INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S WATCH

Unity Festival Caps IP Decade

This year, the United Nations’ Decade for the World’s Indigenous Populations formally ends.  To coincide with the closing is the third Sandugo (literally means “one blood”) Solidarity Festival, a national gathering of representatives of various indigenous peoples from all over the country as well as advocates of indigenous peoples’ rights to self-determination, from August 6-16.  

BY ABI TAGUBA BENGWAYAN
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat

Indigenous peoples (IPs) from all over the country will gather on August 6-16 for the third Sandugo Solidarity Festival under the auspices of the Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (KAMP), the national federation of IP organizations in the Philippines.

Participants in this year’s festival will take part in solidarity missions that will go to different indigenous peoples’ communities which are involved in struggles against development aggression.  They will also sum-up the lessons and gains in the IP struggle for self-determination since the last Sandugo in 1994.  Strengthened solidarity with advocates, different sectors, and other IPs and advocates from other countries will also be forged.

The 3^rd Sandugo festival coincides with the closing year for the United Nations’ Decade for the World’s Indigenous Populations.

More than two decades of unity and solidarity

The struggle against the Chico River Dam project and the Cellophil Resources Corporation (CRC) in the Cordillera region during the late 70s and early 80s highlighted the struggle of indigenous peoples for self-determination. 

One of the brave leaders of the struggle against the Chico River Dam Project was Kalinga pangat (chieftain) Macli-ing Dulag who was murdered in cold blood by government soldiers on April 24, 1980. His death brought the issue of the struggle against the dam, in particular, and the overall struggle of indigenous peoples for self-determination in general, into the national consciousness.  It likewise provided an added impetus to the unification of the different tribes in the Cordilleras and the various indigenous peoples all over the country.  

In the Cordilleras, community meetings were held, bodong or peace pacts were forged.  This process culminated in the formation of the Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA), a region-wide alliance of the different tribes, in 1984.  

Macli-ing Dulag’s death and the martyrdom of other Cordillera IPs are commemorated in Cordillera Day festivities held every April 24.   

A year earlier, in 1983, leaders from various indigenous people’s communities all over the country gathered to “discuss common problems and define programs of action and cooperation” in the same struggle for ancestral land rights.  Dubbed the Consultative Assembly of Minority Peoples of the Philippines (CAMPP), the initial gathering eventually led to the Sandugo Solidarity Pact in 1984. After reconvening in 1985, the Sandugo Solidarity Pact led to the establishment of a national IP center and eventually to the founding assembly of KAMP, which took place in 1987. 

The 1994 Sandugo was also significant as it was the first attempt at defining the different aspects of the concept of self-determination.

Solidarity missions

This years Sandugo festival will feature solidarity missions, which are meant to facilitate exchanges between various groups as well as generate deeper understanding regarding the different IP issues. The mission will cover indigenous communities affected by development aggression and militarization such as in Rizal, where there is a struggle against the construction of the Laiban Dam; Capiz, where there is a campaign against the encroachment of the Camp Peralta Military Reservation on ancestral lands; Misamis Occidental and the Mt. Malindang Protected Area; and South Cotabato, the area of operations of the Tampakan Mineral Resources Corporation.

Exposure areas in IP communities in Davao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Bukidnon, Mindoro, Mt. Province, Ilocos Sur, and Cagayan Valley will also take place.

The northern Luzon IP communities set for the exposure specifically include the Bago and Tingguian tribes affected by large-scale mining by the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corporation (LCMCo) and the Aggay community in Cagayan Valley which are constantly experiencing harassments during government military operations because of their campaign against development aggression.

The festival will culminate in a camp-out at the Quezon Memorial Circle, in Quezon City, on August 15.  This will be highlighted by cultural exchanges between advocates and IPs, sharing of experiences, issues, and struggles from specific regions, and a tribute to IP martyrs.

On the occasion of the closing year of the Decade for Indigenous Populations, CPA secretary general Windel Bolinget stresses the importance of determining whether there have been significant changes in the situation of IPs, especially resulting from the efforts of the United Nations.  One indication of the effectiveness of the United Nations, he said, is that the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples remains unapproved. Bulatlat 

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