“Our peoples were the original inhabitants of this land. We were here long before the Philippines came into existence. But through force or deception we were incorporated into  this nation.”said Datu Vic Saway, one of the Talaandig delgates to the third State of the Indigenous Peoples Address (SIPA).

The IP participants say their assimilation  into the Filipino “nation” has brought nothing but trouble for their peoples. The country’s indigenous communities have lost most of their land and have been subjected to centuries of abuse. Where they once ruled, they are now marginalized and discriminated against.

“Our  incorporation into this political system has only brought the entry of destructive development projects such as mining, logging and plantations. Some of us have also suffered displacement and forced evacuation from wars that we were not even party to,”Peter Duyapat, an Ifugao representative from Nueva Vizcaya said.

“We listened intently as the new president gave his State of the Nation Address. But as with past leaders, it seems his concept of nation does not include us. As with previous presidents we barely deserved mention in his speech. And while we appreciate his statement that we will be part of any negotiation regarding peace in Mindanao, we are concerned at the direction he seems to be taking with respect to economic policy is to adopt the same old formulas that have already proven inadequate” said Nilda Mangilay, a Subanen of Zamboanga del Sur.

The IP leaders analyzed the SONA and agreed that it failed to address some of the most basic aspirations of their sector such as recognition of their right to self-determination and reversal of policies that have undermined their culture and their very existence.

“We will push even harder for the recognition of our customary laws, equal status in the Mindanao peace negotiations, recognition of our right to greater self-governance, genuine implementation of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act., accountability of the NCIP. And we will strengthen our ranks and push our collective agenda together as a unified IP movement,”stated Quintol Labuayan, a B’laan of Sultan Kudarat..

“We will not wait for government to act on our demands. We have not forgotten our sad experiences in the past, when our demands were ignored and our rights systematically curtailed and undermined by governments which served only the interests of the rich and powerful, such as big business and foreign investors.” said Cristina Batiel Moyaen, a Kankaney from Apayao”and so we commit ourselves to pursue our common agenda as indigenous peoples through the SIPA.”

The IP participants noted that the SONA demonstrated a marked absence of the issues and concerns confronted by the IP communities, such as the issuance of Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles (CADTs), the lack of an environmental and natural resource agenda and the continuing violations of IP rights even within their ancestral domain.

Fidel Malasugui, a B’laan from Polomolok, South Cotabato lamented that the president’s SONA made no mention of the increasing incidences of militarization in ancestral domains. “Our community is under constant threat from military units and private armies formed by corporations to guard their investments. We had hoped that the President would help us put an end to this problem.”

Throughout the speech, IP communities were only mentioned once- with regard to the peace and order situation in Mindanao, and the need to consult the Lumad tribes, as well as the Muslim and Christian populace affected.

The indigenous peoples leaders were even alarmed and expressed concern with the President’s pronouncements on business and investments, specially on facilitating
“Public-Private partnerships,” and the streamlining of application processes for investors and businessmen. “This could make things even easier for the mining companies who seek to enter and operate in our territories,” said Cristina Batiel Moyaen, a Kankaney from Apayao.

“What is alarming is P-Noy’s statement regarding his economic strategy, his focus on ‘public-private partnerships’ seems to ignore the long history of plunder of our natural resources and IP ancestral domains, and the long list of human rights violations against local communities brought about by investments and projects by foreign companies. Even his call for streamlining processes undermines the stringent environmental and social safeguards in place.”, said Judy Pasimio, Executive Director of the IP support group Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC-KsK/FoE Philippines). “To be able to effect real changes, he has to learn from the past as well as the present. P-Noy has to prove he is fundamentally different from Arroyo, he has to start challenging the development framework which relies heavily on foreign investments at the expense of our environment, the sustainability of our natural resources, and the survival of local communities” Pasimio added.

Miriam Azurin, from the Foundation for a Sustainable Society, Inc. (FSSI) pointed out that “Ultimately, this SONA was more of the same, President Aquino’s framework is no different from those forwarded by the administrations before him, even his anti corruption drive has long been espoused by the World Bank. His solutions-the increase of foreign investments and privatization of services as means to augment the budget have already proven woefully inadequate. Without an understanding of the root of the country’s problems, the reasons why people take up arms, there will be no genuine solutions.”

Realizing the huge gap between their perspectives and those of the people in positions of power, the IP leaders attending the SIPA vowed to forge ahead in their efforts to build greater IP unity and to form a common agenda as an assertion of their right to self-determination.

