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Lumad Killings Central Theme in FPE’s Latest Roundtable Talks

Posted on May 20, 2016

Responding to the spate of violent incidents that have taken hundreds of lives of lumad in Mindanao in the previous year, the Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE) in partnership with the Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) staged the “Roundtable Conversation on Environment and Indigenous Peoples’ Concerns in Mindanao” on April 15, 2016 at the latter’s campus community center.

The talk was organized in line with FPE’s strategic focus to emphasize the integral role of indigenous peoples and communities in biodiversity conservation and sustainable development (BCSD) efforts, as well as the protection of ancestral domain. Lumad and other indigenous peoples are protected by law through Republic Act No. 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) Law. However, despite the legislation, discrimination, disrespect, and violence against these individuals and their communities remain prevalent in today’s society.

Participants of the roundtable discussion. (FPE file photo)

In the case of lumad killings, which occurred with alarming frequency in 2015 and most recently figured in tragic events in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato in early April, there is a common perception that the incidents were not being documented through formal or systematic means by concerned government agencies.

The Roundtable Conversation presented a venue to tackle this important, but overlooked issue. Aiming to elevate discourse on the matter in order to encourage informed decisions leading to concrete actions, the event welcomed dialogue among members of the FPE Board of Trustees, management and staff and Mindanao Regional Advisory Committee (RAC), and key representatives from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Armed Forces of the Philippines, representatives of the academe, and leaders of IP groups.

During the roundtable discussion, FPE presented findings of the rapid assessment and documentation that the Foundation produced on the lumad killings in Mindanao to General Hernando DCA Iriberri, AFP Chief of Staff, and to his second-line leaders. The AFP likewise discussed their program on lumad and IP protection to promote better understanding, appreciation, and possible collaboration among concerned stakeholders. The event also helped draw out a positive response from the CSAFP, acknowledging that the issue of lumad killings is a necessary first step towards a holistic response on environmental protection and protection of the rights of the lumad.

The body arrived at the following consensus points:

1. to protect the rights and lives of IP communities as environmental defenders;
2. to pursue and expand the conversation on lumad concerns among wider audiences and agencies which are enforcing and/or supporting the rights of the IPs (i.e., DOJ, CHR, PNP, NCIP, AFP, OPAP, CSOs, etc.); and
3. to conduct an in-depth study on the lumad situation in Mindanao.

The organizers are hopeful that the event served as a venue that planted seeds for sustained partnerships—among the AFP, NCIP, other concerned government enforcement agencies and FPE and its network of civil society, academic, and indigenous peoples’ organizations—toward initiatives that will minimize, if not totally eradicate, the occurrences of anti-lumad violence in Mindanao.