Indigenous groups still not a gov’t priority

SURIGAO CITY — Indigenous communities continue to get sparse attention from the government despite a 13-year-old law mandating their protection, nongovernment groups told a recent workshop here. The absence of a sustainable source of livelihood, coupled with uncertainty over their ancestral lands, is the top cause of poverty among indigenous communities. And up to now, the exact population of indigenous people is unclear, making it difficult to develop an action plan for the group. The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act, enacted in 1997, guarantees sustainable livelihood for indigenous people. The law provides for development programs in line with the fourfold agenda of recognition and protection of ancestral domain/land rights; self-governance and empowerment; cultural integrity; and social justice and human rights. Representatives from regional offices of the National Government said they could not release funds for indigenous groups without a clear order from their central departments. Some agencies admitted that funding for such programs would not be prioritized this year. Ramon Yazon, trade commissioner of the Canadian Embassy, which sponsored the workshop, promised to take the issues raised by regional state representatives to their central offices. He said the embassy’s main concern was to make sure Canadian mining firms with operations in indigenous communities are not remiss in their corporate social responsibilities. “Some if not most of Canada's mining firms operating in the Philippines and other parts of the globe are public investment-listed. Canadian private investors are very meticulous in the implementation of social responsibilities [in] host mining communities," Ramon Yazon told the delegates. Romeo Cagas, Caraga regional director of the Labor department, said indigenous groups are now part of the agency’s informal sector development program, even if their funds are limited. Cagas was the only senior government official with a regional director rank who attended the two-day workshop. The regional director of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples was absent. NCIP provincial officer Vicente Baldoza told Canadian Embassy officials his boss was meeting with Surigao del Norte provincial officials about issues affecting the Mamanwa tribe in Taganito, Claver in Surigao del Norte. Other agencies represented in the workshop included the Trade, Environment and Social Welfare departments, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau and Commission on Human Rights. More than 80 participants mainly from indigenous, government and nongovernment groups and mining companies attended the workshop at a convention center in this city. — BS/CGL/NPA, GMANews.TV