Dubbed as the State of the Indigenous Peoples Address (SIPA ’10 kicked off yesterday at the Hall of Peace, Sungco, Lantapan town, here in Bukidnon. The opening coincides with the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III.

“With a new president at the helm, the IP leaders feel this year’s SIPA is also a good opportunity to draft plans of action to address our issues and concerns and forge a collective IP Agenda for the new administration,” Gonotan Edwin Ending, a Subanen from Zamboanga Peninsula said in vernacular.

In 2008, SIPA first started out as a gathering of IP leaders to discuss common issues hounding the sector particularly their struggle for the right to self-determination. After the three-day activity, the first and second SIPA (2008 and 2009) presented the real state of the IP communities which was conspicuously omitted in then President and now Pampanga 1st District Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s SONAs.

“This year, the IP leaders—through a series of workshops—will forge an IP Agenda for immediate executive and legislative action,” Rovik S. Obanil, communications and networking officer of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC-KsK)—a policy advocacy non-government organization, facilitating the SIPA since it started, said.

He added SIPA ’10 also aims to reach a collective platform for IPs to advocate for their rights, as well as a guide for support groups in their services and interventions for the sector.

On July 29, a press conference, to be held in Cagayan de Oro City, will be called for the official public presentation of this year’s SIPA—the IP Agenda.

Tayo ay nagtipon-tipon muli ngayong araw na ito para sa ating taunang SIPA o State of Indigenous Peoples Address.

Kung ating babalikan, ang SIPA ay inumpisahan noong 2008.  Karamihan sa inyo ay naroon noon sa Toril, Davao.  Ang SIPA ay nag-umpisa bilang reaksyon sa mga pahayag ng dating pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sa kanyang SONA o State of the Nation Address.  Taon-taon, pawang di makatotohanan ang isinasalarawan ni Arroyo ang kalagayan ng mga Pilipino, lalo’t higit ng mga mahihirap, na karamihan ay nasa kanayunan, at kabilang dito ang mga katutubong Pilipino. Pawang kasinungalingan ang mga pahayag ni Arroyo tungkol sa kanyang mga natupad na mga pangako para sa mga batayang sektor, kabilang na ang mga katutubo. Kung ano-anong bilang ang lumalabas na diumano’y nagsasaad ng kaunlaran at pag-angat sa kahirapan ng mga mamamayan. Kaya naman inorganisa ang SIPA – para magkaron ng pagkakataon na pabulaanan ang mga kasinungalingan ni Arroyo; para bigyan ng totoong mukha at hugis ang kalagayan ng mga katutubong Pilipino. Nilayon din ng SIPA na bigyan ng mas organisado at mas malakas na boses ang mga panawagan ng mga katutubo.

Noong 2009, ang ating SIPA ay naging maigting sa paniningil sa pamahalaang Arroyo – sa walang habas na pang-aagaw ng mga lupaing katutubo, sa paggamit ng dahas laban sa mga komunidad na lumalaban para sa kanilang karapatan, at sa patuloy na diskriminasyon ng pamahalaan sa mga katutubo kung kaya’t patuloy ang kanilang kahirapan.

Ngayong 2010, tayo ay nasa ikatlo na ng ating taunang SIPA.

Ngunit ang SIPA sa taong ito ay una rin sa ilang bagay.

Ang SIPA na ito ay unang pagkakataon na national o pinagsamang mga katutubo sa Mindanao at Luzon.  Noong 2008, ang mahigit na isang daang katutubo noon ay mga Lumad ng Mindanao. Noong 2009, nagkaroon ng dalawang sabay na SIPA – ang isa sa Cagayan de Oro para sa mga IP communities sa Mindanao, at sa Quezon City para naman sa Luzon.  Para sa ngayong taong SIPA, dito sa Lantapan, Bukidnon, sinikap namin sa LRC na imbitahan ang mga IP communities mula sa Mindanao at Luzon para magkasama-sama at makabuo ng mas may pambansang karakter ang ating SIPA ngayong taon.

Ang isa pang una para sa SIPA na ito ay di na natin tatapatan ang SONA ni Arroyo.  Wala na si Arroyo!  Ibig sabihin malaking tinik ang nabunot sa ating matagal nang naninikip na dibdib.  Sa loob ng 9 na taon na nasa kapangyarihan si Arroyo, talaga namang nagpakasasa ang pamilyang Arroyo, habang patuloy na naghuhumikahos ang bayan.  Sinira nang husto ni Arroyo ang tiwala ng mga tao sa pamahalaan, sa mga institusyon at ahensya na  bumubuo nito.  Kaya naman malaking bagay ang pagtatapos ng kanyang pagkakaupo bilang presidente. May kaunting pwang para magkaron ng pagkakataong makabuong muli ng pag-asa para sa pagbabago.

