MANILA — Police on Thursday arrested Jorgeto Santisas, alias Datu Adlaw, the leader of an unregistered indigenous peoples (IP) group involved in the padlocking of business establishments in Surigao del Norte.

In a media readout, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said Datu Adlaw was among the 30 individuals apprehended during the service of an arrest warrant for the crime of usurpation of authority at Purok 5 in Barangay Sabang, Surigao City.

Additional support, benefits mapped out for elderly indigenous people

Lourdes Infante, another group leader, was also arrested while nine children were taken into custody.

Santisas and Infante lead the Federal Tribal Government of the Philippines (FTGP), an organization labeled as illegitimate by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in Caraga and that has faced complaints of disrupting the lives of residents of Surigao City.

In late January, the FTGP padlocked two business establishments in the city and set up a checkpoint on the highway near their office in Barangay Sabang. 

More than half of Indigenous Peoples see themselves as 'poor', says the World Bank

The group claims ownership of lands in Surigao City and the entire Caraga region, asserting that these areas are part of their ancestral domain.

The NCIP is the government's policy-making body for indigenous peoples and communities and issues Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles to recognized IP communities.

The Surigao City court has recommended a P30,000 bond for each accused.