Speech
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
On the Philippine observance of the Second International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
[Delivered at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, August 16, 1996]
A global family
of peoples
TODAY, we mark the culmination of weeklong activities celebrating the second International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. This day also ushers in Peace and Freedom Week, which I proclaimed to commemorate the martyrdom of Ninoy Aquino. There is much more than a casual connection to be established between these two events.
Ninoy’s concern for the indigenous was clearly reflected in the prepared arrival speech that he would have delivered at the airport, where he met a heroic death.
Justice for all Filipinos
Ninoy’s unsaid words underlined that “economics, social and political problems bedevil the Filipino. These problems can be surmounted if we are united. National reconciliation and unity can be achieved but only with justice, including justice for our Muslim and Ifugao brothers. Subversion stems from economic, social and political causes and will not be solved by purely military solutions. It can be curbed not with ever-increasing repression but with a more equitable distribution of wealth, more democracy and more freedom.
“The Filipino asks for nothing more, but will surely accept nothing less than all the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution—the most sacred legacies from the founding fathers.”
These words were written thirteen years ago, but they remain highly relevant to our current efforts to provide equity and social justice to our indigenous communities.
The United Nations General Assembly, through Resolution 49/214 of December 23, 1994, proclaimed 1994-2004 as the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. At the same time it designated August 9 of each year of the decade as the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
To help organize the Philippine contribution to this effort, I signed Administrative Order 206 last month creating a national committee to mobilize Government agencies and to coordinate their efforts with non-Government organizations such as the Earthsavers Movement and the Tricap. The chairman of the committee is the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and its cochairman the Secretary of Education, Culture and Sports.
Earlier this year, the Philippines hosted the Global Indigenous Cultural and Youth Olympics (GICOS)/Summit for Peace and Sustainable Development as the country’s initial activity for the decade in response to the U.N. resolution.
Peace and unity: our commitment to cultural pluralism
As I emphasized during that summit in February, concurrently with the 10th anniversary of our People Power Revolution at EDSA, the Philippines is firmly committed to the principles of cultural pluralism.
This commitment lies at the very heart of our self-image as a free people of diverse origins brought together into a forward-looking and progressive nation. The upliftment and the accordance of proper respect for the interests of our indigenous peoples is an essential and active ingredient of our Government’s program of reforms.
The welfare and development of our ethnic communities have been specifically covered in our Social Reform Agenda, which is our action plan to bring social equity, poverty alleviation and social integration to all sectors of society, without severing them from their traditional cultural roots. The agenda aims to empower all Filipinos, regardless of ancestry, tribal grouping, language, religion or regional identification.
These considerations have been equally important for reinforcing the foundations of peace within and among communities. For peace to endure, the root causes of instability and conflict must be dealt with.
We must progress together
This is also why we are fighting hard for peace in Mindanao, for genuine and lasting unity among all our people, so that we can turn our energies on our most positive goals, employing our most positive qualities.
Peace and development are the objects of last June’s Davao City consensus that the Government reached with the Moro National Liberation Front. That agreement envisions our 14 southern provinces and the cities in them being brought into a special zone of peace and development—with a Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development as one of the many mechanisms to promote it.
Development cannot be an exclusionary process. If the nation is to progress, it must do so as a whole—and to do so as a whole, it must think and act as a whole, as Filipinos, and not just as Christians or Muslims or lumad or other individuals of varied backgrounds or beliefs.
This is what the special zone stands for—an opportunity with a precious time advantage during which all of us can work together without serious interruptions or disturbances to hasten community development and nation building.
Let us remember what that greatest of all young Filipino leaders and patriots, José Rizal—whose centennial we celebrate this year—said in this respect. In a speech he delivered in Madrid 105 years ago, Rizal spoke of the need for self-sacrifice and for unity in the service of the nation.
“Gentlemen,” he said, “let us maintain firmly union and solidarity among us; let the good of the mother country be our only cause; and let us prove to everyone and make it clear-that if a Filipino wills, he can.”
In his final moments, he wrote in Mi Ultimo Adios:
“When my death is forgotten, my grave unmarked, let the plow turn the earth where I lie. May my dust make fertile the fields. Where the grass grows thickly, there I dwell.
“When night comes and my grave in darkness lies, break not the peace, kneel before the mystery. If you hear the sound of music, be not afraid. It is I.”
The root causes of our differences
Let us tell José Rizal: “We, your grateful people, have not forgotten your sacrifice. We now use the plow to turn the earth of your legacy, so that enduring peace and sustained development may reign in our beloved land. We hear your music, which inspires us and strengthens us in our labors.”
