DAVAO CITY, Philippines (UCAN) -- Representatives of indigenous peoples (IP) have called on the government to respect their rights to ancestral domain in planning for development and discussing peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

More than 100 leaders from 13 tribes in Mindanao, the southern Philippine region, met July 28-31 to discuss concerns they say President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did not acknowledge in her State of the Nation Address on July 28.

The tribal leaders issued their State of the Indigenous Peoples Address during their closing ceremony at Freedom Park in Davao City, 965 kilometers southeast of Manila, on July 31. Tribal leaders Fernando Mudai, Onsino Mato, Norma Capuyan and Monico Cayog handed the statement to Davao City councilor Conrado Baluran, who represented Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

In their statement, the leaders claimed government development projects have resulted in hunger, poverty and loss of homes for indigenous peoples. "Arroyo's policies of making profit out of natural resources means our loss of livelihood and source of life," they said.

In her address, Arroyo reported her government had awarded ancestral-domain titles for 525,000 hectares of land in Mindanao. She promised more extensive health and hospitalization insurance, "especially for farmers and fishers" in five Mindanao provinces.

However, IP representatives reported their farm lands are still being converted to dams, mine sites and energy plants. They demanded the government "stop taking our lands and the country's natural resources for the profit of multinational corporations and the elite few."

The Philippine Mining Act of 1995 allowed 100-percent foreign investment in mining operations in the country, despite a constitutional cap of 60-40 equity in favor of Filipino investors.

Even with the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act (IPRA), IP are not able to exercise their "own laws" in their "own land," the representatives complained in their statement.

Enacted in 1997, the IPRA recognizes IP rights to self-governance, self-determination and ownership or possession of ancestral domain, and it mandates the state to formulate plans and policies to protect IP rights.

IP leaders called for a "genuine commission," where community processes of consultation and decision-making in accordance with their traditional justice systems will be respected. They reported the National Commission of Indigenous Peoples "has not gained the communities' trust" because it is "not biased for us, as it should be."

Implications of negotiations between the government and MILF were also discussed. Moro refers to Philippine Muslims, mostly in Mindanao, where the MILF has been fighting for an Islamic state in traditional Muslim territories since the 1970's.

"We also have our own territories" in Mindanao, the IP representatives asserted in their statement.

Chieftain Odoy Sawangga of Bukidnon province, north of Davao, told UCA News, "We were kept blind by the two (negotiating) panels." IP leaders said they should have been consulted about the negotiations.

In her national address, Arroyo said peace negotiators had "resolved" lingering "differences" between the government and MILF on the ancestral-domain issue. Her press secretary, Jesus Dureza, had told reporters in Manila the heads of the negotiating panels were scheduled to sign a memorandum of agreement on Aug. 5 in Malaysia.

However, on Aug. 4, the Supreme Court en banc issued a temporary restraining order on the government. The justices unanimously decided to hear oral arguments on Aug. 15 for the case filed by Mindanao politicians, led by Vice Governor Emmanuel Pinol of Cotabato, who complained of lack of consultation with affected residents.

Pinol told UCA News on Aug. 2 that an unofficial copy of the draft agreement he, Church people, Moro and IP leaders discussed in late July provides for a plebiscite on placing more than 700 villages under the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE), which is to have authority and jurisdiction over the territory. Muslims are the minority in some of the areas, Pinol noted.

Father Renerio Sabuga Jr., coordinator of Cagayan de Oro archdiocese's Indigenous People's Apostolate, told UCA News at the IP meeting that the Church "needs to promote peace" in consultation with cultural communities that will participate in the BJE plebiscite.

He said, "doubts and fears of lumad (indigenous people) need to be balanced with objective and purposive understanding about the BJE."

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