Pero siempre, naryan pa rin sya sa kongreso, bilang congresswoman ng Tarlac. At dumagdag pa si Gloria sa iba pang Arroyo sa kongreso – ang kapatid ng kanyang asawa, si Iggy Arroyo ng Negros Occidental; ang kanyang anak na si Dato Arroyo ng Camarines Sur; at ang isa pa nyang anak na si Mikey Arroyo, na ngayon ay congressman bilang representante ng party list ng Ang Galing Pinoy! Ang partylist na ito ay nagre-represent ng mga security guards.  Ang galing talaga ng mga Arroyo! Ang galing kumapit sa kapangyarihan! Kaya’t di man SONA ni Arroyo ang tatapatan natin ngayon, kongreso na puro Arroyo naman ang kakaharapin natin sa mga darating na taon.

Ang ikatlong una para sa SIPA natin ngayon, ay eto ang unang SONA ni Presidente Benigno Aquino III o P-Noy.

Sa kanyang unang SONA, inaasahan natin na ilalatag ni PNOY ang kanyang mga pangarap para sa bayan at sa sambayanang Pilipino, ang kanyang mga programa, mga prayoridad na gawain, proyekto; ang kanyang mga balak na gawin upang matamo ang pinangako nyang tunay na pagbabago.

May bago ba tayong maasahan kay P-Noy?  Kung susuriin natin, baka walang malaking pagbabago.  Si P-Noy ay nanggaling din sa mayaman at politikong pamilya. Ang kanyang pamilya ay panginoong may-lupa. Hindi naman kilala si Noynoy bilang isang politikong naging advocate o tagapag-sulong ng mga isyu ng mga batayang sektor. Hindi naging matunog ang pangalan nya bilang isang tagapagtaguyod ng mga isyu hinggil sa karapatang pang-tao.   Pero sa ngayon, may ihip ng bagong hangin; di man tayo sigurado kung ito ay hangin ng pagbabago. Pagkatapos ng 9 na taong paghihirap sa ilalim ni Arroyo, anumang bago ay maaring pagkunan ng pagkakataong umasa, ng bagong pag-asa, ng pagbabago.

Kaya’t ang hamon sa atin ngayong pagtitipon na ito ng ating SIPA, ang ating unang SIPA sa unang taon ni P-Noy, ay mapa-abot sa kanya ang lalim ng sugat na iniwan ng administrasyong Arroyo sa mga lupaing ninuno, ang sakit at galit na namuo  sa mga katutubong komunidad sa mga kalapastangan na dulot ng mga mapanirang proyekto at programa ng pamahalaan.  At higit sa lahat, ang malaking gawain natin ngayon sa SIPA ay ang paglatag din kay P-Noy kung ano ang ating inaasahan sa kanyang administrasyon, ano ang mga konkretong panawagan ng mga katutubo, at ano ang mga dapat mangyari upang magkaron ng tunay na pagbabago, kapayapaan at kaunlaran, sa mga katutubong komunidad, at sa buong lipunan. Atin ding patunayan kay P-Noy ang lakas at tibay ng pakikibaka ng mga katutubo, at ang  pagkaka-isa natin sa pagsulong ng karapatan ng mga katutubo sa kanilang sariling pagpapasya.

Noong nanumpa si Noynoy bilang Presidente, sabi nya sa kanyang inaugural speech, “Kayo ang boss ko, kaya’t hindi maaaring hindi ako makinig sa mga utos ninyo.”

Kaya, P-Noy, makinig ka na. Makinig sa mga sumbong at pahayag ng mga katutubo. Makinig sa mga ilalatag na IP agenda, ng mga dapat na gawain upang bigyang buhay ang nasasaad sa konstitusyon na kilalanin ang mga lupaing ninuno, kilalanin ang mga karapatan ng mga katutubo.

Makinig sa State of the Indigenous Peoples.  Makinig nang mabuti, P-Noy, sa mga boss mo – ang mga katutubong Pilipino.

Samantala, patuloy ang ating gawain, ang ating tungkulin – na palakasin ang ating kilusan tungo sa tunay na pagbabago, di lang ng mga tao sa pamahalaan, kundi ng sistema ng pamamahala; tungo sa tunay na kaunlaran, hindi ng iilan kundi ang nakararami; at kung saan ang kalikasan at likas yaman ay di para limasin at pagkakitaan, kundi para pagyamanin upang patuloy magbigay buhay at kabuhayan.

