Aromin, John Henrieson R.

October 30, 2020

Hernandez, Gabriel C. Histo-3-R
Plazuela, Ma. Karla C. Sir Reginaldo
Trinidad, Sofia Jan DG Assignment #2
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN THE PHILIPPINES: THEIR NATURE, STATUS AND
MISREPRESENTATIONS
The hundreds of years of colonization by the Western world bred all kinds of
stereotypes around indigenous peoples (IP) today (Tan, 2015). Driven by their attempt to
Christianize and conquer the world and the stark difference in the way of life of native
Filipino people, the colonizers influenced fellow Filipinos to think that the IPs were different
—uncivilized and inferior. This idea supports Bacdayan's statement that one of the legacies
of colonization is the negative stereotyping towards indigenous peoples. In his article, he
stated the Igorot's resistance to the pressures of the Spaniards and Hispanized Filipinos fueled
the spread of negative stereotypes towards them, and many other indigenous cultures that
resisted.
Today, efforts are made to challenge the stereotypes we grew up with, as manifested
in the Department of Education's national indigenous people education framework. However,
certain IP groups expressed concern in the misrepresentation and misinformation about their
cultures in educational curriculums that could worsen the stereotypes about them. In addition,
mass media could also be a tool to be used to spread the rather negative prejudices about IPs.
This framework is dangerous, especially considering we live in the prime age of technology
and information can be accessed at the palm of our hands.
The global community essentially recognized the century-long misconceptions and
marginalization of indigenous communities. It brought them towards this contemporary time
of gradual reforms and developments that finally concern them such as the country's IPRA,
NCIP, and commitment to UNDRIP— all that support their rights and protect their culture
and identity. Different organizations have also decided to empower and fight for their welfare
through progressive advocacies and actions. But was it already a milestone for them?
Presently, subtle traces of discriminatory practices and new forms of oppression
against ethnic minorities persist in the country, like the recent news that featured NCIP for
allowing a mining project in the ancestral domain and how KAMP (indigenous organization)
previously deemed IPRA a "failure" and "tool to deceive and appease the IP's struggles for
land and self-determination" (Salamat 2011) because many so-called development projects
have been continuously leading to IP's displacement. Evidently, our law governing body is
conflicted and lacks proper provision of its legislation, only serving the states' purposes.
These situations are in accord with Benjamin's (2015) statement that indigenes will have a
hard time fitting their claims within the modern legal framework. Consequently, a state easily
appropriates "national-level indigenism" to legalize economic projects within an ancestral
land that will benefit its citizens, yet ironically removing affected indigenous groups their
rights to the land itself.
Media has a significant role in misrepresenting the indigenous groups and ethnic
minorities in the Philippines. Philippine mass media have portrayed IP and ethnic minorities
with several stereotypes, such as being dark-skinned, primitive, and "simple-minded"
compared to characters in urban areas. Programs such as Maalaala Mo Kaya, a Philippine
anthology series, have represented the physical appearances of ethnic minorities through
blackface in several episodes such as Ilaw (2018) and 600 Pesos (2019), which both featured
stories of people from the Aeta group. Telles (2017) focused on the misrepresentation of
indigenous people and ethnic minorities in a set of environmental documentaries produced by
GMA Network that present these groups as communities who still practice a primitive
lifestyle, showing that there is a need for an "urban savior;" and commodifies these minority
groups by merely making them case studies to reinforce the subject for "saving the
environment." Tan (2015) further presents these reinforced stereotypes against various ethnic
groups and indigenous people through various textbooks distributed for primary and
secondary education levels. These prejudiced illustrations spread the misrepresentations
against the ethnic groups and IP to students, thus continuing the cycle of stereotyping and
misrepresenting.
Though the Philippines tries to value and raise awareness about indigenous people,
misinterpretation and stereotyping is still evident, resulting in other Filipinos having an image
of indigenous people being primitive and uncivilized. As the next generation, we should not
perpetuate these misrepresentations and stereotypes against ethnic groups and IP in our
society. The information taught in schools should be modified to present indigenous people's
stories and information to show to other Filipinos that IPs are also Filipinos, and they are our
equals. They should be given respect and equitable rights as non-IP Filipinos enjoy. Lastly,
IPRA should be strictly implemented and be followed because it seems that this law is being
compromised like in cases where development projects are given more importance than the
right of the ancestral domain of the IPs resulting in loss of ancestral domains of IPs.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Benjamin, Geoffrey. "Who gets to be called ‘indigenous’, and why?" Keynote Address,
International Conference
on Access to Justice for Indigenous People Centre for Malaysian Indigenous Studies
(CMIS) and Faculty of Law, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, April 10 2015.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274952754_Who_gets_to_be_called_'indige
nous'_and_why
Sarmiento, Bong. "NCIP allows Tampakan mining project in ancestral domain." Inquirer.net,
October 28, 2020.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1353286/ncip-allows-tampakan-mining-project-in-
ancestral-domain
Salamat, Marya. “Indigenous peoples’ groups decry use of IPRA and NCIP for development
aggression.”
Bulatlat, August 12, 2011. https://www.bulatlat.com/2011/08/12/indigenous-peoples
%E2%80%99-groups-decry-use-of-ipra-and-ncip-for-development-aggression/
Tan. Michael. “Filipino, Filipinos.” Inquirer.net, February 06, 2015.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/82324/filipino-filipinos.
Telles, Jason Paolo. 2017. "Imaging the Indigenous in Philippine Environmental
Documentaries."
The Journal of Communication and Media Studies 2 (3): 25-43.
doi:10.18848/2470-9247/CGP/v02i03/25-43.
Bacdayan, Albert. “Ambivalence Toward The Igorots: An Interpretative Discussion of a
Colonial Legacy.”
Cordillera Studies Center, September 2001.
http://www.ephilippines.org/uploads/1/8/1/9/18191455/tupc_vol1.pdf.