecological-heritage district and it shall be composed of the city Mayor as the chairperson to be co-chaired by the city’s Indigenous Peoples mandatory Representative (IPMR) and the president of the Happy Hallow Indigenous Peoples Organization as the vice chairperson. Members of the said committee include the Happy Hallow punong barangay, Happy Hallow Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chairperson, representative from the Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development (DHSUD), representative from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), representative from the NHCP, representative from the Department of Tourism and representative from non-government organizations. The Secretariat shall be the personnel of the CPDO.

The ordinance stipulated that an amount of not less than P5 million shall be earmarked from the annual budget of the local government every year for the ecological-heritage district’s sustainable development and protection. – Dexter A. See