In IP Month, Panaghiusa meets UN Country Team, diplomatic community

[TAGALOG] Sa Buwan ng mga Katutubo, Panaghiusa nakipagpulong sa UN Country Team, diplomatic community

In line with the Indigenous Peoples Month, we, the Panaghiusa Philippine Network to Uphold Indigenous Peoples' Rights, met with the United Nations (UN) Country Team and several representatives of embassies to raise urgent concerns on the worsening human rights situation of the Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines, October 23, 2025.

The Panaghiusa Philippine Network to Uphold Indigenous Peoples' Rights members who participated in the meeting with the UN Country Team and diplomatic community, October 23, 2025.

We extend our deepest gratitude to our members, whose steadfast dedication and courageous advocacy continue to expose the injustices faced by the Indigenous Peoples. Their tireless efforts to uphold Indigenous Peoples’ rights amid state terror are a powerful testament to the strength of collective resistance and solidarity.

During the engagement with the UN Country Team and diplomatic community, we highlighted the killings of Indigenous youth in Mindoro and Mindanao, and recent killings in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, alongside enforced disappearances and the weaponization of laws like the Anti-Terrorism Act and Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act to suppress dissent. We condemned the criminalization of land defenders resisting destructive projects like Crescent Mining in Mankayan, and raised violations of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) and gender-based violence.

We also exposed how militarization, driven by Executive Order No. 70 and the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace, and Development, serves both counter-insurgency and corporate interests. This has led to bombings, shelling, harassment, and red-tagging, with institutions like the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples enabling these abuses. In Lake Sebu, the presence of mining and plantation companies poses a direct threat to Indigenous women’s safety and health.

A day prior, our network joined the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights’ training on engaging international human rights mechanisms, further strengthening our capacity to advocate on the global stage.

We call on the UN and diplomatic community to support our urgent calls:

1. Uphold the right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent for all projects in ancestral lands.

2. Cease militarization, bombings, red-tagging, and terrorist vilification of Indigenous Peoples.  

3. Uphold human rights and International Humanitarian Law; address the roots of armed conflict through political solutions.  

4. Abolish the NTF-ELCAC and redirect its multi-million budget to Indigenous Peoples' social services.

5. Repeal the Anti-Terrorism Law and EO 70; enact the Human Rights Defenders Bill.

6. Surface all victims of enforced disappearances.

7. End gender-based violence against Indigenous Women and Girls.

8. Abolish the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.

9. Re-ratify the Rome Statute to allow membership again in the International Criminal Court.

10. Issue statements of concern regarding these violations.

Reference:

Rikki Mae Gono

National Coordinator

Panaghiusa Philippine Network to Uphold Indigenous Peoples' Rights

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