IP challenge Sec Ochoa: Implement indigenous people agenda- KATRIBU

KATRIBU Partylist, an indigenous peoples (IP) sectoral party challenged the new Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa as oversight cabinet secretary of the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), to sincerely uphold IPs rights.More specifically, he can expedite the implementation of the Indigenous People Agenda, crafted by the different IP organizations and submitted to Malacanang last August 2010.

Among others, the IP Agenda submitted by the group calls for the following:

1.Repeal of the Mining Act of 1995 and enact an Alternative/People's Mining Bill. Immediately implement a moratorium of large-scale mining operations in IP ancestral territories and review of existing land laws and policies that impacts IP rights to their ancestral lands.

2.Enact an anti-discrimination law, and other laws that uphold indigenous knowledge systems and practices.

3. Ensure the full implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the International Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)and the recommendations of the 2008 Philippines IP ICERD Shadow Report.

4.Resume the peace talks with the NDFP and the MILF. Abandon the government's counter insurgency program that grossly violate human rights and indemnify all victims of human rights violations of the past government.

Likewise KATRIBU challenged Mr. Ochoa to reverse or cancel all anomalous decisions on the issuances of certificates on ancestral domain claims by the NCIP, and remove NCIP officials who have undermined the free prior inform consent ( FPIC ) processes.

“The NCIP has been and still is a questionable institution for the IP. Since its formation in 1997, it has been used push anti-indigenous people policies and programs that include the facilitation of large-scale mining and logging operations in our lands.” Longid further explain.

Similar concerns as above were raised during the various activities and dialogue with the NCIP in celebration of the IPs day last August 9 held at the RVM building in Batasan Complex..

KATRIBU also calls to Mr. Ochoa to pull out all state's military and paramilitary groups from the IPs ancestral domain. “Intensified military operations and encampment in our communities have resulted to massive human rights violations”, Ms. Longid said

To date , 10 extra-judicial killings of IPs have been documented since the start of the Aquino regime. Communities especially in Mindanao were forced to evacuate due to militarization.

If Secretary Ochoa is able to positively respond to the calls of the indigenous peoples, only then can he claim that he is worth the task to oversee the NCIP. -30-