Samantala, patuloy ang pagtulak ng pagkilala sa karapatan ng mga katutubo, at pagsulong sa kanilang karapat sa sariling pagpapasya. At kami sa LRC, ay patuloy nyong kaagapay at kapanalig.

Maraming Salamat po.

Magandang umaga sa ating lahat.

08.26.10

Datu Victor Danyan, Chairperson of the T’boli-Manubo Sdaf Claimants Organization (TAMASCO) speaking in the dialect said that “the government is hurting us more by not listening and by not respecting our decisions not to allow mining or any other so-called development projects in our ancestral land”.

Tension gripped anew in sitio Datal Bonlangon, Brgy. Ned, when armed men with high powered rifles believed to be company guards of the Consunji-owned Silvicultural Industries (SII) were seen frequenting their village, fearing that violence will erupt soon as the lumads vowed to defend their land by all possible means.

SII operates the Dawang Coffee Plantation by virtue of its Industrial Forest Management Agreement (IFMA) awarded by the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in 1992. The permit will expire on 2016.

Danyan laments that “for 18 years, we have been respectful of various government programs like appropriating our ancestral lands into an Agrarian Reform area despite our objection.”

“We accepted DAR’s program in order for us to acquire a tenurial instrument just so we may have peace in our ancestral territories.  But the government through its agencies, the DENR and NCIP, has allowed Consunji to incessantly intrude in our lands”.

For Danyan, 18 years of waiting for the government to do something about the intrusion is more than long enough but they have continued to hope for appropriate government interventions.

“And now comes these drilling activities of another Consunji-owned company for coal mining.  This government is ramming their version of development into our throat despite our opposition, this is already too much” Danyan added speaking in a local dialect.

Government hurting them

Indigenous peoples rights’ advocates echoed Danyan’s sentiments saying that the government has continued to turn a blind eye on the plight of the Tbolis in Barangay Ned.

“It seems that the government finds it difficult to respect the decision of the community not to allow the Consunjis and San Miguel Corporation to mine their ancestral domains” said Sister Susan Bolanio, OND of HESED Foundation.

HESED and the Legal Rights and Natural Resources (LRC-KsK/FoE Phils) as well as the Social Action Center of Marbel have been assisting TAMASCO in its campaign to reclaim and devloped their ancestral lands. TAMASCO has already filed an application for CADT in  2002.

“We appeal to the new administration to respect the decision of TAMASCO.  For the T’bolis the coal mining projects are unacceptable and detrimental to their lives and livelihoods.  We are saddened by the fact that the government is quick at fast tracking large-scale extractive projects but is attending to the needs of the indigenous peoples at a snail pace. ” said Rosalinda Latonio of LRC-KsK/FoE Phils.  ###

“San Miguel will surely face strong resistance from coal mining and coal plant-affected communities, from civil society organizations, and from environmental and land rights groups,” said Erwin Quiñones of Legal Rights and Natural Resources–Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth Philippines.

In March, San Miguel announced it will build a 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant in General Santos City in South Cotabato.

Members of the T’boli tribe in Ned village in Lake Sebu have already asked President Benigno Aquino III to address their plight, particularly the threat to their ancestral domain, as the company is mining for coal in the area.

“We bring to the President’s attention the fact that San Miguel has now acquired a government permit to take over our ancestral lands,” T’boli leader Datu Victor Danyan said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines news site.

The tribe feared that at least three coal projects acquired by San Miguel., which involve 17,000 hectares, ruin the ancestral domains of the T’bolis and the Ned Agrarian Reform Community.

San Miguel acquired Daguma Agro Minerals Inc. and its sister company, Bonanza Energy Resources Inc. It also acquired Sultan Mining and Energy Development Corp., which holds coal-operating contracts for production and development in the coal-rich community.

“Our remaining ancestral land is our life, the source of our food and the only inheritance we could leave our children. We don’t want to be displaced to give way to coal mining companies,” Danyan said, quoting the news site.

For their part, agrarian reform beneficiaries vowed to resist the entry of San Miguel into their agriculture areas to extract coal reserves for the proposed coal-fired power plants in the region and other existing thermal plants in the country.

