CHR tells gov’t: Respect Lumad rights and identity in ancestral land plans

Any plan to develop ancestral lands should not interfere with the welfare, identity and rights of Lumads, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) reminded government on Wednesday.

“Recently, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte proposed the possibility of opening the ancestral lands of Lumads to investors. While the President’s intention is to generate economic activity towards alleviating poverty in the Lumad area, it is vital to be circumspect when it comes to development plans involving ancestral domains,” CHR said in a statement.

“The State must uphold the rights and well-being of the [indigenous cultural communities] and [indigenous peoples] development plans must not supersede their welfare, identity, and rights but must instead contribute to the strengthening and enhancement of their plight,” it added.

Duterte said last week that he would find investors to develop Lumad ancestral lands in Mindanao.

This did not sit well with some indigenous communities saying such plans would displace more Lumads from their homelands.

Lumad school Alcadev sneered at Duterte’s plan, saying that “large mining, logging and agro-industrial corporations operate in and destroy our ancestral lands would only further exploitation of our natural resources which would lead to lack of food and hunger!”

READ: Investments in ancestral lands could displace ‘lumad’

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, however, clarified that Duterte was not “forcibly” removing the Lumads from their lands, noting that they would still be consulted about the development plan and they are free to reject it.

“Of course, the IPs (indigenous people) will be consulted, that’s the provision of the law. They will have to decide if they will allow foreign investors in to begin with, he looked at the law,” Roque said in a Palace briefing.

READ: Lumads free to reject dev’t plan on ancestral domain areas – Palace

The CHR said that one of the duties of State—under Section 5, Article II of the Constitution—is to “ensure the economic, social, and cultural well-being” of ICCs (indigenous cultural communities) and IPs.

It said that any development plans must take into consideration the rights of ownership and possession of ICCs/IPs to their ancestral domains, which are recognized and protected under the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act or Republic Act 8371.

“At the heart of this is the protection of the rights of ICCs/IPs to their ancestral lands,” the CHR said.

“For the ICCs and IPs, ancestral lands are sacred – their very identity and life are anchored on the land that their ancestors have nurtured and fought for with blood and sweat,” it added.

Among the rights enshrined in the IPRA are the IP’s right of ownership; right to develop, control, and use lands and natural resources, including the right to negotiate the terms and conditions for the exploration of natural resource; right to stay in the territories, which means they cannot be relocated without their free and prior informed consent; and right to regulate entry of migrants, among others.  /muf