Message of Support
Greetings of Peace and Solidarity to all the participants and guests
of this Local Peace Forum.
Around two weeks ago, a group of around thirty (30) Indigenous
Peoples coming from the Teduray, Lambangian, Dulangan Manobo and Higaonon Tribes
visited the Timuay Justice Hall in Kansad Gadung in Mt Fakal. It was an exposure trip as part of a series of
trainings on IP Self-Governance. A first
timer would take a minimum of nine (9) hours on foot to reach this
Teduray-Lambangian Seat of Governance 1200 meters above sea level.
Nestled at the foot of a dense forest, the Timuay Justice Hall
(also called Malacanang of the IPs so that others can also picture it out) is
the main building in a cluster of wooden structures built by the Tedurays
themselves from 1990-2010. It is not in any
way similar to our image of a governance capital where concrete is
the conventional building material; but it is the spirit of a struggling but happy
people, both living and gone ahead, that makes it sturdy and full of energy.
As we gather here, two more groups of trainees had just visited the
eastern part of Mindanao for an exposure trip to the ancestral lands of ComVal
Province. They went there to see how,
despite the constraints of the law, their fellow IPs – Mansaka, Mandaya,
Manobo, Dibabawon, Mangguangan and Kagan -- with the unrelentless facilitation
of the NCIP Provincial Office and informed support from their provincial
government, were able to get their Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles
(CADTs) after long, arduous years of follow up.
They were also there to see how the six (6) tribes made themselves
knowledgeable and confident enough to negotiate with banana, mining and logging
companies as co-equals in managing resources that are inside the ancestral
domain. Some of them can even say 'no', and present sustainable options.
From
there the group proceeded to Pamulaan, or what we commonly know as IP
University in Mintal, Davao City. They
went to see how education using indigenous knowledge, skills and practices
(IKSPs) are being maximized to revive leadership structures that have survived
thousands of years. They saw how these
IKSPs will fortify themselves in facing up and adjusting to the seemingly
insurmountable influence of external governance structures.
In
Pamulaan they will try to see how their hunger for education can be responded
to by duty holders, inasmuch as their request for more schools, and not
plantations, always surfaces prominently in many community consultations. While many wished to send their children to school there, they too wish that their children would not have to suffer being separated from their families while striving to get a good education.
From
Pamulaan they proceeded to Don Bosco in Makilala, North Cotabato, to see how
people there were able to free themselves from the slavery of chemical fertilizers,
pesticides, and weed killers by going back to how their ancestors produced food for
thousands of years. With biodynamic
farming they will see how harnessing the energies of the soil, sun, wind and
stars can actually provide their food and health needs and still be
commercially viable with their dignity intact.
Being
able to eat food that are grown without being dependent on destructive chemical
inputs; being able to settle conflicts so that the regular courts won’t be
congested; being able to harness the forest and its bounty the way our
ancestors did for thousands of years; being able to resuscitate a dying culture
back to life – these are just some of the elements that will determine the
direction that the Lumads in the ARMM will take in these challenging times.
And
because you know where you are going, I have faith deep in my heart that the
Teduray, Lambangian, Dulangan Manobo and Higaonon are already exercising their
Right to Self Determination. We hope to
be of help to you in the little victories you gain along the way; and in the
same breadth that it will also be our happiness when the time comes that you
tell us you are ready to run things on your own.
On
behalf of our operating partners – the Institute for Autonomy and Governance
(IAG), Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), and Development Consultants (DEVCON) – let
me extend our heartfelt congratulations to Lumad Development Center
Incorporated (LDCI) for initiating to revive and strengthen your traditional
systems of justice and governance; and also to the European Commission (EC) and
the Catholic Committee Against Hunger and For Development (CCFD) for supporting
this initiative.
To the generations of yore, to the generation of today, and to the generations of tomorrow, I say Meuyag!
Aveen Acuña-Gulo, IPDEV
Local Peace Forum
Tribal Hall, Nuro, Upi, Maguindanao
20 June 2013
