Cordillera indigenous people struggles against the onslaught of globalization

Click link to watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc2cw_NuUcg&feature=youtu.be

Fight for Our Land, Life and Rights! Rallying call to fight for their ancestral lands, their lives and human rights These are the words of protests by the indigenous peoples’ struggles in Apayao, Abra, Benguet, Kalinga, Ifugao, the Mountain Province and Baguio City: Let our protests echo with renewed vigor and commitment to defend our ancestral lands against development aggression. Let us strengthen and sustain our protests in the communities, town centers and urban areas. Let us build on our humble victories, remember the legacy of our heroes and martyrs, and prepare ourselves for challenges ahead.

Opposition to large mining is widespread in Abra and has formally been registered with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) by the communities of Tubo, Bucloc, Baay-Licuan and Lacub. In Lacub, though, Golden Lake – with the active collaboration of the Mayor, Vice Mayor, their private armies and the 41st Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army – has been trying to thwart the people’s will through coercion, bribery, and the manipulation of the Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) process.

Still on the mining front, small miners in Gold Creek, Ucab, Itogon have barricaded their mining location against a realtor who purchased the title to the land from Benguet Corporation (BC).

Militarization remains a constant companion to development aggression in the Cordillera, three regular and two special battalions of the AFP are deployed to areas where foreign interest in mining and energy is greatest.  The main AFP units operating in the region are the 503rd Brigade’s 41st Infantry Battalion (IB) in Abra and its 50th IB in Abra, Ilocos Sur and Benguet; the 501st Brigade’s 21st IB in Kalinga and its 54th IB in the Mountain Province and Ifugao; the 86th IB which is based in Ifugao but whose companies are distributed in various parts of the region; the 77th IB, the CAFGU Cadre Corps which is also distributed throughout the region; the 52nd and 53rd Division Reconnaisance Companies which are actually crack teams.  All are under the 5th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army based in Gamu, Isabela

Alarming cases of vilification of innocent civilians have been documented throughout the region. Vilification – i.e., red-tagging or red-labeling and, worse, demonizing – is aimed not only at discrediting an individual or organization but at justifying actions that will harm them politically, morally or physically.