Learn. Converse. Take action. — This looks to be the practice in many learning and thriving groups, a practice Cartwheel Foundation, Inc. (CFI) has intentionally been seeking to grow in its mission as an organization as well.

One initiative that opened up opportunity for this among those with like minds and hearts for the Filipino Indigenous Peoples (IPs) was the CFI Learning Forum on IP Sector in the Time of Pandemic: Challenges and Opportunities held on December 2, 2020 via Zoom. Organized in collaboration with development partner, Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation, the learning forum offered a platform for social development practitioners who are engaged in working with IPs to deepen their awareness on the plight of the IP sector, in view of the on-going crisis brought about by COVID-19.

This initiative is part of Consuelo Foundation’s Life Skills program, which aims to provide the learners with relevant learning materials to ensure their sustained access to education. At the same time, it also aims to provide children and youth with interventions to build their knowledge, skills, and competencies to be empowered individuals.

Participants were mostly multi-stakeholders involved in the collaboration for the Sama-Bajau in San Dionisio, Parañaque City with representatives from the Sama-Bajau Core Group (San Dionisio, Parañaque), Department of Social Welfare and Development – National Capital Region (DSWD-NCR), City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) – Parañaque, Barangay Local Government Unit (BLGU) – San Dionisio of Parañaque, Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation, and Conrado and Ladislawa Alcantara Foundation, Inc. (CLAFI).

The objectives of the learning forum were for participants to have clarified their understanding of “who Indigenous Peoples are” in line with socio-anthropological and rights-based concepts; and expressed the implications of the IP Sector’s current realities in their own work with indigenous communities.

 

Learning

An Overview of IPs in the Philippines and Some Points for Consideration during Pandemic

Ms. Maria Teresa “Miks” Guia-Padilla, executive director of Anthropology Watch, began by clarifying the definition of “Indigenous Peoples,” and distinguishing them from ethnolinguistic groups and cultural communities. Participants then were reminded of the four bundles of rights of IPs with regard to: (a) ancestral domain, (b) self-governance and empowerment, (c) social justice and human rights, (d) cultural integrity.

She stressed the importance of upholding these rights especially in the time of COVID-19, as IPs experience increased vulnerability given factors such as geographical location, limited sources of income, and difficulty in accessing basic services. She ended on a hopeful note, recognizing that many values desired for a “new normal” are already part of indigenous communities’ culture, that there remain to be strengths and opportunities for IPs despite the realities of pandemic.
Response of National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to Challenges posed by the Pandemic on the IP Sector

Mr. Adbulani Lakibul, Focal Person for the Sama-Bajau from the Office on Socio-Economic Services and Special Concerns (OSESSC) of the NCIP, spoke as a representative from the government discussing various initiatives made in coordination with other agencies primarily for the protection and benefit of IPs.

He oriented participants on the main functions of OSESSC in support of IPs which includes agri-technical development, socio-economic services, and disaster and relief operations. He also shared about coordinative programs that extend much needed support to IP families especially while the nation remains in quarantine.

 

Conversing

“If you were to illustrate your relationship to your work with and for the IPs, how would it look?”

This was a question asked in Filipino by Ms. Guia-Padilla to make for reflection and conversation among the participants. They were given some time to work with simple materials on-hand to put on paper their personal responses.

 

 

Ms. April Domingo of CLAFI shared, “I wrote here understanding, respect, love. We are working together hand-in-hand. We just have to understand the culture of our IP communities and help to respect in order for us to have a harmonious relationship.”

Ms. Aysha Barahim of DSWD-NCR showed her drawing and explained, “It is like a ball with the government agencies, Sama-Bajau community, and community organizations. They learn things from us and we learn from them. It’s the circle of life where all can contribute to helping for the welfare of each, especially the IP community.”

Most other participants shared the same sentiments, expressing in different ways how service for the IPs went beyond being a mere job, and instead was an active commitment to a shared vision.

 

Taking action

Ms. Pia Ortiz-Luis, executive director of Cartwheel Foundation, closed the forum synthesizing all the input from the sessions. Speaking in Tagalog, she said, “Collaboration is the theme that cuts across all our experiences as IPs and as partners of IP communities. We have a lot to learn from each other, many strengths drawn from our cultures. We will only be able to help and reach out to more if we act together—together for the IPs. The call for us now, in our decision-making and planning, is to always keep in mind the sentiments of our indigenous brothers and sisters.”

A concrete next step taken immediately after the learning forum was the Sama-Bajau Task Force Evaluation and Planning session that happened in the afternoon. Participants reaffirmed the following as their priorities for school year 2020-2021: (i) sustained access of Sama-Bajau children to relevant education; (ii) increased capacity of Sama-Bajau families to support their children; and (iii) decreased incidence of child abuse, neglect and exploitation.

 

As the new year 2021 is welcomed, many other action steps are sure to be taken even as the threat of the virus still seems to dominate our realities. The cycle of learning, conversing, and taking action continues in both grand and simple ways, as we seek to thrive together with our country’s Indigenous Peoples.