ILOILO – Human rights advocates are calling out the government for what they claimed are its shortcomings to protect Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in the Visayas from systemic neglect, land dispossession, and state-linked harassment — a situation they say is worsening under weak policy implementation and insufficient budget support.
At a recent press briefing on the State of the World’s Human Rights, Amnesty International Philippines, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Region VI, and nongovernment organization PROCESS Foundation-Panay jointly raised alarm over perceived continuing violations of the civil, political, economic, and cultural rights of IP communities. They urged newly elected officials and national agencies to take concrete action.
“Living under multiple threats and attacks to basic civil and political rights and economic, social, and cultural rights should not be normalized,” said Amnesty International Philippines acting director Jepie Papa.
He also criticized the ongoing red-tagging of activists and the harassment of environmental and development workers.
The organizations noted a pattern: while IP communities are among the country’s most vulnerable sectors, government support remains inconsistent, especially in the form of budgetary allocations.
PROCESS Foundation-Panay executive director Lorena Navallasca cited examples where IP programs exist in name but lack the necessary funding from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
“We have programs on IPs, but most interventions need budget from the NCIP. And there’s no budget. So we ask, has the IP budget under various administrations increased or decreased? That’s the indicator,” Navallasca said.
She added that ancestral domains — the core of IP identity and livelihood — continue to be under threat from large-scale development projects.
“Their access to resources is limited. Their ancestral domain is a target of so many developments and projects that destroy their land,” said Navallasca.
CHR-6 regional director Atty. Jonnie Dabuco emphasized the commission’s advocacy for the passage of a comprehensive anti-discrimination bill.
“These are just a few of the proposed bills that the Commission on Human Rights is also pushing hard for their passage,” he said, adding that true protection of IP rights requires legal and institutional reforms.
The groups stressed that the government, as the primary duty bearer, must be called out for the continued marginalization of Indigenous Peoples and other vulnerable sectors. Citizens, especially those outside these communities, were also urged to demand transparency and action.
“We are optimists,” Navallasca said. “The civil society organization is able to raise concerns, and we are hopeful that the government will listen to us and respond to what we are advocating.”
Papa warned that without meaningful change, generations of Indigenous Peoples may face deeper poverty, exclusion, and injustice. “If governments here and around the world fail to listen to people’s movements, the burden on these communities will continue to grow.”/PN
