Over 250 global and local groups pledge to defend Cordillera
On Indigenous People’s month, more than 250 human rights and civil society organisations from all over the world
expressed “support for the defense of the Cordillera region in the Philippines—the people, their land, heritage, and
right to self-determination.” More than 600 individuals and organisations from North America, Europe, Asia, and
Australia signed an online global pact amid intensifying attacks against the Igorot people indigenous to Northern Philippines.
“We sign this global pact both as an expression of support to their struggles and a condemnation of continuing attacks
against their land and lives. In the indigenous tradition of community solidarity we signify our unity and commitment to
the Cordillera people”, says Peter Murphy, a rights advocate based in Australia and the current chairperson of
International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP).
According to the pact, development aggression and violations of indigenous peoples’ rights persist in the Cordillera.
Their ancestral lands continue to be treated as a resource base for profit by the State working hand in glove with
multinational corporations. Large-scale mining, dams, energy, and other foreign projects are masqueraded as
‘development’ at the expense of indigenous peoples’ self-determination and human rights.
Most recent of these attacks is the threat from the Philippine government to demolish the monument of Macli-ing Dulag,
Pedro Dungoc, Lumbaya Gayudan and other local heroes. The marker was installed in 2017 to honour the historic resistance
against the World Bank-funded Chico Dam in the Northern Philippines.
“The heroes' monument, built through the joint undertaking by the martyr's family, the communities, and the Cordillera
People's Alliance (CPA), is a legacy and reminder of the bravery of those who stood in all forms of resistance from
people's movements to armed struggle,” says Beverly Longid, global coordinator of International Indigenous Peoples
Movement for Self-determination and Liberation (IPMSDL), and a co-signatory of the global pact.
This October, the Philippine government through the executive office of the Department of Public Works and Highways
(DPWH) issued a notice to remove the heroes’ monument citing issues of encroachment, despite the fact that it was
constructed on ancestral land. Related maneuvers from the police were documented. General Rwin Pagkalinawan, chief of
the Cordillera police, visited the community where the monument is located and forced the issuance of a resolution
condemning the CPA.
Signatories of the global pact said that both efforts of the government are directed to sanitize and disrespect the
Cordillera's history of struggle while invalidating the contribution of indigenous activist groups defending ancestral
lands.
“This misplaced priority reeks of disrespect to indigenous people's heritage and their long history of struggle. We are
appalled by the government’s concerns during this pandemic. Filipinos and Cordillera people are demanding medical and
economic support and the last thing they need is for the State to make a mockery of their heroes,” says American citizen
Brandon Lee, also a signatory of the pact. Targeted by state-authorities for his human rights work in the Philippines,
Lee survived an assassination attempt in Ifugao, Philippines in August last year and is still recovering from the attack.
The same organisations behind the #DefendCordilleraPH global pact started a petition to stop the demolition of the heroes monument, which has now garnered more than 4000 signatures. According to the online petition, it has
already been more than three years since the monument was built, saying that the government's sudden maneuvers to
dismantle it are but questionable. “These heroes died from the hands of the government and now their legacy is bound to
be killed once more. This is downright tyranny!” says the petition which is currently hosted by online platform Change.org.
“These global initiatives are just the start. We are encouraging our fellow human rights advocates, and all peace-loving
peoples of the world to stand with the Cordillera people. If we don’t act now this could mean not only the erasure of
their heroic history but the eventual ethnocide of our Igorot brothers and sisters,” Murphy