“We have opposed previous companies. There’s no reason why we should not oppose San Miguel especially that [it] is a big company,” said Yellen Zata, who chairs the anti-coal mining group Hublag Kontra Mina based in the area. —JE/VS, GMANews.TV

The SIPA will begin at 1 p.m. on Monday and will end on the 29th of July.

Erwin Quinones, campaigns paralegal of Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan (LRC-KsK), told MindaNews that the IP representatives will be coming “from  areas affected by development aggression.”

He said this includes encroachment of mining, plantations and hydro-power plants into the ancestral domains of the indigenous peoples.

Quinones said development projects also led to  militarization condoned by the previous administration and eventually resulted to the surge of human rights violation cases in the IP communities, he said. “President Aquino should order the demilitarization of these areas,” he said.

Aside from laying down their agenda for the new administration, the 4th SIPA will also reiterate several demands aired before the previous administration. [full story]

Manong Catalino Rutaquio, a Dumagat from Quezon summed it up. “There is a big difference between her claims and what we actually experience in our communities. The smiling faces of the IPs she showed are an isolated case, but on the whole, what we see something else. For us simple folk, there was no truth in anything she said.”

Arroyo claimed her administration had put much work into the 3 E’s- Economy, Environment and Education. But participants of the SIPA, noted that the E for Environment was conspicuously absent throughout the rest of her speech.

“She did not even mention her policy on large scale mining because she knew she would upset many people if she did,” said Manong Peter Duyapat, from Barangay Didipio in Nueva Vizcaya, an area which has lived with the ramifications of large scale mining since 1995. “I expected her to at least acknowledge her mistakes but she did not even apologize.”

And while the president got thunderous applause with her mention of the administration’s Programang Pantawid Pamilya, which facilitates cash dole outs to poor families, indigenous peoples claim it is being used in some areas to soften up resistance to mining and other projects. “The agenda of the Programang Pantawid is unclear to us. Not all the poor families in Apayao are given their share,” Manang Letty Sibuma from the Save the Apayao Peoples Organizations said. “The only areas given dole outs are those touted for large scale mining projects, because mining is a priority project in Apayao.”

“For us indigenous peoples, particularly the participants of the State of the Indigenous Peoples Address being held simultaneously in Cagayan de Oro City and Quezon City, she leaves behind continued discrimination, rising human rights violations and legitimized land grabbing in the name of an illusory development. This is her real legacy. These are what she has “accomplished” in the eight years that she sat in Malacañang,” the SIPA conference statement read.

The SIPA, organized by the LRC, is being held in Quezon City and Cagayan de Oro for the IPs in Mindanao, simultaneously.

The awarding of the CADT in Pampanga looks very nice in picture and sounds very good in the news.

Reality check

This has long been overdue and ironic at the same time.  Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) in her State of the Nation Address in 2001, promised to issue one hundred (100) ancestral domain titles by that year.  Nearing the end of her term, it is very disheartening for the indigenous peoples that there is a total of only 29 CADTs issued since then, and the last to be issued was the first one to be registered.

What about the Aetas from Zambales, Bataan and Tarlac and the other indigenous peoples from all over the country waiting and struggling to get the same Ancestral Domain Titles?  What distinguishes the awarding of the 4 CADTs to the Aetas in Central Luzon from the others?  What happened to GMA’s promise to issue 100 ancestral domain titles in 2001?

“The single photo-ops in Pampanga cannot conceal the glaring fact that the Arroyo administration dismally failed to recognise the rights and aspirations of the indigenous peoples for their ancestral domains and lands”, said Mr. Ronald A. Gregorio, Campaigns-paralegal of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources-Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth Phils. (LRC-KsK/FoE Phils).  The 4 CADTs when finally registered only represents 25,764 hectares (of land and waters) corresponding to only 2 percent of the government target of 1.4 million hectares to be issued to the indigenous peoples as CADT.  Expect GMA to make use of these event as part of the gimmick in her coming SONA.

Military interest over IPs rightful claim for CADT

Labay Ku, the Aeta Mag-Antsi of Capaz, Tarlac applied for CADT in 2004 but until now they are deprived of their rightful claim to their ancestral land.  The Philippine Air Force based in Tarlac denied in 2006 the conduct of a perimeter survey being done by Labay Ku which apparently overlaps with the military reservation in a proclamation by President Ramos during his term.

Labay Ku engaged in a series of dialogue with the AFP to resolve the issue and made the appeal to be allowed to continue with the perimeter survey which is only a step through to establish the locations of the lands and therefore determine the possible overlaps.

