IP Voices-Phils.

26/09/2022

[CALL FOR DONATIONS]
Lingkod Katribu is calling for donations, cash or in-kind, for indigenous families affected by the recent tropical storm . We call on our friends and IP advocates to support our relief drive operations to affected communities.
For cash donations, you may send them through:
GCash: 09774438964
For in kind donations , you send it to Drop-Off Center:
NCCP Bldg., 879 EDSA, Brgy. West Triangle, Quezon City
If possible, kindly add a note indicating “LK Donation c/o KATRIBU”. For in-kind donations, please contact Rix through 09774438964.
Thank you for your compassion and generosity of spirit!

20/09/2022

On the 50th year of Marcos’ martial law
We refuse to forget and vow to continue to resist!

We, Indigenous Peoples (IPs) say never again to martial law. We vow to continue to resist! We have seen and experienced martial law and dictatorship before. Just as we have never forgotten the atrocities of the Marcoses, and the Dutertes, we shall never be silenced by any threats against our right to live with dignity.
We have witnessed how the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and his regime used their power to torture, disappear and silence staunch critics of his administration. Marcos Sr. and his cronies committed grave human rights violations and rampant corruption with flamboyance and grand edifices. The Marcoses left the country in debt and the Filipino people poorer than ever.

IP’s resistance against the dictatorship

Resistance against the Marcos Sr. dictatorship varied from case to case among the different tribes of the Philippines. Resistance movements flourished againsts the Marcos administration’s appropriation of indigenous lands, particularly of the Chico River Dam Project and the Manila Water Supply III project on the Kaliwa River watershed and all-out giveaway of forest lands for political patronage.

Proved to be a threat to their life, livelihood and culture, the Chico River Dam Project was met with resistance by various Igorot people, notably the Kalinga people. The 1980 killing of Macliing Dulag, a pangat (leader) and spokesperson of the opposition created public outrage. The murder of Macliing unified the Cordillera people to resist the proposed dam, causing both the World Bank and the Marcos regime to eventually abandon the project.

The incident also, became a turning point in the history of martial law. For the first time since the press crackdown in 1972, journalists and the mainstream Philippine press confronted the issue of the military's arrests of civilians under martial law. It is now considered a landmark case studies concerning ancestral domain issues in the Philippines.

The indigenous Dumagat, Remontado Agta who lived in the Kaliwa watershed, were most affected and opposed the dam project. They first appealed to the Marcos administration to stop the construction. But when Marcos refused, they “responded with intense social mobilization over many years,” with tactics including protests, road blockades, and other approaches including taking
arms and joining the New Peoples Army (NPA).

Ancestral lands and natural resources are used for political patronage and enrichment of Marcos cronies and allies. The dictator rewards friends and family with Timber License Agreements or TLAs, the instrument used to operate concessions to harvest trees on vast tracks of ancestral lands, such as those awarded to cronies Alcantara and Sons (ALSONS) and David M. Consunji Inc. (DMCI) in Mindanao. In the Cordilleras, a 200,000 hectares of forest land was awarded to the Cellophil Resources Corporation as a logging and paper pulp concession to Marcos crony Herminio Disini. In defense of indigenous life, ancestral land and cultural integrity, the affected Tinggian of Abra waged sustained struggles that stopped Cellophil Resources Corporation from operation.

IPs were subjected to massacres and other human rights violations throughout the martial law. One major record is violations against the Subanon people —an incident that has been called the Tudela massacre happened on August 24, 1981, members of a Marcos-sponsored paramilitary forces strafed the house of a Subanon family, the Gumapons, in Sitio Gitason, Barrio Lampasan, Tudela, Misamis Occidental. Ten Subanon were killed in the incident, including a baby. However, this did not necessarily result in organized opposition from the Indigenous People group as a whole.

Not a thing of the past

Filipino IPs have survived at least two martial laws – Marcos Sr and Duterte martial laws – and these are not just a thing of the past. Every day we feel that we are at the mercy of the government and its armed forces.

Today, fifty years has passed, the Marcoses are back in top government position. However, victims of human rights violations are yet to receive an apology from the Marcoses and justice yet to be served. Likewise the Duterte camp should also be held accountable for the victims of their atrocities. Moreover, those destructive projects which faced resistance during the Marcos Sr.’s martial law, are now positioned to continue despite massive opposition.

Tuloy ang laban para sa demokrasya, katarungan at katotohanan!
The KATRIBU is in solidarity with human rights advocates and other organizations that are upholding the rights of every citizen regardless of social class and sector. This is the time for us to unite and together, we must resist tyranny.



