LUMAD
RIGHTS
KNOW THEIR RIGHTS
Lumad education is a fight for life
Before institutions and pop culture have coined this term as condescending and demeaning, ‘bakwit’ is an old word that’s been used since the Spanish-American colonization. The term was a Tagalog translation of the word “evacuate”, (‘bakwet”), which connoted the urgent transfer of residents from one place to a safer one, as they carry with them their emergency packs that would contain their clothes and other important things. The long history of colonization in the country has turned the ‘bakwit’ into a phenomenon of fearless roving- it is when a peaceful community suddenly dares to leave the comforts of their now-conflicted homeland, to fight for their life and identity. For the Lumad students and teachers, the journey from their highly-militarized ancestral lands to the concrete jungles of Metro Manila was painstaking, to say the least. The ongoing aerial bombings, forcible closing down of their schools, and killings among their community leaders have left them with no other option but to take their long-time struggle closer to the national arena. Save Our Schools (SOS) Network has recorded four common trends of militarization in Lumad communities – forcible closure of schools, forced and faked surrenders, trumped-up charges, and forced evacuations. This year, SOS has also recorded 5,000 victims of forced evacuations in Mindanao. This is still excluding the cases of bakwits among the ranks of the Moro people due to the Marawi siege. Unlike the typical Filipino students in a classroom set-up, the Lumad students’ methods of learnings highly depend on their immediate needs. The principle behind the establishment of the alternative schools in their communities is not just to cater to their everyday needs but also to equip them with the basic skills of reading and writing so that they can protect themselves. The Lumad children have known how the state forces such as the government and the military, have abused their inability to read and write to further manipulate them.
-Kristienne Sumpay
defend lumad rights
Lumad schools are important for a people struggling for culture preservation. But there is a more provocative angle to their existence. The schools teach the value of cultural self-expression and the principle of self-determination. The Duterte administration has accommodated the unbridled entry of mining interests, many of which are destructive to the environment.When government abnegates its duty to protect citizenry in the name of oligarchic interests, it pushes its own citizens to the periphery. Rather than oppress and suppress, it must rectify its duty by acting as the people’s channel for redress of grievances. The Commission on Human Rights warns the DepEd: “It is part of the government’s responsibility to make sure these children, who are also indigenous people, are able to properly exercise their right to education. Children should be protected from all forms of abuse and violence. This protection, however, should not come at the expense of their other rights.”
-Kristienne Sumpay
who are the indegenous people?
Indigenous Peoples are people who inhabited a land before it was conquered by colonial societies and who consider themselves distinct from the societies currently governing those territories. Indigenous Peoples worldwide number between 300-500 million, embody and nurture 80% of the world’s cultural and biological diversity, and occupy 20% of the world’s land surface. The Indigenous Peoples of the world are very diverse. They live in nearly all the countries on all the continents of the world and form a spectrum of humanity, ranging from traditional hunter-gatherers and subsistence farmers to legal scholars. SUCH AS : Igorot tribes, a group that includes the Bontoc, Ibaloi, Ifugao, Isneg, Kalinga, Kankanaey and Tinguian, who built the Rice Terraces in the Philippines. The Aeta or Agta, are an indigenous people who live in scattered, isolated mountainous parts of the island of Luzon, the Philippines. BUT WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR? Despite international recognition and acceptance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees the fundamental rights of all human beings, in practical fact Indigenous Peoples’ human rights remain without specifically designated safeguards. To this day, Indigenous Peoples continue to face serious threats to their basic existence due to systematic government policies. In many countries, Indigenous Peoples rank highest on such underdevelopment indicators as the proportion of people in jail, the illiteracy rate, unemployment rate, etc. They face discrimination in schools and are exploited in the workplace. Up to this date, indigenous people still face discrimination among job fairs, children who belong to their respective indigenous community still face bullying because of their skin color, their language. In many countries, they are not even allowed to study their own languages in schools.
-Arthur Rapadas
why should we help them?
Helping indigenous people in the Philippines better protect their rights The island province of Palawan in the Philippines is endowed with abundant wildlife, lush tropical rainforests and beautiful mountains and rivers. Its fertile land has provided harvest to indigenous peoples such as the Palawan for hundreds of years. However, mining operations on the south of the island are threatening ecosystems, forests and rivers, meaning that local people can lose their livelihoods. Moreover, disputes over land and resources can lead to displacement, change local community dynamics and prompt conflict. HOW CAN WE HELP? We can help by alerting and informing indigenous people about their rights. By working with local partners, such as the Environmental Legal Assistance Centre (ELAC) we can continue to promote awareness among local governments, companies, and businesses.
-Noel Caluba
rights? rights.
The Igorots which is made up of numerous tribes in the northern part of the country, are mostly living in the mountain ranges of the Cordillera Region. The Igorots are popularly known for being rice makers. An variety of the group called the Ifugaos built the Banaue Rice Terraces frequently called the ‘eighth wonder of the world’. WHY WE MUST CARE? When their land is threatened that will mean their livelihood, resources and most of all their identity perish, they must as their ancestors have done, stand up and fight against the enemy at all cost and secure the land for the future generations. This responsibility is passed on through decades and heroes and martyrs of the Igorot people were made that served as inspirations to carry on the torch of defending the land. Through the ages, a lot of companies try to take advantage of their situation being one of the races in the Philippines that is being left out, trying to own their land. Meanwhile, the state forces manned by the bureaucrats together with private armies and goons attack the villages in the name of corporate mining and renewable energies owned by multinational companies. Yet, the Igorots are always on their foot to perform their task that is to ensure that the children of their grandchildren will still benefit from the lands their forefathers entrusted them. WHY WE MUST HELP? Just like as citizens who live in a flourished city, the indigenous people such as the Igorots also have their own rights that needs to be respected. Their land, crops must be protected. We as their fellow Filipino’s must be aware of their situation that they also need their help. HOW CAN WE HELP? Your help will help the indigenous people to keep their culture rich, by conserving their cultural practices, maintaining and producing good crops. A single peso would mean a lot to these indigenous people. Let us helo each other.
