If you wonder why inland resorts and private rest houses are mushrooming in Marilog District, don’t be surprised. It’s pure economics.
More and more holders of ancestral domain properties are selling their lands. It’s simple, people need money. These people cannot just hang on to lands that they cannot convert into livelihood or cash. To develop them, they need money. To continue farming, they wouldn’t survive either.
So the easiest way to convert land to cash is to sell them, albeit unlawful.
Recently, Datu Rody Mande, Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) of the City Council, sounded out his frustration over the rampant illegal buying and selling of ancestral domains in Marilog District which has displaced several lumads in the area. Mande has urged the tribal leaders not to deal with buyers to eradicate the issue of selling ancestral domains.
Similarly, Councilor Al Ryan Alejandre has been raising the concern of establishments sprouting in Marilog and operating without a valid license since 2018. The councilor has pointed out that not only do these establishments operate without government permits and the required prior consent from the National Commission on Indigenous People’s (NCIP), they are also situated in landslide-prone areas considered as danger zone.
While Marilog District is positioned as an emerging tourist destination in Davao City, people need to realize that there are limitations. Not all areas in Marilog are meant to be tourist or economic area. There also exists no-build zones.
Regional Director Tanya Rabat-Tan of the Department of Tourism 11 (DOT 11) has been constantly reminding would-be buyers in Marilog.
While it is very tempting to buy a Marilog property and develop it for economic activity, there is still the caveat that laws on property as well as those of the environment provide the limitations necessary to protect lands falling under ancestral domain.
