“Indigenous peoples present their true state in the nation”, 28 July 2014

…[I]ndigenous people from all over the country gathered at the University of the Philippines…to discuss and reflect on their situation and the threats and challenges they continue to face in their struggle for respect and recognition of their cultures, traditions and ancestral domains. [Linked] [h]ere is the State of the Indigenous Peoples Address 2014…”Policies on mining and other extractives, plantations, and other exploitation of land and natural resources continue to trample upon our rights as first stewards of the land, and our right to consent or dissent to activities encroaching upon our ancestral domains…We are victims of militarization and human rights violations because of the entry of these companies. Violence and threat of violence is used to suppress our voices, including extrajudicial killings of indigenous leaders. The promised benefits of policies on the extraction, development and utilization of natural resources continue to be enjoyed only by the private powerful few while, like beggars, we are left to wait for dole-outs from culturally insensitive projects…