Indigenous People in the Philippines: the Struggle for Human Rights
In the 2015 population census, the country's Indigenous population is projected to constitute between 10% and 20% of the national population of 100,981,437.
Indigenous communities in the northern highlands of Luzon (Cordillera) have been identified as Ifugao, Bontoc, Kankanay, Ibaloi, Kalinga, Tinguian, Isneg, Gaddang, Ilongot and Negrito, whereas those in the southern island of Mindanao are known as Lumad which includes Ata, Bagobo, Guiangga, Mamanwa, Magguangan, Mandaya, Banwa-on, Bukidnon, Dulangan, Kalagan, Kulaman, Manobo, Subanon, Tagabili, Takakaolo, Talandig, and Tiruray or Teduray. On the island of Mindoro, there are smaller communities known as Mangyan, along with other, scattered tribes across the Visayas islands and Luzon.
These tribes have a wide range of social organization and cultural expression. Some folks specialize in craftsmanship, basketry, and weaving. Others are quite well in embroidery and needlework. They vary from the Bontoc and Ifugaos, who created the famous rice terraces in Luzon's mountainous interior, to indigenous people who practice shifting farming or hunter-gathering.
The Philippines' indigenous people reside in remote places with little access to basic social services and few possibilities for conventional economic activity, learning, or public involvement. They preserved most of their pre-colonial culture, social systems, and subsistence traditions. Profitably significant natural resources such as minerals, forests, and rivers, on the other hand, are concentrated in their locations, rendering them subject to development aggressiveness and expansionism.
Indigenous People Rights Act also know as Republic Act 8371
The legislation has been praised for protecting Indigenous Peoples' preservation, right to their territories, and right to self-directed development. Apart from basic criticism of the law, more thorough execution of the law is still required. The Philippines supported the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), although it has failed to ratify ILO Convention 169.
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1997/10/29/republic-act-no-8371/
Government Projects violating Indigenous People’s Human Rights
Under President Rodrigo Duterte's administration, the position of indigenous peoples in the Philippines is deteriorating. With numerous mining, energy, including other "development" projects infringing on Indigenous lands, development aggression has increased. Social justice abuses are also on the rise, with Indigenous protesters comprise the majority of the victims.
image from asia.nikkei.com
In 2018, the Duterte administration has negotiated plenty of loan agreements with China for the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project and the Kaliwa Dam Project. These initiatives affect at least 3,765 Indigenous people in the Cordillera and Calabarzon areas. The funding agreements for these projects were not revealed to the public, and when leaked versions were made public in 2019, it sparked outrage.
image from Int'l indigenous people movement official twitter account
Read also: Cordillera Peoples Alliance, “Chico River Pump Irrigation Project loan agreement, a sell-out of ancestral land Philippine sovereignty https://www.cpaphils.org/crpip.html
Also, the New Clark City China-backed project of Duterte administration has completely ignored Indigenous Peoples' rights. The state-of-the-art sports complex that was utilized for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, displaced about 27,500 Aeta Indigenous people which threatened to displace 500 Aeta households.
image from Carlo Manalansan | Bulatlat Journalism for People
look: Macaraeg, John Aaron Mark “SEA Games 2019 displaces Aeta communities”. Bulatlat, 8 December 2019 https://www.bulatlat.com/2019/12/08/sea-games-2019-displaces-aeta/?fbclid=IwAR2e-WStKZGwL_g2nfwHANMV52dB_pNXpuTmv38jmVFowV96FUkiot3hfMc
In addition, the most recent agreement between Duterte and the Chinese government is the proposed 250-megawatt South Pulangi Hydroelectric Power Plant (PHPP) project, which would also inundate 2,833 hectares of Indigenous lands in towns near Davao City.
read: Philippine company signed a contract with the state-owned China Energy Engineering Co Ltd, to build a $800m dam in Pulangi despite Indigenous people's objections [Nick Aspinwall / Al Jazeera]
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/1/19/china-backed-dam-threatens-indigenous-people-in-the-philippines
Indigenous peoples continue to be threatened by large-scale mining. The Aywanan Mining and Environment Network established in August 2019 by Cordillera Indigenous Peoples in objection to the Cordillera Exploration Company, Inc.'s (CEXCI) mining operations.
The Lumad Indigenous Peoples of Mindanao keep fighting to at least three government-approved mining tenements in the Pantaron mountain chain, which crosses the provinces of Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, Agusan del Norte, and Agusan del Sur.
Read: Cagula, Ken E. “Lumad, peasant groups unite to defend Pantaron Rang”. Davao Today, 22 April 2019 :http://davaotoday.com/main/environment/lumad-peasant-groups-unite-to-defend-pantaron-range/
Attacks against indigenous peoples' organizations and human rights advocates
The Task Forces to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict formed by Duterte administration has intensified operations against Indigenous Peoples. The attacks are intended to suppress Indigenous Peoples' opposition to development aggression and government policies which abuse their rights, thereby marginalizing Indigenous people in the country.
Image from NIÑA DIÑO | Rappler.com
The Department of Education ordered the closure of 55 Lumad schools displacing 3,500 students and more than 30 teachers. The closure order was based on the government's baseless claims that the Salugpongan schools were teaching children to rebel. The Lumad Indigenous Peoples decried this injustice, which only deprives Lumad children of their right to education.
Photo credits from Save Our Schools Network
"The dangerous labelling of Indigenous Peoples’ organisations and human rights defenders as communist terrorist groups and members make them vulnerable to various forms of human rights violations. As of August 2019, eighty-six Indigenous people have fallen victim of extrajudicial killings (at least nine victims in 2019), 66 Indigenous people were victims of frustrated extrajudicial killings (at least eight victims in 2019), 36 are political prisoners, and 31,004 were victims of forced evacuation since Duterte assumed the presidency in July 2016.30 Many of the victims were opposing development aggression, human rights violations and the policies of the government that violate Indigenous Peoples’ rights." - rappler.com
Indigenous people and human rights defenders from various Indigenous organizations are looking forward to the UN probe into the country's human rights situation. They gathered for a national consultation workshop on Indigenous Peoples' issues in preparation for the UN probe and other international engagements.
'This is a clear injustice faced by the 3,500 students and more than 30 teachers of the schools,' says Bayan Muna Representative Eufemia Cul
The Philippines has been declared the world’s deadliest country for environmental defenders after a United Kingdom-based watchdog recorded
