The Indigenous World 2025: Philippines
The country’s Indigenous population continues to be estimated at between 10% and 20% of the national population of 109,035,343, based on the 2020 population census.
The Indigenous groups in the northern mountains of Luzon (Cordillera) are collectively known as Igorot while the groups on the southern island of Mindanao are called Lumad. There are smaller groups collectively known as Mangyan on the island of Mindoro as well as smaller, scattered groups in the Visayas islands and Luzon, including several groups of hunter-gatherers in transition.
Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines have retained much of their traditional, pre-colonial culture, social institutions and livelihood practices. They generally live in geographically isolated areas with a lack of access to basic social services and few opportunities for mainstream economic activities, education or political participation. In contrast, commercially valuable natural resources such as minerals, forests and rivers can be found primarily in their areas, making them continuously vulnerable to development aggression and land grabbing.
The Republic Act 8371, known as the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA), was promulgated in 1997. The law has been lauded for its support for respect of Indigenous Peoples’ cultural integrity, right to their lands and right to self-directed development of those lands. More substantial implementation of the law is still being sought, however, apart from there being fundamental criticism of the law itself. The Philippines voted in favour of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) but the government has not yet ratified ILO Convention 169.
This article is part of the 39th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous activist Funa-ay Claver, a Bontok Igorot, standing alongside Indigenous youth activists and others. They are protesting against the repressive laws and human rights violations suffered through the actions and projects of the Government of the Philippines and other actors against Indigenous Peoples at President Marcos Jr’s national address on 22 July 2024 in Quezon City, Philippines. The photo was taken by Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas and is the cover of The Indigenous World 2025 where this article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2025 in full here
Nearing its third year, the Marcos Jr. administration is undoubtedly prioritizing the simplified entry and operations of renewable energy and large-scale mining projects. In 2022 and 2023, Marcos Jr. made policy reforms and pronouncements in favour of foreign investments and big corporations.[1] Such pronouncements were reiterated in 2024, with Marcos Jr. touting climate change and disasters as one of the primary reasons why the country should fast-track renewable energy and mining projects.[2] These efforts of the administration are reflected in the Philippines being named the second most attractive emerging market for renewable energy projects in 2024.[3] Amid this aggressive move of the administration to sell the Philippines as a strategic investment, Indigenous Peoples find themselves head-to-head with government agencies and corporations who are hounding them to give up their lands and territories for the supposed betterment of the nation.
Persistent development aggression
The Department of Energy (DoE) recently recorded a grand total of 1,486 renewable energy project applications, most of them relating to hydropower.[4] In the Cordillera region, home to the Igorot Indigenous Peoples and the only region where Indigenous Peoples comprise the majority of the population, 109 hydropower, 5 geothermal, 3 solar, and 2 wind energy projects are being proposed by various foreign and local corporations.[5] The numbers further show that Cordillera remains home to the greatest concentration of hydropower projects in the entire country, followed by Northern Mindanao (Region 10), where some of the Lumad Indigenous Peoples live.
At present, hydropower projects considered a priority are those that are integrated into flood-control or irrigation projects which, upon a closer and more critical look at their reported infrastructure requirements and overall design, are essentially hydropower complexes that cover thousands of hectares of land. In 2024, for instance, the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) received reports from affected Indigenous communities in the province of Abra that a certain Palsiguan Dam was to be built along the Palsiguan River. The dam is not reflected in the list of awarded projects released by the Department of Energy but further digging revealed that the dam is part of a big ticket irrigation project known as the Ilocos Norte-Ilocos Sur-Abra Irrigation Project II (INISAIP II) that Marcos Jr. is insistent on implementing.[6] The Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) processes for affected communities in Ilocos and Abra are rolling as of 2024 but most of their details are kept in the dark and community reports are still coming in. Meanwhile, in the province of Iloilo, the Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project Stage II (JRMP II), primarily projected as an irrigation project but otherwise known as the Jalaur Megadams, is nearing completion[7] after Marcos Jr. himself called for its acceleration and approved its additional budget of PHP 8.4 billion (approximately USD 140 million) in 2023.[8] The project was highly condemned in 2020 after 9 Tumandok Indigenous individuals who were active in opposing it were killed by police forces.[9] Four years have passed and not a single one has been held accountable. It is expected then that in the coming months or years, more renewable energy projects in the pipeline will be aggressively pushed by the current administration in the guise of electrification, flood-control or irrigation, all the more so given that Marcos Jr. is jumping on the bandwagon of the global call for countries to shift to so-called green economies.[10]
A similar trajectory is expected for large-scale mining applications, which comes as no surprise since the Marcoses have family ties with the Romualdezes who own the country’s oldest mining company, Benguet Corporation, Inc (BCI). In fact, in October 2024, BCI acquired a new mining permit outside of their namesake location despite the controversies surrounding their attempt, on 6 May 2024, to grab the community pocket mines situated on the ancestral territory of the Kankana-ey and Ibaloy Indigenous groups of Sitio Dalicno, Itogon, Benguet.[11] The affected communities were at that time already battling another mining expansion project led by Itogon-Suyoc Resources, Inc. (ISRI), and the entry of BCI to the scene added to the mounting violations of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and the FPIC process. For context, both BCI and ISRI established operations in the area prior to the enactment of laws that protect Indigenous Peoples. BCI began in 1903 and ISRI in 1925. After a century of operations, both are now attempting to expand by laying claim to ancestral territories near their current mining sites. These incidents should have been more than enough to illustrate the possible impacts of loosening already lax policies on development aggression projects, and yet more pronouncements, especially on mining, were eventually made to further aggravate the situation.
