GENEVA 19 July 2021 – The Philippines underscored its commitment to enhance the participation of indigenous peoples in UN or Human Rights Council meetings, citing its contribution of USD 25,000 this year to the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Indigenous Peoples to support efforts in this regard at the Virtual Human Rights Council Intersessional Roundtable on Indigenous Peoples on 16 July 2021.
National Commission on Indigenous Peoples’ (NCIP) Secretary Allen A. Capuyan stressed that indigenous peoples’ representation and participation are prerequisites in efforts to reverse systemic marginalization and exclusion suffered by indigenous peoples and to harness their role in nation-building.
The Philippines is the first country in the region and one of the few in the world to legally recognize the rights of Indigenous Peoples through the landmark Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997. This law became a model for what ten years later was to be known as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
IPRA requires mandatory representation of indigenous peoples in every local legislative council at all levels chosen by the indigenous peoples themselves through their own procedures. To date, there are over 4,000 Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representatives in local decision-making bodies nationwide.
Secretary Capuyan cited the government´s conscious efforts to ensure meaningful participation of IPs in all discussions affecting them including in the international fora. These include the familiarization of IPs in UN meetings through the UN Web TV, the facilitation of direct virtual dialogue between the IP communities and UN representatives and experts such as the UN Special Rapporteur on indigenous peoples, Mr. Francisco Cali Tzay, and the diligent consultation with IPs to ensure that Philippine positions in all international fora on IP matters duly reflect the views and interests of the IPs.
At the 47th Human Rights Council Session (HRC47) on 12 July 2021, the Philippines supported the adoption of the resolution on civil society, welcoming the reference in the resolution to the need to support the diversity of participation particularly for underrepresented parts of civil society and others not associated with NGOs or formally organized into such. The delegation made a pitch for the further democratization of civic space, ensuring that it is not dominated only by the loudest and most resourced but by a plurality of voices that truly represent the issues and concerns of sectors, particularly indigenous peoples.
Source: Republic of Philippines Department Of Foreign Affairs