Lumad youth discover their power as mining, fossil fuel projects loom

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 coffee plantation. Both big-ticket projects have ties to powerful family-owned conglomerates. More mining projects will encroach on indigenous lands, including those that await titles from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples. Transition minerals will be needed to produce renewable energy technologies such as electronic vehicle batteries and solar panels.

In February, the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC) mounted a youth camp for Lumad youth, to equip them with leadership skills and knowledge of so-called development projects that are sometimes no more than a ruse for forest grabbing. Indigenous territories comprise the country’s last ecological frontiers, nurturing ecosystem services such as water and carbon sequestration. But for many corporations, nature is only a source of profit, and environmental conservation and indigenous rights are simply not a priority.

Some twenty-five youth from the Dulangan Manobo, Blaan, and T’boli indigenous peoples participated in the youth camp, held on a weekend. The youth themselves have requested for this training, given the manifold threats that face their communities.

The first day saw the youth learn about inclusive leadership, which is centered on sharing power rather than exercising authority. Sharing power creates space for others, allowing for ideas to flourish and for trust to build. The participants learned about the power of speaking up and practicing accountability, and their deeply ingrained belief in the importance of community was reinforced.

Youth leaders from the Teduray and Lambangian indigenous peoples travelled from faraway Maguindanao to impart their experiences. Designed as a peer-to-peer learning session, this session showed participants that youth leadership is possible. One youth leader shared how being a member of the LGBTQI community had its own share of challenges—and opportunities for empowerment.

In the afternoon, they learned about advocacy tools, and how influencing others is not coercive but is rooted in persuasion and cooperation. The participants were given real-life scenarios to identify advocacy characteristics.

On the second day, the participants learned more about relevant mining and energy laws that should ground their access to justice. Principles of just energy transition (or the shift to renewables that honors the different dimensions of justice) and the proposed Alternative Minerals Management Bill (AMMB) were imparted. The AMMB is a comprehensive framework for managing the country’s finite minerals resources. (Learn more about the AMMB and sign our petition here.)

In the afternoon, friends from MakeSense Asia gave a storytelling workshop. In a powerful exercise, facilitators asked the participants to write an anonymous letter to an imaginary friend about their present-day struggles. When asked how it felt knowing that their letters would never be read, the participants overwhelmingly shared a sense of kabug-aton, the Binisaya word for heaviness. This exercise illustrated to the participants the importance of telling stories—and making these stories heard.

This session also asked participants to identify their struggles and the best communication medium to convey the these. One called their story “Hikbi ng Kalikasan,” (The Cry of Nature), using poetry to give voice to the suffering of nature. Another presented “Lupang Hinarang para sa Sakahan”, about indigenous agricultural land threatened by mining. The last group proposed the restoration of forests as a story, using community assembly as a starting point for organizing.

The two-day activity ended with reflections from representatives from the different clans. A youth leader from the T’boli-Manobo indigenous people shared that leaders should serve as ilaw or light to their community. A youth leader helps peers navigate complex challenges and create the necessary actions to protect their ancestral lands. A leader provides clarity and enlightenment regarding their rights as Lumad.

Indigenous youth live in areas under siege from extractive projects, which disturb the earth that sustains indigenous lives and animates their beliefs. Compared to mega fossil or mining corporations, indigenous peoples have nothing more than their indomitable spirit to fight for their rights. As indigenous youth discover their voice, may their pleas not fall on deaf ears.