NCIP Seminar

Attended the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples Seminar entitled: “Sharing Visions on Building Indigenous People’s Economic Resilience” yesterday at Camelot Hotel in Quezon City.

It was co-facilitated by the National Anti-Poverty Commission. I came in after the program has started. I was ushered to sit at the Northern and Southern Mindanao table. My place was conspicuous. Their table was at the center of the room, near the front.

I believe all regions in the country were represented. Participants consist of IP leaders, NCIP regional representatives, other government offices, media practitioners, etc.

The speakers were very visible from my seat. My location helped me take notice of the speakers in front. Almost all of them are Canadians. Aboriginals from Canada. Wow. Guess what they came to the Philippines for? They came to RP to talk about mining. Yup, mining. That’s their $45 million investment.

The Canadian Embassy sponsored the event. The participation of Filipinos was confined to hosting and asking questions about the experience of the aboriginals with mining exploration activities in their communities.

(Was I proud of the very active participation of my tablemates. They raised plenty of questions and mentioned just as much side comments which are unsuspectedly focused on how limited the donation, grants and financial aid they are receiving from Canada which they think was very sad considering the enormity of their need to go to Canada to see the aboriginals in their local communities. They want to know how they live, how cold the climate is that kind of stuff. HahaHay… do they have a point? Well, considering the fact that we do not have the exact number of indigenous peoples even at the regional level (we only have estimates), uhm…. Hay… for a moment was mind was transported to the time when we had this grand discussion in class about official development assistance and the observation about locals being mere recipients of aid as opposed to being active partners in the attainment of the development agenda- which should be the case.why do they sound like politicians crying for a junket- while the country dies in poverty)


The most significant point that came out of the talks was the fact that in Canada IPs are guaranteed if not obliged to have an active part in policy and decision-making. In fact, IP communities are themselves developing policies and are the ones determining their level of participation in the mining industry. The entire process is consensus-based, highlighting how the IPs’ interests will be protected.

This, in contrast with the legal framework in the Philippines which does not require mining companies to provide benefits to Filipino IPs equal to the benefits being provided to aboriginals in Canada as mandated by their government.

Nothing we do not know already.

It was supposed to be a two-day affair. But I deem it not necessary to attend on second day.

ASIDE:
Ms. Canadian Official mentioned over lunch that she has never been to a country which exerts so much effort to misinform the people. This was her reply to my remark that IPs come to our office complaining about the illegal mining operation in their areas.

She went ablaze and was really hard on her explanation that people should not be closed on their judgments. When people talk about mining they must not have preconditioned ideas- mining is just mining. It’s neither good nor bad.

Surely it is not. I have nothing against mining per se. It is a basic industry crucial to development. But mining in the Philippines has mutated into a very complex issue abound with intricate involvement of various self-serving business interests.

Thus, considering the context in which mining operations are being conducted in the country, mining is not just mining. Like the diamonds in Africa, it is tainted with blood.

Oh, by the way, we had chicken oriental soup, lumpia and kare-kare for lunch and fresh fruits for dessert. I missed the health break in the morning but I had coffee shortly after the first talk in the afternoon.

I then headed home.