Indigenous Filipinos have voice in only 21 LGUs
by Jesus Llanto, Newsbreak | 08/12/2009 11:19 PM
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With a population of 14 million, they should win in local elections, expert says
They number 12 million to 14 million nationwide. They have a presence in 110 communities. Yet they are represented—in appointive capacities at that—in only 21 local councils.
Indigenous peoples (IPs) in the Philippines commemorated World Indigenous Peoples Day on August 9 without much to celebrate given their limited involvement in running the affairs of their communities.
This prompted a governance expert to suggest that IP should start seeking elective positions to push their interests.
Antonio La Vina, dean of the Ateneo School of Government, said in a recent forum that generally LGUs are not good in protecting the rights of the IPs and some of them are even anti-IPs. “That's why IPs have to assert themselves and have to win local elections."
Nelson Mallari, spokesperson of the Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (KAMP), told Newsbreak that so far the participation of IPs in governance is limited to having appointed representatives in local legislative councils.
Mandatory
Of some 1,700 local government units (LGUs) in the country, only 21 have complied with the requirement of the Indigenous People’s Rights Act (IPRA) of 1987 for the mandatory representation of IPs in in policy-making bodies and local legislative councils.
The Local Government Code also requires the appointment to the municipal or city council or the provincial board of representatives of marginalized sectors, which may include the IPs.
The system, however, has failed to advance the rights of the indigenous communities, according to Mallari. “Some LGUs do not recognize our rights, especially on our ancestral domains.”
According to data from the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), there are IP representatives in the local councils or boards of the following:
- Province - Zamboanga Sibugay.
- City - Gingoog (in Misamis Oriental)
- Municipalities - Nagtipunan (in Quirino); Sibuco (in Zamboanga del Norte); Nabunturan, New Bataan, and Laak (in Compostela Valley); and 14, except Talusan and Olutanga (in Zamboanga Sibugay).
No Improvement
Mallari said that the IPs are facing threats from mining operations. KAMP data showed that 39 of 64 mining priority projects in the country are in ancestral lands of IPs. It is estimated that 81% of the 220,000 hectares of land for mining projects belong to the ancestral domains of the indigenous communities.
Noel Felongco, NCIP commissioner for MIMAROPA and Western and Central Visayas, acknowledged that, “If you take away the land from IPs, you are already destroying their culture and identity.”
He said that despite the IPRA, the living conditions of ICs have not improved. “They are the poorest of the poor in the Philippine society. They have little or no access to basic services.”
Felongco agrees with La Vina that IPs would be able to protect their ancestral domains if they run and win in local elections. They can, for example, prevent a repeat of what happened to the Mangyans in Mindoro and the Atis in Boracay Island who are being pushed out of their communities because these are potential tourism sites.
Discriminated
However, Felongco recognizes that the political system simply makes it difficult for IPs to get elected. “They are the minority and they are discriminated. They do not have the machinery,” he said.
According to NCIP, there are 12 million to 14 million indigenous peoples in the Philippines, from 110 communities. This means the concentration of the population is at 109,000 to 127,000 in each community, technically enough to elect a municipal or city official.
The IPs make up 15 to 17 percent of the country’s population. Around 7 million IPs are sporadically scattered in Mindanao; 6 million in Luzon; and around 200,000 in the Visayas. (Newsbreak)
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