The Philippine government has expressed its commitment to continue advocating for the issues and interests of its Indigenous Peoples (IPs), including in the areas of environment and climate change, disaster risk reduction and gender development.
Allen Capuyan, head of the country's National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, led the Philippine delegation in a dialogue with the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination—a body tasked to review the Philippines' compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of racial discrimination.
The discussion was conducted from April 19 to 20.
In the talks, the Philippine delegation also highlighted the efforts it undertook in the promotion and protection of IP's rights pursuant to the 1997 Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) and other relevant laws during the period under review (2009-2018).
These include the enactment of 215 laws, including the landmark Bangsamoro Organic Law, covering a wide range of rights, the issuance of 260 Certificates of Ancestral Domains Titles and 252 Certificates of Ancestral Land Titles, awareness programs on cultural practices and ancestral domains, and expanded access to health services and educational assistance, among others.
The delegation also took pride in the government's effort to enforce the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent process especially as regards development projects involving mining and energy infrastructure.
Currently, the Philippines is also working with the World Bank to strengthen its institutional capacity to collect comprehensive data on Indigenous Peoples that will be accessible to policy-makers and stakeholders through a single digital portal, Capuyan added.
While Capuyan found the Philippine accomplishments significant, he said more has to be done by the government amid various challenges, including the weaponization of human rights by leftist extremists that supposedly radicalize IPs, and misrepresent them in the UN to allegedly advance their violent agenda of overthrowing the duly constituted government of the Philippines.
He said the government is now embracing a whole-of- nation and whole-of-government approach to protect the Filipino people from the efforts of the Communist Party of the Philippines supposedly "to divide the Filipino people and propagate violence."