Ecip Statement On Indigenous Peoples Sunday Celebration 2014

On October 12, 2014, the Catholic Church will hold the 37th annual celebration of Indigenous Peoples Sunday. Ever since its inception in 1978, the CBCP-ECIP has always been in the forefront of expressing our solidarity with the challenges faced by our indigenous brothers and sisters all over the Philippines.

For this year’s IP Sunday celebration, our theme is:  “Indigenous Peoples Lives:  Blessed in the Midst of Challenges.”  The theme is also in consonance with the forthcoming Church’s celebration on “Year of the Poor”.

Though the indigenous peoples (IPs) are relatively poor, their concept of poverty is quite different from many of us. They always see the blessings even in the midst of their hardships or sufferings.

We hope that during this year’s celebration of IP Sunday, we will get more support from our non-indigenous brothers and sisters to look into the current situations of indigenous peoples and provide necessary assistance to alleviate the challenges and difficulties experienced by more or less 15 million IPs throughout the country.

Foremost among these challenges and difficulties is the non-recognition of their rights to ancestral domains/ lands, culture and self-determination.  The continued intrusion into their ancestral domains/lands of different profit-oriented business companies , such as in mining, logging, single crop plantation, huge dam and energy programs,  and other infrastructures projects without the true process of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) clearly violates their rights.  More often than not, militarization escalates whenever the IP’s demand for their rights to safeguard the cultural heritage.

Many local leaders do not support the “indigenous peoples mandatory representation” (IPMR).  Different excuses are being thrown so as not to accommodate the real IP leaders who are chosen by their communities as representatives to different local legislative branches.  Many LGUs still use “patronage politics” in indigenous communities and IPs have no real participation in the affairs of their local governments.

We are for peace.  We recognized the peace efforts of the government and MILF. However, we are calling our legislators to include in the consultations the real participation of IP groups – the Teduray, Lambanginan and Dulangan Manobo communities in the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) that is being deliberated in both houses of Congress. We hope that the end result of the proposed law will include the indigenous peoples rights as distinct and as enshrined in the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) or Republic Act 8371.  It should adhere to the genuine peace agreement that do not only recognize the rights of our Moro brothers and sisters but also the non-Moro indigenous peoples.

Only through genuine consultations and constant dialogue with all the stakeholders could we achieve the peace that eludes us for so long.

We are also calling for all the IP groups in the country to unite and have a common voice in projecting their issues and concerns.

These and other expectations of partner Indigenous Peoples all over the country will be addressed if majority of Filipinos will get involved to fully recognize the rights of indigenous peoples of the Philippines.

We hope and pray that mutual respect and sharing will prevail in our hearts and actions so that the blessings of God may be felt by our IP communities amidst all the challenges.

For the Episcopal Commission on Indigenous Peoples (ECIP) on the occasion of Indigenous Peoples Sunday 2014,

Respectfully yours,

(SGD) MOST REV. PRUDENCIO P. ANDAYA, JR., CICM, D.D.
ECIP Chairperson and Vicar Apostolic of Tabuk