Aside from reiterating calls for a fiscal regime that favours mining companies, the current administration has facilitated mining companies’ applications by introducing a streamlined, digital process.[12] This will reduce the Mines and Geosciences Bureau’s (MGB) processing of mining applications from seven years to two. The MGB will also introduce a parallel system that will allow them to process permits even without other necessary documents from local government units and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).[13] This means that even if other documents are pending, mining applications will be processed for quicker approval once the prerequisite permits, such as FPIC, are acquired. The MGB claims that this initiative is a result of Marcos Jr.’s socio-economic agenda on “ease of doing business reforms” in the interest of “strategic investments”, legalized through an Executive Order in 2023.[14] This move aligns well with the proposed revisions to the FPIC Guidelines of 2012, also introduced in 2024 through a sudden consultation called by the NCIP. The draft revisions further weaken the FPIC by exempting “certain large-scale economic activities”, by blocking access to environmental impact statements, by reducing the number of days allotted for community assemblies, and by reducing the participation of the affected Indigenous Peoples.[15] The process by which the draft revisions were presented was also rushed and poorly disseminated. By the end of 2024, NCIP had made no official announcement or update on whether the revisions had been approved. Clearly, all legal stumbling blocks for foreign investments or resource extraction are being overturned at the expense of Indigenous Peoples.
The prospect may seem grimmer than ever but the long tradition of defending ancestral lands and territories still burns brightly. Indigenous groups in the Cordillera region, for example, have been lambasting the MGB and NCIP over violations of FPIC, filing one case after another up until the very end of 2024, and hence contributing to an estimated total of 14 cases of FPIC violations affecting 130,445 Indigenous individuals nationwide.[16] The most recent one involves the Indigenous Peoples of Mankayan, Benguet who filed a preventive suspension against NCIP and MGB officials over FPIC irregularities concerning the issuance of Crescent Mining and Development Corporation’s (CMDC) mining permit.[17] MGB is notorious for issuing permits even without FPIC, while NCIP is notorious for manipulating FPIC processes.[18] [19]
It is, however, frustrating that no matter the efforts to engage in legal battle, no one is yet being held accountable for the human rights violations and for breaking national legislation, and when affected communities and Indigenous activists resort to other democratic measures to assert their rights, they find themselves on the receiving end of State-perpetrated reprisals.
Continuing attacks – not even UNSRs are spared
On 2 February 2024, UN Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan concluded her official visit to the Philippines through a press conference in which she laid out her observations and recommendations to the Philippine government. Echoing former UN Special Rapporteur Ian Fry’s recommendations in 2023, Khan called for the abolition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and the penalization of red tagging, the labeling of individuals or organizations as communists, subversives, or terrorists, regardless of their actual political beliefs or affiliations.[20] NTF-ELCAC Executive Director Ernesto Torres Jr. was quick to condemn Khan’s statement, calling it “counterproductive” and a betrayal, even going so far as to say that the UNSR was being “used” by anti-government elements.[21] On the contrary, in Khan’s visit to Baguio City, it was the local city council who provided the venue for her consultation with civil society organizations in Northern Luzon. Representatives from media, youth, peasant, and Indigenous Peoples were present in the consultation, including the four Indigenous activists from CPA who were arbitrarily designated as terrorists in 2023. Khan’s statement was simply a reflection of the terrors being experienced by marginalized sectors under NTF-ELCAC and the repressive laws that enable it.
