SITUATION OF

INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES
AS OF 2019, THE NCIP HAS
ISSUED 243 CERTIFICATES OF
ANCESTRAL DOMAIN TITLES,
WITH A TOTAL LAND AREA OF 5.7
MILLION HECTARES AND A
TOTAL OF 1.3 MILLION IPS AS
RIGHTS HOLDERS.
IN TERMS OF TERRITORIES,
ABOUT 7.7 MILLION HECTARES
ARE OCCUPIED BY THE IPS, OR 26
PERCENT OF THE COUNTRY’S
TOTAL LAND AREA OF 30
MILLION HECTARES TOTAL.
• The state outrightly utilizes its right of state to dispose
public lands for activities such as mining, logging, and
installation of dams that infringe upon the IP's ancestral
domains.
• The limitations and prohibitions extends not only to their
basic needs but also prevents them from performing
important rituals in their lives. This includes wedding
ceremonies that are normally held without cost but
costs around 50 to 500 pesos when NCIP officials
conduct it, that is burdensome to IPs who lack sources
of funds.
China-funded projects violating Indigenous Peoples’
rights
China-funded Kaliwa Dam project has intensified as the
project will displace over 1,400 Indigenous Dumagat
families and affect more than 100,000 peoples.
Indigenous Peoples and various groups also criticised
the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR) for issuing an environmental compliance
certificate despite stiff opposition to the project.
1.The lack of budget
• Poorer living conditions and higher
incidence of poverty in regions where
indigenous peoples are found or
concentrated.
• 61 per cent of indigenous peoples live in
Mindanao and contributes 31 per cent of
the total poverty incidence.
The 2023 proposed budget of the NCIP is P2.8 billion but
under the 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the
recommended budget is P1.468 billion.
Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro City) said
the reduced budget showed neglect and non-attention of
the government to the IPs.
In response to the query of Rep. Mark Go (Lone District,
Baguio City) regarding what programs would be affected by
the decrease in the budget, Capuyan said the most affected
activity is the program on the delineation of ancestral
domain. He said they are proposing for an additional amount
of P700 million. Go expressed his support to the NCIP proposal
for an additional budget.
One of the major accusations that NCIP has
been receiving is their alleged active
participation in front organizations
specifically in the Communist Party of the
Philippines-New People's Army- National
Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF). The
continuous “red-tagging” has made it difficult
for them to ask for this year's budget hike.
2.General health situation
• Infant mortality rate and the maternal
mortality rate are high.
• Health and nutrition problems.
• Absence or lack of basic health personnel,
facilities, resources and information in
these extremely poor upland groups.
2.General health situation
• Study also found that for many indigenous peoples’ poor
nutrition, especially among children and mothers, is
often a direct or indirect cause of their common illnesses
and deaths.
• Deficient food intake and diet due primarily to the
poverty conditions in these areas, aggravated by the
rapid depletion of their natural resources. The nutrition
value in their food is unbalanced, with more
carbohydrates and starchy foods that are deficient in
protein, vitamins and minerals.
3. Food insecurity
• A major factor causing food insecurity and poverty
among indigenous peoples is the loss of ancestral land
because of displacement by development projects and
extractive industries (e.g. mining, dams and logging) or
natural causes.
• Environmental degradation – destruction of forests,
pollution of waters and loss of agrobiodiversity as a
result of impacts of extractive industries and agriculture
modernization.
3. Food insecurity
• Modern agriculture - factor that has most extensively
constrained indigenous peoples’ food systems. It has
caused loss of agrobiodiversity and the emergence of
new types of pests and diseases, and has threatened the
continued practice of indigenous sustainable agriculture.
The Department of Agriculture has introduced and
promoted high-yielding varieties, which require massive
use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides; this has
reduced soil fertility in farmlands, leading to a
diminishing yield.
Coping mechanisms against food shortage
• Diversifying food crops and sources
• Hunting and gathering
• Engaging in menial labor in nearby urban areas to earn a daily wage
and increasing the size of cultivated land
• Emergency measures taken by the family during times of shortage
include reducing consumption or eating lower quality foods
• Borrowing food or money from neighbors or kin
• Selling assets such as farm land
• Stinting the number of meals per day
• Evacuation
• Outmigrating
• Mendicancy
4. Armed conflict
• Armed conflict in indigenous peoples’
communities has led to the loss of their
livelihoods. Many indigenous communities,
particularly in Mindanao, have been forced
to evacuate from their homes and farms
because of military operations against
Muslim and other armed groups.