-Nicole Vizarra
valuable education for lumad people
valuable education is needed by everybody. But not Everybody receives it. Why must we educate ourselves? well here are some reasons why.
1. To take right decision. Making right decisions would come up with something good. Lumad people would be able to give themselves a better life by making good decision in life.
2.To fulfill our desires, dreams. We need proper education to fulfill our dreams. How are we able to fill up and achieve our dreams without proper education right?
3. We need to be educated in order to make our life happy and enjoy every little and good things this world has offer us.
4. For a good job, good and satisfied social life, so that we can have a very secure and stable life.
5. lastly, for satisfaction. Lumad people would surely be satisfied if the would be able to receive good proper education in their living.
People should not hinder others like the indegenous people to receive such things, for they might make a big impact to the world soon.
-Nicole Vizarra
Why development projects must respect indigenous peoples, ancestral domains in Philippines
An often overlooked aspect of urban and regional development is the observance of traditional land laws of indigenous communities, who have long occupied parcels of land serving both as areas for living and to make a living. Long before the sprawl of built areas emanating from lowlands started to encroach toward the highlands and institutional policies on land management came to enforcement, indigenous communities have fully embracing land ownership rites and instruments that have been passed on from generation to generation. In developing Asia, some national and local governments have formulated and enacted land management policies without considering their implications for the traditional land laws of indigenous communities, creating displacement and even conflict. The customary land laws of the Ifugaos—who have long occupied the highlands of the Cordilleras region in north Luzon, Philippines—regard land ownership, especially rice fields, as a source of wealth, pride, and prestige. Ifugaos regard rice as a ‘prestige crop.’ Land has been handed down from generation to generation, and is considered the property of a family, never of an individual. In terms of ownership, however, a rice field (usually paddies on mountain slopes) is considered the property of one man – the head of the family. Land is always transferred to the eldest heir because Ifugao communal law believes each family must have one powerful member the rest look up to, and thus inherits the property in their name. On the other hand, ownership of forestlands (valuable for wood) is usually shared by a group of kinsmen and their families. Ifugao land tenure is either perpetual or transient, with the latter applying to abandoned fields where a ‘caretaker’ is given the right to till the land until the rightful owner repossesses it. And yet another specific practice governs land tenure for irrigation sources and constructing water-conveying structures in rice paddies. In other words, it all boils down to responsible urban and regional planning and policy-making. This is a critical concern in developing Asia, where development projects are increasingly targeting secondary cities, small towns and areas where the presence of traditional cultures and ancestral domains are still the norm.
-Marcus Valdez
A GUIDE TO THE INDIGENOUS TRIBES OF THE PHILIPPINES
On your Philippine Holiday you’ll come across; The Igorots, which contains several tribes in the northern portion of the country, who generally live in the mountain domain of the Cordillera Region. They are commonly recognized for being rice farmers. A variety of the group known as the Ifugaos constructed the Banaue Rice Terraces – often known as the ‘eighth wonder of the world’. The descendants of this ethnic tribe sculpted a method of watered rice terraces in the peaks of Ifugao nearly 2,000 years ago. The Igorot tribe also comprises of the Bontoc, Isneg, Ibaloi, Kankanaey, Kalinga, and Tinguian factions. Other clans staying in the north are Isnag from Apayao, Gaddang (located amid Kalinga and Isabela regions), and the Ilongots staying in the east peaks of Luzon known as the Sierra Madre and the Caraballo Mountains. The Ilongots are recognized for their passionate fierceness and traditional preservations. For the moment, in the southern portion of the country, ethnic tribes are typically discovered in Mindanao and Western Visayas. In Mindanao, these surviving non-Muslim native groups are together recognized as the Lumad – a Cebuano word which means ‘native’ or ‘indigenous’. Their Lumad clans contain around 13 indigenous factions which are the Bukidnon, Blaan, Higaonon, Mandaya, Mamanwa, Mansaka, Manobo, Subanen, Sangir, T’boli, Tasaday, Tagakaulo and Tagabawa. Their tribe is usually famous for tribal music made by musical appliances they’ve produced. Amid those stated above, the Manobo tribe comprises additional vast ethnic groups like the Agusan-Manobo, Dulangan-Manobo, and Ata-Manobo to mention a couple. The entire community of the Manobo group is unidentified as they inhabit main regions in core territories of the Mindanao Region. The Mangyans of Mindoro are famous tribes in the Philippines due to the reason that they have the largest population. Consist of eight diverse Mangyan groups, they have a nonviolent status, not like the headhunting clans of the North and warrior clans from the South. Though some have already turned into Christianity, there’s still a huge fraction of those who study animistic religious views. During your Philippines Travel, you’ll find that the Aetas (or Agta or Ayta) are one of the initially recognized occupants of the Philippines who are now staying in dispersed hilly regions of the country. They were known by the Spanish settlers as the ‘Negritos’ due to their dark to the dark-brown skin. They are wanderers but are very experienced in plaiting and weaving, and Aeta women are believed to be professionals in herbal remedies. Nowadays, the ethnic groups in the country stay in their native family estates as they reserve their ethnic traditions and customs. And while the Philippine régime approved the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997, there are still problems left unresolved, as well as their right for involvement.-Marcus Valdez