As if to give UNSRs a taste of this terror, unidentified elements were reported to have tailed UNSR on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples José Francisco Calí Tzay on his visit to dam-affected Indigenous communities in the province of Kalinga. Tzay was in the Philippines in July 2024 as part of his academic visit, and his itinerary included a trip to an Indigenous community in the Cordillera region. The Philippines Commission on Human Rights (CHR) condemned this surveillance and initiated an investigation with results that are yet to be made public.[22]
These events, while already alarming, are but a mere glimpse of the continuing attacks against the people. To date, 73 human rights violations experienced by an estimated 237, 931 Indigenous individuals have been documented by the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC)-Friends of the Earth Philippines, indicating a 428% increase since the beginning of Marcos Jr.'s term.[23]
Meanwhile, the four Indigenous activists who were arbitrarily designated as “terrorists” attended court hearings in 2024 for their petition challenging the designation. The Office of the Solicitor General, who represents the Anti-Terrorism Council and the Anti-Money Laundering Council, eventually filed a motion requesting the presiding judge dismiss the appeal and for the legal counsel of the petitioners to be disqualified.[24] The former was granted, while the latter is yet to be decided by the succeeding judge. This delaying tactic entails another calendar of court hearings, thereby prolonging the injuries caused by the terrorist designation - threats to the safety and security not only of the designated individuals but of their families as well.
But all is not lost. In June 2024, a local court in Tagum City, Davao del Norte dismissed trumped-up human trafficking cases against red-tagged tribal chieftain Datu Benito Bay-ao.[25] Months later, and islands away from Davao del Norte, the Baguio City Council approved a Human Rights Defenders Ordinance (HRDO). The ordinance, approved with finality at a council session on 9 December 2024, aims to protect activists from threats and harassment, penalization of red tagging included.[26] Protective mechanisms include strengthened coordination and cooperation with the regional office of the Commission on Human Rights, sanctuary as well as legal and psycho-social support for high-risk human rights defenders and their families, and penalties ranging from PHP 1,000 to PHP 5,000 for anyone who violates the ordinance. The approval is a much needed and welcome development, especially to numerous Indigenous activists and organizations who are based in Baguio. Added to this victory was the fact that Joan Carling, former chair of the CPA and prominent Indigenous activist, was awarded the alternative Nobel Prize, known as the Right Livelihood Award, for her work in promoting Indigenous Peoples rights across the globe.[27]
Moving forward with Indigenous youth
Dark as it may sound, our leaders of today will not be around forever and there is no certainty of political situations that will keep them safe from the forces that want to harm them. Currently, against a backdrop of escalating human rights violations, Indigenous leaders always find themselves in grave situations where their lives are at risk. The many organizations that serve as an expression of the Indigenous Peoples’ movement in the Philippines are then compelled to seek and develop strong second-liners to deliver tasks and leadership roles. Where else to look but to the vibrant Indigenous you who are or are set to become changemakers of and for the future?
There is no accurate data or estimate of the precise size of the Indigenous youth population in the Philippines but, from practice and informed observations, Indigenous youth are often concentrated in urban and rural centres where schools are located. Indigenous youth, indeed, leave their communities to seek education and employment elsewhere. However, this phenomenon is an effect of militarization or the lack of basic social services in Indigenous communities rather than an utter lack or loss of Indigenous community ethos among Indigenous youth. This has been happening for decades, and what is now necessary is to give significant attention and study to the impacts, extent, and generations of Indigenous youth migrating in the 21st century, whether permanent or transient, in order to come up with new strategies for youth empowerment and organizing.
The Lumad of Mindanao tried to address this by establishing their own schools for Indigenous children and youth, thus providing them with the right to education within the comfort and resources of their communities. The previous Duterte government killed this initiative by militarizing their communities and forcing them into a mass evacuation to the city centres. The schools were eventually forcibly closed.[28] The Department of Education (DepEd) does not have any consolidated information on whether or not the students were integrated into the mainstream educational system but Lumad activists are continuing to call for the reopening of their schools to this day.[29]
Still, Indigenous youth are finding ways of organizing outside their communities. School-based cultural or ethnic organizations are common but there are more political ones too that are speaking out on issues concerning Indigenous lands and territories. Some Indigenous youth leaders who grew up in the city are also active in organizing community integration programmes that involve the participation of other youth advocates.[30] In their own ways, these Indigenous youth are paving the road back to their communities, not only for them but for other young people as well. It is now up to all generations of Indigenous Peoples and advocates to figure out how to harness or encourage this young energy, all towards greater participation and eventual leadership in overcoming the contemporary challenges of the Indigenous Peoples’ struggle.
