On March 17, 2026, the Center for Peace, Indigenous Peoples Resources and Development (CPIPRD) formally entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Maamot Indigenous Peoples (IP) Community at the Ancestral Domain Management Office (ADMO) in Brgy. Maamot, San Jose, Tarlac. Representing the IP community were Chieftain Pineda Grospe and Elder Dominador Capiendo. The signing was witnessed by Barangay Kagawad Alfred Alejo and Atty. Sharmaine Valenzuela, representing the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in accordance with the mandated guidelines for consent-based research.
The agreement forms part of CPIPRD's compliance with the NCIP's requirements for securing a Certification Precondition (CP), ensuring that the research is conducted with the free and informed consent of the Indigenous Cultural Community. The partnership will support a comprehensive study on the socio-economic, cultural, political, health, and nutritional conditions of the Ayta Abelling community, generating empirical data to inform policy development, community interventions, and the preparation of their ancestral domain claim.
Through this collaboration, CPIPRD and the Maamot IP Community reaffirm their shared commitment to protecting the rights, heritage, and welfare of the Ayta Abelling people. The research will adopt a participatory and culturally sensitive approach, documenting traditional knowledge, cultural practices, and community perspectives while identifying current challenges and opportunities for sustainable development.
Community leaders emphasized that the initiative goes beyond academic research, describing it as an important step toward preserving their identity, safeguarding their traditions, and strengthening their claim to their ancestral domain. By ensuring that community members actively participate throughout the research process, the project seeks to produce findings that genuinely reflect their needs, aspirations, and lived experiences.
The study is expected to generate evidence-based policy recommendations and sustainable community development strategies while providing valuable documentation to support the Ayta Abelling community's ancestral domain claim. Through this partnership, CPIPRD and the Maamot IP Community continue to advance inclusive research, Indigenous Peoples' rights, and community empowerment in Tarlac.