For his part, Ninoy Aquino in that posthumous speech cried: “Must we relive the agonies and the blood-letting of the past that brought forth our republic, or can we sit down as brothers and sisters and discuss our differences with reason and goodwill?”
The root causes of those differences so often lie in poverty and discrimination, and in dealing with them, we can learn from the unique GICOS approach that integrates biocultural diversity, sustainability and social justice into the development process.
Our celebration today is doubly significant in that it is taking place within the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. The indigenous people are among the poorest, the most underserved, the most vulnerable, the least educated and the most disadvantaged group in our society.
If we are serious about national development—if development is to be for all Filipinos, and not just for a privileged and powerful few—then we must assume the burdens of our ethnic people as a special and urgent concern.
One of the most important features common to the various bills on ancestral domain is the provision for the creation of a Commission on Ancestral Domain, which would in effect unite the functions of the present offices dealing with matters affecting the indigenous cultural communities.
The new proposed organic act to create the Cordillera Autonomous Region will carry out the same constitutional mandate that has already been enjoyed by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
I invite everyone who hopes for the improvement of the lives of our indigenous people to participate in the hearings in Congress on these bills and submit their comments, suggestions and recommendations to the appropriate congressional committees so that the final version will be imbued with added value and wisdom.
Protecting human rights
I also take this opportunity to refer to the five-year Philippine Human Rights Plan (1996-2000), which was the product of a consultation process led by the Philippine Commission on Human Rights. The first version of the plan identified 12 vulnerable sectors of society, including the indigenous peoples, and outlined a rational action plan to protect and promote the rights of these sectors.
To ensure that indigenous peoples benefit equally from the rights and opportunities that are granted other members of our society, I ask everyone’s support for the ratification of ILO Convention 169, which is spearheaded by Senator Heherson Alvarez.
This convention enshrines the rights of our katutubo to enjoy without discrimination the full measure of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Special measures—which cannot be contrary to their freely expressed wishes-shall safeguard the persons, institutions, property, labor, cultures, environment and spiritual values of the peoples concerned.
Various other provisions of the convention deal in detail with the social, cultural and religious values and practices of indigenous peoples as well as their right to decide their own development, their customary laws and the prohibition of the exaction of compulsory personal services.
Other universal concerns
This convention is one of the clearest and most powerful statements of humankind’s universal concern for its indigenous members.
In the United Nations, our mission to the UN in Geneva is actively monitoring the work of the Working Group on indigenous populations, which has drafted a declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples.
We have officially submitted the Manila Declaration on Indigenous Peoples, Youth and Their New Partnership for Peace and Development, and the GICOS action program to the UN Center for Human Rights through Dr. Ibrahim Fall, its executive director and coordinator for the Decade, who represented UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali at the GICOS summit.
Another issue that is being actively considered in the UN is the creation of a permanent forum for indigenous peoples. Our Government has expressed its support for this initiative in principle.
The past GICOS summit remains a unique Philippine and global opportunity to advance the education of youth for the richness of the arts and experiences of our indigenous peoples.
A post-GICOS memorandum of agreement and a host of project commitments by the GICOS organizers composed of Government agencies and NGOs will continue to support indigenous peoples and our youth in their age-old role as stewards of nature.
I am delighted to see so many institutions engaged in piloting a model summer workshop for youth immersion in the indigenous cultural communities of Higaonons, Manobos andMamanuas of northern and central Mindanao.
Finally I also recognize and acknowledge the important contributions of the Earthsavers Movement, Tricap, the Philippine Federation of Indigenous Women, the Tribal Council of Elders, and their partner agencies—Office for Northern Cultural Communities, Office for Southern Cultural Communities, Office of Media Affairs—and the other members of the national committee for the world’s indigenous peoples who helped to organize today’s activities.
The struggle of indigenous peoples
This day and this past week are the renewal of our efforts to advance the interests of our nation’s—and our planet’s—first citizens. As we lead them into the 21st century, let us be guided as well by their wisdom, by their love for the land and for nature, and by their great courage in the face of the most daunting challenges of our time.
I thank you all for your efforts and your contributions to the welfare, the advancement and the future of all indigenous Filipinos, and of all indigenous peoples the world over. Our commitment to them affirms our belief in humankind as a global family of peoples and in ourselves as Filipinos as responsible members of that family.
As Rigoberta Menchu, 1992 Nobel Peace awardee and the special guest of the 1993 Global Youth Earthsavers Summit at the Batasang Pambansa, declared: “Long live the struggle of the indigenous peoples! Long live the freedom of the men and women of the world! Long live the cultural exchange of our peoples!”