Ned Tuguinay is an Igorot youth from the Cordillera region of Northern Philippines. He is a spokesperson for the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), a federation of grassroots Indigenous Peoples’ organizations across the Cordillera.
This article is part of the 39th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous activist Funa-ay Claver, a Bontok Igorot, standing alongside Indigenous youth activists and others. They are protesting against the repressive laws and human rights violations suffered through the actions and projects of the Government of the Philippines and other actors against Indigenous Peoples at President Marcos Jr’s national address on 22 July 2024 in Quezon City, Philippines. The photo was taken by Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas and is the cover of The Indigenous World 2025 where this article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2025 in full here
Notes and references
[1] IWGIA. 2024. The Indigenous World 2024: Philippines. https://www.iwgia.org/en/philippines/5372-iw-2024-philippines.html
[2] Marcos Jr., Ferdinand R. “Keynote Speech of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ABIS) 2024.” Presidential Communications Office, 9 October 2024, https://pco.gov.ph/presidential-speech/keynote-speech-of-president-ferdinand-r-marcos-jr-for-the-asean-business-and-investment-summit-abis-2024/
[3] BloombergNEF. “Power Sector Results: Climatescope’s ranking of the most attractive emerging markets for renewable energy investment.” BloombergNEF, November 2024, https://www.global-climatescope.org/results
[4] Department of Energy. “Summary of Renewable Energy (RE) Projects under the RE Act of 2008 as of 30 September 2024.” Department of Energy, 30 September 2024, https://doe.gov.ph/renewable-energy/summary-renewable-energy-re-projects-under-re-act-2008-31-december-2022?q=renewable-energy/summary-of-re-projects
[5] Renewable energy projects awarded as of 30 September 2024, listed per type, are accessible on the Department of Energy website: https://doe.gov.ph/renewable-energy/
[6] Presidential Communications Office. “NEDA Board okays key irrigation, bridge projects to boost economic mobility, calamity response.” Presidential Communications Office, 18 December 2024, https://pco.gov.ph/news_releases/neda-board-okays-key-irrigation-bridge-projects-to-boost-economic-mobility-calamity-response/
[7] Marzan, Joseph Bernard A. “Jalaur River dam project nears completion, set for 2025 opening.” Daily Guardian, 2 March 2024, https://dailyguardian.com.ph/jalaur-river-dam-project-nears-completion-set-for-2025-opening/
[8] Yap, Tara. “Marcos Oks addt’l P8.4-B for Iloilo mega dam project.” Manila Bulletin, 3 August 2023, https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/2/marcos-o-ks-addt-l-p8-4-b-for-iloilo-mega-dam-project
[9] Aspinwall, Nick. “9 Indigenous Leaders Killed by Philippine Police in ‘Massacre’.” The Diplomat, 1 January 2021, https://thediplomat.com/2021/01/9-indigenous-leaders-killed-by-philippine-police-in-massacre/
[10] Atienza, Kyle Aristophere T. “Marcos urges regional leaders to support green and blue bond markets.” Business World, 15 October 2024, https://www.bworldonline.com/the-nation/2024/10/15/628070/marcos-urges-regional-leaders-to-support-green-and-blue-bond-markets-2/
[11] Agatep, Primo P. “DOMAPMA defends rights for survival; claims operations outside BC’s patented mining claims.” Amianan Balita Ngayon, 21 July 2024, https://amiananbalitangayon.com/domapma-defends-rights-for-survival-claims-operations-outside-bcs-patented-mining-claims/
[12] Gonzales, Anna Leah. “Gov't to streamline mining application process.” Philippine Resources: The Magazine for Mining and Construction, 20 October 2024, https://www.philippine-resources.com/articles/2024/10/gov-t-to-streamline-mining-application-process
[13] Campos, Othel V. “MGB launches digital process for mining applications.” Manila Standard, 17 October 2024, https://manilastandard.net/business/314511695/mgb-launches-digital-process-for-mining-applications.html
[14] Campos, Othel V. “MGB launches digital process for mining applications.” Manila Standard, 17 October 2024, https://manilastandard.net/business/314511695/mgb-launches-digital-process-for-mining-applications.html
