Bukidnon Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Protection Risks
Many Indigenous Peoples’ (IPs) communities in Bukidnon are under threat whose ancestral domains have been exploited by large corporations over the years. Their plight reveals various protection issues more specifically on land and property issues, emphasizing the lack of effective rule of law in this part of northern Mindanao. Among the major protection issues faced by IPs are the following: (1) economic interests of large corporations including influential local landlords and businessmen, (2) presence of the rebel group New Peoples’ Army (NPA), paramilitary groups and the counter-insurgency activities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines against these non-state actors (AFP), (3) overlapping laws that complicate Ancestral Domain claims of IPs, and (4) concern on the role and effectiveness of the National Commission on the Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
Bukidnon IP Rights and Protection Risks