Lumad leaders say No to Cha-cha! SIPAin si GLORIA!

Cagayan de Oro City – Participants of the State of the Indigenous Peoples Address (SIPA) here joined their voices in the call for the immediate exit of GMA from Malacanang. Lumad participants from all over Mindanaw assessed the true state of indigenous peoples after eight years of the GMA administration, and for them another year with GMA in power only means continued discrimination, land grabbing, human rights violations, , environmental destruction, corruption and lies.

In a joint statement from the simultaneous SIPA conferences in Cagayan de Oro and Quezon City, the IP leaders declared “Eight years is enough! Eight years of her corrupt, self serving anti-poor administration has brought nothing but suffering to the country, especially the indigenous peoples who have borne the brunt of her misguided development priorities. History’s verdict is loud and clear. It is known to all Filipinos except for her most rabid sycophants and most zealous apologists.”

Reacting to GMA’s SONA speech, lumad participants claim that historical injustices against the lumad have not been corrected and even worsened as the government championed corporate interests. “Discrimination against us remains, even in the way the government identifies its priority projects. Mining, which the government prioritizes, has in fact destroyed our communities.” lamented Quintol Labuayan of La Bugal Tribal Association based in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat. “Gitanyag niya ang atong kayutaan sa mga foreign investors,” (she offered our lands to foreign investors) said Marjorie Paulin of Pikhumpongan Dlibon Subanen, Inc.

Legitimized Landgrabbing

The SIPA participants rejected moves for charter change not only in opposition to political term extension but also against giving further economic rights to foreign individuals and corporations such as 100% ownership of lands. As it is, even without charter change, lumads already view state policies and projects as instruments to legitimize land grabbing that involve their ancestral lands.

Norma Capuyan of the Apo Sandawa Lumadnong Panaghiusa sa Cotabato (ASPLC) said that “Even titles like CADT could not guarantee indigenous peoples right to security and self determination in their territories, because the government allows the entry of mining companies in ancestral domains.”

Referring to the Pulangi V Hydro Electric Power Dam Project in Bukidnon, Wilmar Ampuan of Nasavakan Tarigunay’t Bukidnon du’t Kalindaan (NATABUK) added that “If the construction of the dam continues, 40 percent of ancestral lands will be lost. It’s like the government essentially legalized the grabbing of our lands”.

Human Rights Violations

IP leaders and communities have not been spared from the escalating cases of human rights violations. Military operations continue to displace the B’laan communities in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat and the Manobo communities in Lianga, San Agustin and Tago in Surigao del Sur.

Capuyan further adds “The violation of our human rights continues, like killing of our leaders who stood to defend our ancestral lands. The latest lumad leader killed last July 6, 2009 was our companion”referring to Agustin Cumawas, chair of Matalam-Kabacan Lumad Organization (MAKALO). The Indigenous Peoples Rights Monitor has documented 137 cases of killings of IP community members from 2001 to 2009, 13 of which are women (4 pregnant) and 19 youth.

No to Cha-cha! SIPAin si Gloria!

Regarding the legacy of GMA, the IP leaders said in the joint statement, “for us indigenous peoples, she leaves behind continued discrimination, rising human rights violations and legitimized land grabbing in the name of illusory development. This is her real legacy”. In Cagayan de Oro the lumad leaders chanted, “Batukan ang Cha-Cha, sipain si Gloria!”

The SIPA is organized by the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC-KsK/FoEI).