Nanang (mother) Irene Baawa, 64, not only makes a mean native coffee but also serves as the de facto peace pact holder of an Abra tribe. Arthur L. Allad-iw Northern Dispatch Bulatlat.com Malibcong, Abra — Nanang (mother) Irene Baawa, 64, wakes up early in the morning. She boils native coffee in their dalikan (native stove).…
Category: Indigenous Peoples
Kalingas Forge Peace the Bodong Way
How are the rules of bodong (traditional peace pact) and state laws used to settle conflicts between two tribes? This question elicited a thousand and one responses from Kalinga tribes who, in an assembly here last week, moved for the holding of a bodong congress soon. By Lyn V. Ramo and Marlon Gomarcho Northern Dispatch…
Church Leaders, Lumads Gear for Anti-Mining Protests in Mindanao
The Supreme Court has upheld with finality the constitutionality of the Mining Act of 1995 but the struggle against this law that allows transnational corporations to engage in destructive mining activities continues, especially in Mindanao. By TYRONE VELEZ Bulatlat.com DAVAO CITY – With the Supreme Court (SC) deciding with finality on the constitutionality of the…
IP, Environment, Church Groups Picket International Mining Confab
“We have had enough of big foreign and local companies that compromise environmental protection and respect for indigenous peoples and their ancestral domain in their pursuit for maximum profits.” – Rev. Fr. Allan Jose Arcebuche, OFM BY NOEL GODINEZ Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat BAGUIO CITY —Some 200 protesters, many of whom traveled all the…
Ibalois Face Eviction from Ancestral Lands in Camp John Hay
“I pleaded before her, saying ‘God gave this land for people to stay’ but she answered in English which I didn’t understand,” related Martha Dayog. Dayog is an Ibaloi, one of the residents of Happy Hollow and Liwanag, villages in Camp John Hay whose residents are being evicted. “Her” was Lyssa GS Pagano-Calde, legal counsel…
The Bee Hunters of Lamag
Aside from hunting in the forest, the Ilamag gather honey from wild bees called in their native Kankanaey language as iyokan, alig, lukutan. By Belinda P. Ngiwas Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat.com QUIRINO, Ilocos Sur – The Ilamag – indigenous people of Lamag in the tri-boundary of Ilocos Sur, Abra, and Mt. Province, northern Philippines…
First Six Months of the 13th Congress
The 13th Congress has used up almost a third of its term, reportedly spends millions a day for its legislative work and still has tons of work to do. It must now work double pace if it would like to compensate for lost time – as some of its members undoubtedly do. BY ALEXANDER MARTIN…
Water War: Ayalas Pit Themselves against Calamba Villagers
One of the Philippines’ mega-rich families – the Ayalas – are finding themselves locked in a war over water in Calamba City. Calamba residents their water source could be contaminated and worse, depleted because of a world-class golf course the Ayalas are building. By DENNIS ESPADA Bulatlat.com CALAMBA CITY – Residents of this city, which…
Indigenous Groups Decry 7 Years of IPRA Law
Dumagat, Remontado and Mangyan indigenous peoples from Southern Tagalog picketed the office of the National Commission Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in Quezon City where they held a traditional blood-letting ritual of a native chicken. The protest action was to condemn the enactment and seven-year implementation of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) which they say is…
Canadian Mining Firm Driving Subanons Off Their Sacred Land: Siocon’s main water source damaged by erosion from open-pit gold mine
“TVI is not concerned about the spiritual aspect…or the ecological aspect. They are only concerned about the economic aspect. Do they intend to live alone and us to die?” – Gody Galos, Save the Siocon leader. By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat.com Mt. Canatuan in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte (390 kms. northwest of Davao in southern…
Joan Carling?s Journey to Damascus
As she herself admits, Joan Carling – chair of the Cordillera Peoples? Alliance – felt no pride in having been born of Cordillera?s indigenous peoples when she was younger. But she would reach a point from which there was no turning back, and now she is a prominent leader of the Cordillera peoples? movement against…