Ms. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Tebtebba executive director and former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (first from the left), and Prof. Ricardo Ma. Duran Nolasco, founding chair of 170+ Talaytayan Multilingual Education Incorporated (first from the right), as they hand over certificates of appreciation to Dr. Gina O. Gonong, Undersecretary for Curriculum and Teaching (second from the left), and Mr. Ivan Anthony Henares of UNESCO.

“Ang usapin ng lenggwahe, partikular sa aming mga katutubo, ay isang napakahalagang aspeto. Ito ang nagbubuklod sa amin upang maipagpatuloy namin ang aming pamumuhay sa loob ng aming komunidad. Naisasaayos namin ang mga sigalot gamit ang sarili naming lenggwahe (The discussion about language, specifically for us as Indigenous peoples, is highly essential. Our indigenous language unites us, allowing us to continue our way of life. It enables us to fix different issues and conflicts within our community).”

Johnmart Salunday, Indigenous Peoples’ Mandatory Representative (IPMR) of Puerto Princesa, Palawan in the Philippines and President of Nagkakaisang mga Tribu ng Palawan (NATRIPAL), shared on the importance of their indigenous language during the 2023 Conference-Workshop on Indigenous Languages and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the University of the Philippines (UP) Visayas in Iloilo City, Philippines on 21 to 23 February 2023 that was attended by over 300 participants including representatives from indigenous peoples’ organizations, political structures and communities, civil society organizations, the academe, and other relevant actors and stakeholders.

The three-day event was co-organized by UP Visayas, Tebtebba, Talaytayan Multilingual Education Inc, ABC+ Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines, Philippine Normal University, and Lyceum of the Philippines University with support from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International. The said gathering was an offshoot of the first one, entitled 2022 Philippine Conference on Indigenous Languages: A Response to the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, that was held at UP Diliman in Quezon City, also in the Philippines, on 25 to 27 October 2022.

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"Esa ay main objective nan Tebtebba et nu kasanu ay papigsaen nan umili tapno dakkel nan kumpiyansa da ay mangipapati ay waday karbengan da bilang Indigenous Peoples. Wada’y karbengan da ay mangprotektar as daga da ya am in ay resources ay wada ken daida ya usaren dana ay resources para si paggawisan nan umili." (One main objective of Tebtebba is to strengthen the community to have the confidence to assert their rights as Indigenous Peoples; that they have the right to protect their land/ancestral domain and all resources within their territory and to utilize these resources for the betterment of the community.)

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Founder and the Executive Director of Tebtebba, stressed on empowering indigenous peoples so that they may be able to defend their rights during the opening session of the Orientation on Indigenous Peoples Sustainable and Self-Determined Development (IPSSDD) for the Pidlisan Tribe Organization held on 17-19 November 2022 at Ecolodge, Baguio City, Philippines.

Around 25 elders and members of the Pidlisan Tribe Organization (PITO) from Sagada, Mountain Province of the Cordillera region participated in the three-day orientation which aims to elaborate Tebtebba’s integrated and holistic framework of IPSSDD and deepen understanding of its core elements—human rights-based approach, knowledge-based approach, ecosystems approach, sustainable economic sufficiency, intercultural, intergenerational, and gender dimensions, among others.

As a starting activity, the participants were grouped to fill out a matrix where they wrote the current issues and concerns being faced by the community, agencies involved that can help solve the problems, and their recommendations for action. Most of the reported matrices were in relation to environmental issues, revitalization of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSP), Livelihood, and Human Rights, among others. They also highlighted specific government agencies and Civil Society Organizations which can help them address these issues.

To better understand the five modules integrated in the IPSSDD, facilitators from Tebtebba discussed each module and provided a corresponding activity and open forum for each session.

Florence Daguitan of Tebtebba’s Philippine program highlighted the global multiple crises where she and the participants identified the social and ecological challenges being faced by indigenous peoples and relate these with existing economic, socio-cultural, and political systems of Indigenous Peoples at the local level. 

The Introduction to Human Rights-Based Approach was facilitated by Beth Bugtong-Biano, Coordinator of the ELATIA Training Institute and Abigail Kitma of the Indigenous Peoples Rights program where orientation on basic human rights and its principles were given highlighting national and international policies including the Indigenous peoples Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA) and the United Nations Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). A group activity on the needs and rights of a person was also conducted. 

Activity regarding Land Use, Resources Utilization and Management was then facilitated by Roger Lambino of Philippine Program relating it to the session on indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge and territorial management systems. Through this, participants were able to determine the different land use types and traditional knowledge within their territory. 

