BAGUIO COMMEMORATES INT'L IP DAY, 2ND INT'L DECADE OF THE WORLD'S INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines (August 12)— A week-long film festival dubbed as Rambakan was held at the University of the Philippines (UP) Baguio from August 8 to 11to celebrate the United Nations (UN)-declared Indigenous Peoples Day on August 9. Feature films on the culture and issues of indigenous peoples in different countries of Latin America, United States, Africa and Asian regions, including the Philippines, were shown. Rambakan was sponsored by UP Baguio, the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), and the Tebtebba Foundation.

Indigenous peoples’ rights have been dealt with by the United Nations since 1982. The UN Working Group for the Draft Declaration on Indigenous Peoples Rights, composed of representatives of indigenous peoples from different countries, have discussed ways and means to address the issues of indigenous peoples in the world. In 1994, the group agreed to set a decade of drafting a declaration on indigenous peoples’ rights. It was on the same year that August 9 was declared International Indigenous Peoples Day by the United Nations and has been celebrated by CPA through the years that followed.

In the Declaration, 46 articles discuss indigenous peoples’ rights to land, education in their own languages, practice of distinct cultures and beliefs, and self-determination.

According to Victoria Tauli Corpuz, a Kankanaey and chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples Issues, “After 24 years, a declaration on indigenous peoples’ rights was finally adopted through the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) on June 28 of this year.”

During the session of the UNHRC in June, the Philippines abstained when the votes were called for the adoption of the said declaration.

“It is a shame that the Philippines insists not to adopt it when it speaks of supporting indigenous peoples in the country as evidenced by the presence of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act,” added Corpuz.

2006 marks the start of the Second International Decade of Indigenous Peoples Rights. In this decade, the areas of focus are indigenous peoples’ issues on culture, education, health, human rights, the environment and social and economic development. # Sarah Dekdeken/CPA-PIC