Indigenous peoples' groups push demands for Aquino govt

Various indigenous peoples’ groups on Thursday pressed their demands for greater attention and protection from the government of President Benigno Aquino III, in time for the 13th anniversary of the enactment of the Indigenous People’s Right Act (IPRA). Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (KAMP), Kapisanan ng mga Katutubong Samahan ng Pilipinas (KASAPI) and KATRIBU Partylist on Thursday demanded the Aquino administration to enact laws and to take steps that will benefit indigenous peoples in the country. “We have heard nothing from Aquino’s end. He has not acted upon the urgent demands of indigenous peoples," KAMP spokesperson Piya Malayao, an Igorot from northern Luzon, said in a statement. The groups listed their demands for the new administration in a policy agenda, which called for the enactment of laws against discrimination of indigenous people, as well as legislation for greater food security and livelihood in indigenous communities in the country. The policy agenda also demanded for the repeal of the Mining Act of 1995, as well as the country’s full implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. “With the indigenous people’s policy agenda, we are creating greater legislative protection and challenging the existing policies that impinge on IP [indigenous people’s] rights," KATRIBU Partylist president Beverly Longid said in the same statement. The groups also urged the Aquino government to push for the resumption of peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), as well as the “abandonment" of counter-insurgency programs that threaten the security of indigenous groups. The groups’ move came in time with the anniversary of the signing of the IPRA, or Republic Act 8371, which was passed as a law in 1997. The IPRA incorporated the various constitutionally-mandated rights of indigenous communities to ancestral domain, self-governance and cultural integrity into a comprehensive law. The law has been criticized by certain IP groups, however, as lacking sufficient teeth to protect their rights, especially when conflicts arise because of other laws that allow the entry of mining, logging and similar large-scale extractive operations on ancestral lands. Earlier this month, Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Baguilat demanded for a moratorium on pre-mining and mining activities in the country, supposedly to put a stop on abuses being committed by mining companies on indigenous communities’ rights to ancestral domain.—Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV