Page 12 - Empowerment and Protection - The Philippines

the author works for initiatives for international Dialogue - iiD, a Philippines-based advocacy institution promoting human security, democratisation and people-to-people solidarity. IId conducts policy advocacy and campaign programs on burma, Mindanao, southern thailand, West Papua, and east timor. In 2000, it established the Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) – a platform and network of grassroots organisations, communities and nGos affected and engaged in the conlict in Mindanao. together with other peace networks, IId led the establishment of the Mindanao Peaceweavers (MPW), the broadest peace network for Mindanao in the country, and currently serves
as its secretariat. IId coordinates the southeast Asia network of the Global Partnership for
the Prevention of Armed Conlict (GPPAC).
▪ Push the call for federalism. Ensure that this
call sustains the identity and recognition of IPs under the law. This initiative can make use of
the IPRA because this is already a nationally and internationally recognised law and ratiied for full implementation.
▪ Utilise the United Nations’ recognition of the universal rights of IPs that in turn acknowledges how IPs predate Christianity and Islam. Given
that the Philippines is a signatory to the UN declaration on IP rights and has promulgated the IPRA, this can be used to bolster the IP position for recognition.
▪ The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) should take up the cause for IPs and ensure their best interests are protected at every level
of the negotiations and preparation towards the establishment of the Bangsamoro.
▪ The integration of the IPRA provisions into
the BBL should be ensured. It may be easier to incorporate the IPRA law into the BBL rather than the BBL developing its own expression of its IPRA elements. IPRA is already a law whereas the BBL will still need to go through the legislative process.
▪ Proponents may pursue recognition of certiicates of ancestral domain titles of IPs within the BBL as well as the proposed territory. Proponents could ile a mandatory injunction with the Supreme Court calling for the full implementation of the IPRA, national and international laws pertaining to IP rights, including domain, territory and identity, before the BBL is ratiied.
▪ As a fallback, efforts should ensure that the
BBL provisions for equal rights applies to all, particularly those who have expressed their desire to not be a part of the Bangsamoro territory.
▪ Engage the younger generation. Help youth
to develop their advocacy for shared as well as emerging issues. Utilise appropriate media – micro, mass, social – to engage and inform them. Aim for goals that span generations, not just years.
▪ Develop comprehensive, globally oriented and forward-looking advocacy programs. Advocacy programs must emphasise the interconnected nature of human security concerns and engage
the global dimension of issues such as human traficking and economic parity.
On government engagement
▪ Guarantee and deliver essential rights, services and entitlements, and consistently pursue a foreign policy based on beneicial support and development rather than competitive advantage. Government consistency and constancy to these tenets allows communities to realise their growth and development potentials more fully.
▪ Rationalise and harmonise legislation and policy. Consistency and coherence of socio- economic-political agendas is necessary to ensure no overlap or marginalisation of interests. Legal instruments such as laws, orders and promulgations need to be rationalised and made consistent with other laws. This reduces occasions of conlict and insecurity due to varying or conlicting levels of appreciation and interpretation of such laws.
▪ Ensure transparency of policymaking through representative participation and multi- stakeholder engagement. By building trust-based relationships and engaging a broad spectrum
and number of stakeholders, there is a greater appreciation of the message and less doubts about its desired outcomes. Reducing suspicions and doubts through transparency encourages greater participation and involvement.
Recommendations from Datus on iPs and the Ongoing Peace Process
Our most pressing security issue as IPs is how
our territories will be administered as part of the identiied Bangsamoro territory. This has ramiications for our identity, our governance, our territory and our opportunity to develop as a distinct people.
There are several actions that we might take to ensure that IP interests are safeguarded in the Bangsamoro delineation processes. We have several recommendations to make this happen:
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