Philippine Indigenous Peoples embrace dialogues for inclusive peace

21 May 2019 – Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in the conflict-affected island region of Mindanao in the Philippines now more confidently use dialogues to peacefully resolve their socio-political challenges, said Dominik Hamman, coordinator of the GIZ-implemented Civil Peace Service program of the German government together with the NGO Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID). He made the remark in connection with the observance of the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development today.

The partnership supports the IPs in their advocacy to achieve inclusive peace.

The IPs are asserting their right to self-determination -- specifically, their rights to their identity, ancestral domains, and natural resources -- against industrial, commercial, and insurgent incursions that have claimed IP lives and caused their massive displacement from their lands. The rights are guaranteed under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007), and the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of the Philippines (1997).

The lands and resources are the lifeline of the IPs, and caring for them, an integral part of their culture.

Being naturally peaceful, the IPs eagerly join forums where they could openly discuss and thereby hopefully resolve their challenges with other stakeholders.

The latest of these forums is Winning the Peace: A Multistakeholders’ Dialogue on the Philippine Peace Process, held on April 24, 2019 in Davao City. The forum, organized by IID and the Ateneo De Davao University, allowed government agencies, NGOs, the academe, religious groups, the media, and IPs to discuss viable paths to peace in the Philippines.

At the forum, Secretary Carlito Galvez, chief of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Reconciliation and Unity, and Assistant Secretary Dickson Hermoso gave updates on the peace talks between the Bangsamoro Government and the communist insurgency, and on Executive Order (EO) 70 (Institutionalizing the Whole-of-Nation Approach in Attaining Inclusive and Sustainable Peace, Creating a National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, and Directing the Adoption of a National Peace Framework).

EO 70, signed only in December last year, is meant to end the country’s long-standing armed conflicts, through inclusive development, harmonized delivery of government services, and multisectoral participation in peacebuilding, all down to the local level.

The IPs expressed their appreciation of the efforts of the government to achieve broader inclusion. However, they also expressed fear that the EO would escalate vertical conflicts that could result in further displacement of indigenous communities. Secretary Galvez took careful note of the concern of the IPs.