Case Study - Philippines Metagora Pilot Project

CHAPTER 10: GENERAL LESSONS AND CONCLUSIONS (page 3)

10.3 CONCLUDING REMARKS

A series of concluding remarks about the IP survey in the Philippines are presented below.

10.3.1 Policy Implications

The following policy implications are addressed to the three governance stakeholders:

• Continuing and sustained IPRA implementation, HR education, policy reviews and delivery of basic services through concerted efforts by government institutions, civil society and the private sector;

• Strong political will to review existing government policies, programme measures and mechanisms to control undue and abusive private-sector exploitation of natural resources within the IPs' ancestral domains and land, and to develop rights-based policies and measures for the welfare and benefit of IPs; and

• Collaboration and convergence between government institutions and civil society to address human rights issues of IPs through varied measures and mechanisms, and strengthening of IP organisations for advocacy of IP rights through capacity building.

10.3.2.1 On Methodology and Tools

• Survey-based diagnoses of human rights provide objective assessment of policy and programme implementation to respect, protect and fulfil human rights of indigenous peoples.

• Bottom-up approaches allow free, active and meaningful participation of IPs and generate useful findings for advocacy of IP rights among governance stakeholders.

• Rights-based governance indicators for guarantee of respect, protection and fulfillment of IP rights can be generated using a combination of quantitative (survey) and qualitative (FGD) approaches in evidenced-based study of IP rights.

• There is evidence of interest in IPRA as an effective legislative measure to strengthen the recognition of indigenous peoples as a distinct sector of Philippine society.

• IPs manifest growing awareness of their rights under IPRA, but need thorough understanding of those rights.

• Government plays an important role in encouraging other governance stakeholders to respect, protect and fulfil IP rights to ancestral domain and land.

• IPs still rely on and respect customary laws and practices in solving their land disputes.

• Gains in rights enjoyment are hampered by existing violations.

• There is potential for further collaboration among governance stakeholders in policy and programme measures for promoting and protecting IP rights.

• The study implies the need to review IPRA to respond to and comply with rights-based norms and standards in IP governance. The study highlights the fact that, in compliance with state obligations, the resources allocated and the programmes designed for fulfilling IP rights should be maximised.

• The study shows a need to review existing laws and policies, programme measures and mechanisms that govern participation of the private sector and civil society to ensure that they conform with international standards and norms of human rights for the protection and realisation of IP rights.

• The rights-based framework that mainstreams human rights norms, standards and principles in development provides an objective and realistic guide for examining the rights of indigenous peoples. It can also guide the formulation of benchmarks and indicators in the realisation of IP rights because it clarifies the accountability of government institutions, the private sector and civil society in facilitating and enabling indigenous peoples to enjoy their basic rights.

• The participatory, bottom-up approach in surveys of ICCs/IPs should be adopted in any effort to diagnose, assess or evaluate IP rights.

• A combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches in diagnosing human rights, governance and democracy can help define indicators for democratic rights-based governance.

• Replicate the study on other IPs in other ethnographic regions within the country to provide evidenced-based data for future censuses of the Philippine population. This would be a government guarantee that IPs/ICCs would be recognised as a distinct sector of Philippine society.

• Provide financial support to projects that build the capacity of IPs to advocate for their rights among governance stakeholders.

• Strengthen collaboration of resources amoung three governance stakeholders in promoting, protecting and fulfilling IP rights.

• Integrate the findings of this study into the preparation of the Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan (ADSDPP) of the Bago and Bugkalot Tribes. Advocate for funding support in the preparation/finalisation of the ADSDPP of the three tribes and in the undertaking of programmes, projects and activities in the ADSDPP to support the realisation of IPs rights to ancestral domains and lands.