Finally, an activity on traditional economies was facilitated by Helen Biangalen-Magata of the Resilience program where participants determined the benefits, challenges, and actions points towards preserving traditional economies. It was highlighted in this said activity that one of the main challenges faced by the community regarding the transfer of knowledge is the lack of interest and participation of the youth sector. They also provided actions points regarding these challenges in order to strengthen and promote traditional economies.

The three-day activity culminated with remarks from the participants claiming that this orientation helped them not just to have a better understanding of their rights but also to plan a way forward to strengthen their community and engage the youth in order to sustain their IKSP.

“Mantraining tako ta way isaa tako ay pagsayaatan din ili tako baken din ta way iyat tako ay man kontra sin goberno. Salamat sin nan-ited sina. Yan nan naadal tako, baken tekken, ngem siya nan dati ay ikkan tako, isunga papigsa en tako,” highlighted by Anthony Toyoken, member of the Pidlisan Tribe Organization. (Let us attend trainings so we can bring knowledge and use them back home to our community, not to use them to contradict the government but for our betterment. We thank you [Tebtebba] for conducting this training. In Addition, the things we have learned are not different, but the same from the things we have been doing since then, so let us strengthen them.)

This orientation was organized by the ELATIA Training Institute and facilitated by the Tebtebba’s Philippine Program with support from Swedbio.

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Paracelis, Mountain Province, Philippines—Following a series of research and documentation conducted last year on Licoy historical accounts, indigenous knowledge systems and practices and demographic trends, the Ganak da i-Licoy is pushing forward plans for formal ethnic recognition and ancestral land delineation this 2023, possibly through the guidance of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and in collaboration with the local government unit (LGU) of Paracelis and other concern government agencies. This is to fulfill their long-before aspiration of getting recognized as a distinct ethnic community with its own ancestral territory.

Read full article: https://philippine.tebtebba.org/index.php/latest-news/ganak-da-ilicoy-to-push-for-ethnic-recognition-and-ancestral-land-delineation-seeks-ncip-guidance-and-assistance-from-the-paracelis-lgu

"Indigenous peoples represent the future, not the past, because of their knowledge of how to work with the land and Indigenous knowledge-based climate change adaptation and mitigation," Kimaren Ole Riamit of the Indigenous Livelihoods Enhancement Partners (ILEPA) from Kenya emphasizes during a side event in the recent climate conference. 

Riamit joined a small team of Elatia in the 27^th Conference of Parties (COP 27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that took place in Sharm El Sheikh in 6-18 November 2022.  The COP that ended in a decision by state parties to agree on funding arrangements for responding to loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, saw the biggest indigenous peoples’ participation so far, with around 180 representatives from all around the world. 

Despite strong and active engagement of indigenous peoples, the historic decision has no reference at all to human rights and indigenous peoples’ rights, to which many climate activists have expressed dismay. 

“It is concerning,” Grace Balawag of Tebtebba has also expressed concern on the seemingly lack of political will of the convention to do good as she points out that indigenous peoples are also absent in the Global Stocktake processes. “While countries report progresses in the implementation of the Paris Agreement, indigenous peoples are getting lost in national aggregates” she added. 

The two-week conference has seen extensive actions in side events in the pavilions and packed agenda on outstanding agenda items including on climate financing, on loss and damage, stocktaking of the implementation of the Paris Agreement and on carbon market and non-market approaches. 

Meanwhile, the second annual gathering of Traditional Knowledge Holders in the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP) was held in conjunction of the COP 27. Nicky Batang-ay of the Climate Change Program of Tebtebba and who also represented the youth delegation of the institution emphasized the need involve indigenous youth and to build alliances in order to influence national climate policies. 

Nicky Batang-ay stresses on the importance of youth involvement in influencing national climate policies.

Amidst the clamor for a more just and inclusive COP, Eileen Mairena who is following the climate finance agenda expressed the need for a direct access of indigenous peoples to climate funds. This is seconded by Anne Samante of the Mainyoito Pastoralists Integrated Development Organization (MPIDO)who urged inclusivity in climate funds who raised that “in East Africa, a long and serious drought causing death of cattle and other animals is impacting indigenous peoples’ livelihoods, wellbeing and survival”. 

The representatives of Elatia and Tebtebba cannot emphasized the role and contribution of indigenous peoples in in climate solutions enough. And so the struggle to get the parties of the COP recognize this contribution, and start acting on it by not only recognizing it in climate decisions, but more importantly in climate actions.  

As such, Tarcila Rivera Zea of the International Forum of Indigenous Women and the executive director of Centre for Indigenous Cultures of Peru (CHIRAPAQ) motivates indigenous peoples in climate conference. "Let us continue to build life,” she said as Elatia partners look forward to engaging again in the lead to the next COP happening at the United Arab Emirates in 2023.