Bayani Somaong, one of the leaders of Labay Ku expressed sadness and disappointment over Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro’s statement that he was ‘after the protection of the military’ in an interview in May 6 in Clark Freeport, Pampanga.  Bayani added “we do not understand the Secretary in protecting the military when in fact we are only asserting our legitimate claim to our ancestral land that has long been deprived from us since the various foreign occupations that passed in this country, most specially the US military base.”

Labay Ku was only asking to let them continue with the perimeter survey so that both of them will identify and concretely determine the possible land overlaps.  Consequently, they will have a more factual basis to discuss the overlaps and conflicts in their claims.  The continued denial of the perimeter survey shows the military’s unwillingness to recognise a rightful and necessary process for a fruitful dialogue.  Labay Ku in 2008 even brought their issue to the Office of the President that until now rendered no valuable response.

Mining over IPs rights

In contrast, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was very quick to issue mining permits and the unfortunate situation is that most of these permits involves or includes the ancestral lands being claimed by the indigenous peoples without their free, prior and informed consent.  In a brief span of only 7 years since 2001, DENR has issued mining permits and concessions covering 184,175.6585 or 34 percent out of the total 545,467.28 hectares issued since 1990 (Source: MGB-DENR, as of December 2008).

These mining operations as indigenous peoples have long maintained are affecting their way of life; they now face a great battle defending their territories, source of livelihood and culture from the aggression of foreign large scale mining corporations.  Peter Duyapat, leader of Didipio Earth Saver Multi-Purpose Association (DESAMA) based in Didipio, Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya said, “Mining means destruction of our farmlands, our water systems and demolition of our houses.  We usually equate the entry of mining in our community as a threat to our displacement, a bad omen that has become real as what happened in 2008 when OceanaGold demolished more than 180 houses of our indigenous Ifugao brothers and sisters coupled with the shooting of one of our member in the community and the harassment of the others including myself.”

For more information please contact: Ronald A. Gregorio, Campaigns-paralegal, Luzon Regional Office, (02) 926 4409; (02) 434 4079, ronald.gregorio@lrcksk.org; luzon.lrc@gmail.com.

“We have heard Arroyo before make the SONA, and we have not heard her tell the truth about the situation of the Indigenous Peoples,” says Peter Duyapat, an Ifugao leader.

At seven in the morning, over a hundred IPs from all over Luzon who are convening the SIPA 2009 (State of the Indigenous Peoples Address) in UP Diliman, marched in front of the UP-Ayala Cyber Hub along Commonwealth Avenue to merge with a hundred strong more IPs from KAMP (Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas).

With their banner “SIPAin si Gloria”, they expressed their strong opposition to charter change that will further the President’s reign.

“Under her administration, our lives have become harsher, as she has allowed foreign mining companies come and take our lands.”  Duyapat is from Brgy. Didipio, Nueva Vizcaya, which is the mining site of the Oceania Gold, an Australian mining corporation. “We cannot allow her to use charter change to prolong her stay.”

“The government, particularly the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), is in connivance with the mining companies.  They allow the companies to operate even without our genuine free and prior informed consent,” laments Librada Isidro, an Alangan Mangyan from Mindoro.

Duyapat and Isidro are both participants of the 3-day gathering of Indigenous Peoples from Luzon to present the real State of the Indigenous Peoples Address (SIPA).

“For the indigenous peoples, Arroyo leaves behind continued discrimination, rising human rights violations and legitimized land grabbing in the name of illusory development. This is her real legacy,” according to Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC-KsK), a legal and policy advocacy institution, closely working with the indigenous peoples. LRC is the organizer of SIPA.

The mobilization also expresses their strong commitment to continue with the struggle for self-determination. They have come all the way to the cities to expose the worsening conflicts in their own lands resulting from PGMA’s neo-liberal economic policies that allow more operations of extractive industries, land grabbing, militarization other state projects that do more damage than development especially to the communities of IPs.

“Eight years of Gloria is enough!” shouts Ponyong Kadlos in Mangyan. Kadlos is the spokesperson of the ‘Alangan-Mangyan’ delegation. “She has done nothing for us but to make us poorer.” Their community is now under threat from large-scale mining operations with the entry of the ‘Aglubang & Intex Mining Corporation’ in their ancestral domain.

IPs along with their allies and other supporters marched along the highway towards the elliptical road playing their traditional musical instruments and back to the side of UP, stopping in front of the commercial stalls and bus terminal in Philcoa before going back to UP.

The SIPA, organized by LRC, is being held in Quezon City and Cagayan de Oro for the IPs in Mindanao, simultaneously.