It is estimated that 12-15 million indigenous people inhabit the Philippines (approximately 15-20% of the total population), speaking around 170 different languages and belonging to 110 ethnic communities. According to the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), the majority (61%) of indigenous peoples in the country live in Mindanao, while a third (33%) are in Luzon, and the remaining (6%) population are in Visayas.
Republic Act 8371, commonly known as Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), enacted in 1997, sets out the legal framework for the rights of indigenous peoples. The law mandates the Philippine government to “recognize and promote the rights of indigenous peoples/indigenous cultural communities (ICCs) within the framework of national unity and development and to protect the rights of ICCs to their ancestral lands to ensure their economic, social and cultural well-being.”
The ILO’s involvement with indigenous peoples in the country started in 1994 through the former INDISCO project that implemented several pilot projects in ICCs. Currently, the ILO Office in Manila is supporting the following initiatives in the Philippines:
Community Development Initiatives and Management of Ancestral Domains by Indigenous Peoples – “Support to Poverty Reduction and Promotion of Human Rights among the IPs in the Philippines in the Context of Ancestral Domain Development and Protection” is a three-year project funded by the Embassy of Finland in Manila and is being implemented in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, Mindanao. Its objective is “to contribute to enhancing the capacity of indigenous peoples, both women and men, in the context of self-reliance to protect their rights and to take the initiative to reduce poverty within the framework of the development and protection of their ancestral domain”.
Policy Support, Capacity Building, Information Dissemination, Advocacy and Promotion of IP rights – These include continued promotion of ILO Convention No.169 and assistance for the review and better implementation of existing enabling policies and laws such as the IPRA and the country’s medium term development plans covering indigenous peoples. These will deal with issues related to discrimination, cumbersome land titling procedures for ancestral domains, poverty, poor governance structures and other concerns affecting the empowerment and strengthening of ICCs. Case studies, research, workshops and trainings may be organized in this regard. The celebration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People in the Philippines has been organized every year since 2006 by the ILO in collaboration with other UN agencies, intergovernmental and governmental institutions, in order to raise awareness of indigenous peoples’ rights, issues and concerns.