The Chinese government has been occupying the reefs and shoals in the West Philippine Sea despite a 2016 arbitral ruling that favored the Philippines’ claim over them. Now one of China’s telecommunication companies is allegedly violating the ancestral domain rights of the  Indigenous Peoples’ (IP) community in the Cordillera region.

Recently, Regional Director Atty. Marlon Bosantog of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples-Cordillera Administrative Region (NCIP-CAR) issued a show cause order to the soon-to-be-launched Dito Telco to explain why it is reportedly laying fiber optics in various ancestral domains in Benguet without securing Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) from the IP community  in the area. 

According to the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act, Indigenous communities have the right to FPIC, which serves as a way for them to grant consent to a project that may affect their ancestral land. This is recognized in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). With this law in place, entities can’t just dig around and build infrastructure in ancestral lands without prior consent from IP communities.

According to NCIP-CAR, Dito Telco also did not provide “just and fair compensation for any damages which (it) may sustain as a result of the project.” Following the issuance of the order, Dito Telco has 15 days to respond and give a valid reason for its actions to determine whether it would be held liable for violating the law.

The company also has a pending application for a telecommunication tower to be constructed in La Trinidad, Benguet. 

P.S. This is not an isolated case

Aside from the NCIP-CAR’s show cause order, Malabon’s local government unit (LGU) has also filed charges against Dito Telco for allegedly constructing cell sites in the area without securing a permit—a violation of the National Building Code of the Philippines. 

According to the city engineer, the LGU has been issuing violation notices to the company but had been ignored thrice. The company also faced complaints from authorities in Cebu after causing traffic when it excavated the highway to install fiber optic cables.

What is Dito Telco?

In case you missed it, Dito Telco is set to be “the third major telecommunications provider in the Philippines” after Globe and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT Co.) It was granted a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity by the National Telecommunications Commission in July 2019. The company is owned as a consortium by Davao-based businessman Dennis A. Uy and state-run China Telecom, and holds a congressional franchise via Mindanao Islamic Telephone Co.

It is set to be launched commercially in March, but is still undergoing its first mandated technical audit. The audit will determine whether or not Dito can provide internet connection to at least 37 percent of the country’s population, with a minimum average speed of 27 megabits per second.