Kami, mga delegado at taguyod ng Pambansang Pagtitipon ng 2026 State of Indigenous Peoples Address (SIPA), nagmumula sa labing-siyam (19) na tribu—Taboli Manobo, Dulangan Menubo, T’boli-Ubo, Blaan, Tëdurày, Lambangian, Manobo, Subanon, Erumanen ne Menuvu (vansa Kirinteken, Ilentungen, Sinemburanen, at Livunganen), Balatoc, Bontok, Ibaloy, Tuwali, Gaddang, Palaw’an, Tagbanwa, Ayta, Balangao-Lias, at Kankanaey —mula sa iba’t-ibang bahagi ng Pilipinas, kumakatawan sa mga Tradisy

(Quezon City, 05 August 2026) – Indigenous leaders and advocates hailing from 19 different tribes across the Philippines came together in a day of rituals and other culture-based actions to register their opposition to the new Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) Guidelines announced by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), warning that undermining the FPIC process clears the path for big, exploitative businesses to encroach on ancestral lands, forests, bi

(Quezon City—July 27, 2026) Legal, policy and advocacy group Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC) warned that the latest pronouncements of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. in his fifth State of the Nation Address is pointing to a dirty energy and mining boom anchored on a resurgence of fossil fuel development and expansion of critical minerals demand. “Pres. Marcos Jr. 's declared pursuit of massive petroleum contracts, over 200 energy projects, a nuclear

(QUEZON CITY–July 23, 2026) Legal, policy, and advocacy institution Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC) warned that the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) impending new guidelines on Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) posed an ‘existential threat’ to the ancestral domains and rights of Indigenous Peoples through its dangerous provisions on shortened processes and diminished agencies. “The numerous draft iterations of the new FPIC Guidelines an

In Kalinga, a mountainous province in the North of the Philippines, an indigenous culture of resistance has safeguarded critical naturescapes since time immemorial. Covered by the 265,487-hectare North Central Cordillera biodiversity corridor, Kalinga’s landscapes are home to at least 319 floral and 150 faunal species, and headwaters to a broader watershed area that nurture pine, tropical, and mossy forests and irrigate heritage rice terraces and other agricultural lands. At

On World Environment Day, communities around the world continue to resist, adapt, and innovate in the face of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. The Philippines stands as a striking example of all three. At the same time, the country is taking up the burden to accommodate various proposed solutions—large-scale renewable energy farms, forest carbon projects, and mining for energy transition minerals. At this critical moment, the C

(Koronadal, South Cotabato, May 15, 2026) With environmental impact reports on the controversial Tampakan Copper-Gold Project being withheld from the public, scientists, communities, civil society, and public officials gathered last May 13 to confront the interconnected ecological risks posed by the mine’s continued development. The project straddles the quadri-boundary of the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and Davao del Sur. “Frontline communities an

Trade, as one of humanity’s oldest and most defining social activities (Curtin, 1984; Frank & Gills, 1993), has shaped and been shaped by power. Today, the global trading system is at a pivotal point. What we are witnessing is not a simple shift, but an active reconstruction, driven by state and corporate powers as they grapple with the converging crises of climate, supply chains, and geopolitical tension. The emerging strategy of “friendshoring” is presented as a pragmatic,

At least 51 percent of the total land area of titled indigenous territories are entangled in fossil fuels, mining, infrastructure, and agribusiness projects, threatening indigenous lives. These struggles weigh heavily on the minds of the next generation of leaders who will protect their land and way of life. This could not be more true in South Cotabato, where one community is staring down a coal mining project as they are trying to resolve a decades-long conflict with a coff

Catingas River, Sibuyan. Credit: Matthias Dans/LRC. By Matthias Dans Sibuyan Island is a sanctuary of vital watersheds and endemic biodiversity, globally renowned as the "Galapagos of Asia". But today, this fragile ecosystem faces an existential threat from the mining exploration activities of Altai Philippines Mining Corporation (APMC). For three years, the people of Sibuyan have bravely held the line through community barricades and legal petitions. Sibuyanons sought refuge