[15] Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI). “A Call for Effective and Genuine Consultations on the Revised FPIC Guidelines.” IPRI, 19 June 2024, https://iprights.org/index.php/en/all-news/a-call-for-effective-and-genuine-consultations-on-the-revised-fpic-guidelines?highlight=WzIwMjRd
[16] Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center. “State of the Indigenous Peoples Address: 2024 Report.” November 2024, https://www.lrcksk.org/_files/ugd/dc2292_03550a9d18ed413da620508a14ee687a.pdf
[17] Quitasol, Kimberlie. “Benguet village officials sue NCIP, MGB regional chiefs over mining permit renewal sans FPIC.” Northern Dispatch, 17 December 2024, https://nordis.net/2024/12/17/article/news/benguet-village-officials-sue-ncip-mgb-regional-chiefs-over-mining-permit-renewal-sans-fpic/
[18] Cordillera Peoples Alliance. “IPRA and NCIP: 17 Years of IP Rights Violations.” Cordillera Peoples Alliance, 24 October 2014, https://cpaphils.org/ipra-and-ncip-17-years-of-ip-violations.html
[19] Itogon Inter-barangay Alliance (IIB-A). “A Call to Action for Itogon Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative.” IIB-A Official Facebook Page, 24 May 2024, https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1K5T7oaguD/
[20] Khan, Irene. “Preliminary observations by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Ms Irene Khan, at the end of her visit to the Philippines.” Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2 February 2024, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/expression/statements/20240202-eom-philipines-sr-freedex.pdf
[21] Sy Egco, Joel M. “Khan’s visit is counterproductive to anti-terrorism and peace efforts – NTF-ELCAC.” NTF-ELCAC, 3 February 2024, https://www.ntfelcac.org/post/khan-s-visit-is-counterproductive-to-anti-terrorism-and-peace-efforts-ntf-elcac
[22] Commission on Human Rights. “Statement of the Commission on Human Rights on the recent academic visit of the UN Special Rapporteur Francisco Cali Tzay in the country.” Commission on Human Rights, 19 November 2024, https://chr.gov.ph/statement-of-the-commission-on-human-rights-on-the-recent-academic-visit-of-the-un-special-rapporteur-francisco-cali-tzay-in-the-country/
[23] Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center. “State of the Indigenous Peoples Address: 2024 Report.” November 2024, https://www.lrcksk.org/_files/ugd/dc2292_03550a9d18ed413da620508a14ee687a.pdf
[24] De Vera, Sherwin. “OSG seeks judge’s inhibition, lawyer’s disqualification in terrorist designation case.” Rappler, 8 October 2024, https://www.rappler.com/philippines/luzon/solicitor-general-filed-motions-terrorist-designation-case-cordillera-activists/
[25] Laqui, Ian. “Davao court acquits red-tagged IP leader.” Philstar, 25 June 2024, https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/06/25/2365539/davao-court-acquits-red-tagged-ip-leader-trafficking-cases
[26] Cabrera, Vincent. “Baguio to penalize Red-tagging.” Inquirer, 11 December 2024, https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2014358/baguio-to-penalize-red-tagging
[27] Sabillo, Kristine. “Joan Carling is 1st Indigenous Filipino to win Right Livelihood Award.” Mongabay, 16 October 2024, https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/joan-carling-is-1st-indigenous-filipino-to-win-right-livelihood-award/
[28] Beltran, Michael. “In the Philippines, persecuted Lumads push for Indigenous schools to be reopened.” Mongabay, 18 December 2024, https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/in-the-philippines-persecuted-lumads-push-for-indigenous-schools-to-be-reopened/
[29] Rosete, Franck Dick. “Groups push for reopening of hundreds of Lumad schools in Mindanao.” Rappler, 3 December 2024, https://www.rappler.com/philippines/mindanao/groups-push-reopening-lumad-schools-mindanao/
[30] Falyao, Kim. “Life of an Indigenous Youth in the City.” International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL), 3 April 2024, https://www.ipmsdl.org/news/feature-life-of-an-indigenous-youth-in-the-city/
Tags: Youth, Business and Human Rights , Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Defenders
