"Life! If life is threatened, what should we do? RESIST! This we must do, otherwise, we are dishonored and that is worse than death. If we do not fight, we die anyway. If we fight, we die honorably... and our children may win and keep this land. And the land shall become even more precious when nourished by our sweat and blood."-Macliing Dulag

Today the world marks the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The occasion acquires a somber tone with the knowledge that there is very little to celebrate. Decades after Macliing Dulag became a household name, very little has changed for the indigenous peoples of the Philippines .

The plight of our indigenous peoples remains an issue discussed in the margins of public discourse, if at all. The passage of the landmark RA 8731 or Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) in 1997, has done little to address the inequities that have kept the indigenous peoples invisible. They remain largely missing from the nation’s development goals, absent from crucial decision-making which decides their fate and trades off their future for the modern day equivalent of thirty pieces of silver.

In her recent address to Congress, Mrs. Arroyo ticked off numerous "pro-poor" policies and achievements, but did not even address the state of indigenous peoples, the poorest of the poor. Once again, the plight of indigenous peoples was reduced to data on distribution of Certificates of Ancestral Domains Titles or CADTs. As expected, Arroyo lumped ancestral domains under agrarian reform, ignoring the fundamental difference between land distributed under a program of “land for the landless” and ancestral lands which have belonged to the IPs for generations.

The Arroyo government's current mining policies emphasize questionable economic benefits over social costs. Sadly, it is the IPs who have been paying most of this cost with little benefit to show for it. In contrast, foreign companies and their local cohorts reap windfalls of profit even as they do irreparable damage to the land on which the IPs depend for their survival. Even Mrs. Arroyo's exhortation to the mining companies to ensure "substantial benefits" for communities hosting mining operations while ensuring "no environmental damage" rings hollow. The Mining Act of 1995 and her own administration's pro-mining  policies militate against this.

The issuance of Executive Order 726, transferring the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is a clear indication of where this government's priorities lie. The move is perceived, not without cause, to be intended more to facilitate the entry of mining companies into the IP's ancestral lands than to strengthen the NCIP. This has prompted lumad leaders to declare, "We are neither  flora nor fauna to be managed and conserved by the DENR!" The indigenous peoples are also weary of the move because the current head of the environment department, whose only claim to environmentalism is his penchant for wearing floral shirts, is a known administration yes-man. It doesn’t take much imagination to come to the conclusion that in conflicts between mining interests and indigenous communities, he will toe the government’s pro-mining line.

And now, as if to add insult to injury, government appears keen on handing over control of vast parts of Mindanao , including lumad ancestral domains to the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity, despite the fact that the indigenous peoples were never allowed to participate in the talks which preceded its creation. Even now, the legitimate claims of indigenous peoples to their ancestral domain are only being discussed as a sidebar to the protests coming from predominantly Christian areas of Mindanao against their inclusion in the BJE. And yet, the contentious issue of ancestral domains, involves the indigenous peoples more than the Christian settlers. They, more than anyone, have the right to demand consultation. Even here, the principle of free prior and informed consent should apply.

In their oral traditions, the indigenous peoples still recall their proud heritage, when the land was theirs and it provided for all their needs. They will tell you they are poorer now. Decades of discrimination and continuing government neglect has resulted in pervasive hunger and poverty. They can no longer afford the prices of basic commodities especially rice. The entry of plantations, timber license agreements and mining has meant the loss of their sustainable livelihood practices. They are now forced to buy the same things that used to grow in their backyards.Despite glittering promises of large profits from government supported “development projects”, what they have now are large debts, and no more land.

And so, this is how today’s celebration of the International Day for the World’s Indigenous Peoples will find the Philippines ’ indigenous peoples, disenfranchised, invisible, deprived of the right to self-determination, poor and hungry.  It is as sad an indictment of our government, our society, as anything the indigenous peoples can give.

Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center
Kasama sa Kalikasan
(LRC/KsK/Friends of the Earth-Philippines)