Reference:
Rei A. Paulin
National Coordinator
Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas
09178169258
[email protected]

20/09/2022

Handa na ba Kayo? Tara na sa Singkwenta, September 21, 2022 sa UP Diliman ng 3:00 pm

Ako si Rei Paulin, national coordinator ng Katribu ay handa na at sasama sa SingKwenta: Mga Kanta at Kwento Tungkol sa Martial Law! 🎶

Makiisa at tumindig sa ika-21 ng Setyembre, Miyerkules, 4:00 PM, sa University Avenue, UP Diliman, Quezon City!

Sa panahong lumalala ang disimpormasyon at intensyong pagbaon sa limot sa ika-50 anibersaryo ng Martial Law noong 1972—isa sa mga malalagim na yugto ng kasaysayan ng Pilipinas, halina't makikanta at suportahan ang patuloy na pagtindig ng Pambansang Minorya para sa katotohanan at kanilang karapatan sa lupang ninuno at sariling pagpapasya!✊

MAKIBAKA KASAMA ANG PAMBANSANG MINORYA!

11/08/2022

KATRIBU to NCIP: Disinformation worsens HRVs vs. IPs
August 10, 2022

As expected, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) responded to the anti-disinformation and anti-fascism protest by Indigenous Peoples and rights advocates with, what's new? Disinformation---red-tagging, terrorist-labeling, and invalidation of Indigenous Peoples' legitimate calls.

Far from its mandate to uphold the rights and welfare of Indigenous Peoples, the NCIP became the fascist state’s mouthpiece for its systematic and widespread disinformation campaign against the Indigenous Peoples to discredit their long-standing fight for self-determination, ancestral lands, culture, and tradition. Moreover, this tactic of the state is a tool to delegitimize grassroots and progressive organizations and criminalize dissent. The pretentious pro-Indigenous Peoples agency red-tagged indigenous leaders, including Sandugo – Movement of Moro and Indigenous Peoples for Self-determination Council Member and former Bayan Muna Representative Eufemia Cullamat, and Indigenous Peoples and human rights organizations during the commemoration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples by accusing them as fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New Peoples Army – National Democratic Front.

KATRIBU Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas strongly condemns NCIP and the state’s continuing deceit of the Filipinos. Massive disinformation will never answer Indigenous Peoples' calls and demands. It only aggravates human rights violations, including red-tagging, judicial harassment, and killings, perpetrated by the fascist state against the sector. Indigenous Peoples' opposition against development aggression through imperialist plunder, human rights violations using state policies and laws, and disinformation has been advanced long before the establishment of the NCIP.

The red-tagging and disinformation of the NCIP of progressive groups and individuals aim to divert the issues of Indigenous Peoples and cover up the human rights violations they committed against the sector. Apart from the commission’s neglect of Indigenous Peoples’ rights to ancestral lands and self-determination, it also shrugged on the 142,465 victims of extrajudicial killings (102), frustrated killings (149), enforced disappearances (7), tortures (37), illegal arrest (1,173), threat/harassment/intimidation (19,859), illegal arrests with detention (261), fake surrendering (104), bombings/indiscriminate firings, aerial bombardments (23,111), and forcible evacuations (97,662) in the past six years.

The commission also dared to forward the United Nation's theme "The Role of Indigenous Women in the Preservation and Transmission of Traditional Knowledge," while underestimating and red-tagging indigenous women like Cullamat and Bai Bibiaon.

“Sa tagal ng pakikibaka ng mga Katutubo para sa sariling pagpapasya at lupang ninuno, walang ginagawa ang NCIP […] Hindi natin maaasahan ang NCIP na makakasama natin sa pagdepensa ng ating karapatan. Nasaan sila ng pinapatay ang mga Katutubo? Nasaan sila nang nanghihimasok ang mga dayuhang kompanya sa lupang ninuno? Nasaan ang NCIP nang ipinasasara ang mga paaralang Lumad? Nasaan sila nang magkampo ang militar sa mga katutubong komunidad?” Cullamat said during the protest.

(In Indigenous Peoples’ long-struggle for self-determination and ancestral lands, the NCIP neglected its mandate. We cannot expect the NCIP to stand with Indigenous Peoples. Where were they when state forces killed members of indigenous communities? Where were they when foreign corporations committed development aggression? Where were they during the forcible shutdown of Lumad schools? Where were they during the militarization of indigenous communities?)

Moreover, the commission manipulates Free, Prior, and Informed Consent processes in indigenous communities directly affected by mega-dam projects such as the Kaliwa Dam in Rizal and Quezon and Gened 1 and 2 dams in Apayao. It doesn't recognize the collective opposition of Indigenous Peoples against the red-tagging of indigenous leaders and killings of members of indigenous communities, such as the victims of the Tumandok, Lianga, and Bloody Sunday massacres.

Now more than ever, we reiterate our calls in protecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights to ancestral lands and self-determination. We challenge everyone to and defy disinformation and fascism on Indigenous Peoples. Protect Indigenous Peoples' history, identity, and collective struggle. #






Reference:

Rei Paulin
National Coordinator
KATRIBU Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas
09178169258