Indigenous people’s groups to air their plight days before SONA

Days before President Benigno Aquino III delivers his State of the Nation Address, representatives of indigenous peoples will gather in Quezon City starting Wednesday to air their concerns.

The gathering will be at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, where the annual State of the Indigenous Peoples Address (SIPA) will be presented.

In the SIPA, the indigenous peoples will air their urgent concerns given the impending passage of a Bangsamoro Basic Law that may cover ancestral domains in Mindanao.

Also, they are to voice their concerns over the rampant pillage of minerals and other natural resources in indigenous territories without their prior and informed consent, or adequate compensation.

Meanwhile, the IP leaders and representatives will discuss state policies affecting them, including:

They will also share stories on the escalating violence in their communities due to corporate and development aggression, and establish their collective plans and actions.

Organizers of the SIPA at the UP Balay Kalinaw/Balay Internasyonal from July 23 and 24 and the UP Faculty Center/Bulwagang Rizal on July 25 include the SIPA Steering Committee and the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth Phils. Inc. (LRC-KSK/FoE).

Culmination

On the last day of the gathering, justice advocates along with lawyers Christian Monsod, Grizelda Mayo-Anda and Marlon Manuel, will deliver presentations on Indigenous Peoples, Communities and Ownership and Management of Mineral and Other Natural Resources.

Also expected to attend are Reps. Nancy Catamco (North Cotabato) and Teddy Brawner Baguilat (Ifugao).

Catamco chairs the House Committee on National Cultural Communities while Baguilat is the committee's vice-chairman.

The first SIPA was held in 2008 for indigenous peoples to have a national platform to consolidate their ranks and air their positions on issues affecting them.

It also gave them a chance to present to the public their plight, and demand that government fulfill its human development goals. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News