๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง
March 17, 2025
CPA Secretary General, Bestang Dekdeken, talked about the impact of mining and energy projects, militarization and Terror Laws on Cordillera Indigenous peoples, particularly Indigenous women, during side events held on the first week of the 69th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women*.
30 years after the Beijing Platform for Action laid out strategies for promoting gender equality and advancing the rights of women worldwide, Indigenous women remain disproportionately affected by multiple forms of violence and systemic discrimination.
In the Cordillera, State violence is causing a rising number of women victims of trumped-up charges (15 victims from 2018-2024), numerous cases of terrorist labeling and various threats to life, security and liberty, especially resulting from their assertion of Indigenous peoplesโ collective rights to ancestral lands and resources.
Dekdeken and Innabuyog chairperson, Virginia Dammay, also joined Filipinos in New York in welcoming the arrest of former president Duterte, citing that:
โAs we support the trial of former president Duterte by the International Criminal Court, we demand that Duterte is also made accountable for the numerous human rights violations committed against Indigenous peoples under his regime.
Let us not also forget that the present Marcos administration is no different from the Duterte. In fact, Indigenous peoples under the current administration are experiencing worse human rights violations with the weaponization of the Anti-Terrorism Law and Terrorist Financing Prevention and Suppression Act against Indigenous activists, and the upsurge of destructive mining and energy projects in our lands.โ
*The UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. With very limited space for engagement in the formal sessions, Indigenous women conduct side events and bilateral engagements to discuss their issues and recommendations.