MODULE 2: THE CICM

MISSION ON THE
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
CFE 105b
Activity: Do you belong to an
indigenous group?

If YES:

1. What is the name of your

Indigenous group?
2. Identify what could be the best
traits, peculiar to your group?
If NO:
a. Give and describe an encounter
with an indigenous person and
Identify what could be the best
traits, peculiar to his/her group?;
or,

b. Name a familiar Indigenous group

you know and identify what could be
the best traits, peculiar to that group?
 In this context, whether you
belong to a certain Indigenous
group or not, what matters most is
that you realize and recognize that
all human persons belong to
different groups.
 However, despite the
diversity of cultures and individual
differences, all are bestowed with
human dignity that makes all
fundamentally equal. Any group of
people which includes the
Indigenous Peoples are unique and
important in this world.
 Whichever group you belong
to, you are called to appreciate
your own identity as well as the
very nature of your group. This is
beneficial to your community as
you contribute something good to
the larger society.
 Given that the Philippines is
a dominantly Christian nation, each
group must be conscious of its
potentials to participate and be
aligned with the mission of Jesus
which starts here and now.
INSPIRED WORD
 These are the words of Jesus
to His disciples before He left them.
He gave them the power to preach
and to teach; a task and mission that
they accepted and which was
handed on to the whole Church,
from generation to generation.
 The CICM follow the same
mandate and one of the ministries
and apostolates is geared towards
the indigenous peoples including the
education apostolate. Preaching the
good news has always been the
priority of the CICM.
 This includes the advocacies
fighting for the rights of the
marginalized together with mission
of the indigenous peoples. The
commissioning of the disciples by
Jesus fully encapsulates the
missionary seal in carrying out God’s
mercy and compassion.
CHURCH TEACHING
In the Philippines, the Indigenous
Peoples (IP) are numbering about
10–15 percent (11 –16.5 million) out
of a total population of at least 110
million, belong to more than 110
ethno-linguistic groups. They are
generally categorized as:
1. Cordillera Peoples – The IPs
(commonly called Igorots) of the six
provinces in the Cordillera mountain
ranges (Ifugao, Bontoc, Kankanaey,
Kalinga, Ibaloy, Tingguian, Isneg,
Yapayao);
2. Aeta tribes scattered in Luzon,
Visayas and Mindanao known by
different names (Ata, Ayta, Agta, Ita,
Ati, Dumagat, Remontado,
Mamanwa)
3. Various tribes of North-Eastern,
Central, and Southern Luzon, and some
islands of the Visayas (Ilongot,
Mangyan, Tagbanua, Palaw’an, Batak,
Ken-uy, Bukidnon, Tumandok,) and;
Mindanao Lumad – The major tribes
found in almost all provinces of
Mindanao (Subanen, Manobo, Bagobo,
B’laan, T’boli, Ubo, Higaonon,
Talaandig, Mandaya, Mansaka,
 At the start of the colonization
of the Philippines in 1565, the term
‘indigenous’ would have been
applicable to all the various cultural
and linguistic groups who then
inhabited the more than 7,000
islands that make up the present
national territory.
 But at the beginning of the
twentieth century and the start of
the American regime, the
Indigenous people that are referred
to are the ethnic groups of people
who were never fully subjugated and
Christianized nor Islamized, and
who kept their pre-conquest cultural
 Today, IPs still maintain a
historical continuity with
preinvasion societies that existed in
their territories. They have their
own social and cultural
characteristics distinct from the
dominant culture, issues on
indigenous peoples’ identity and
 It is a fact that even today, the
Indigenous peoples have no real
representation in the local,
provincial, and national branches of
government. Most IP communities
do not speak in one voice and the
government hardly hears their
grievances.
 Still, many communities strive
to continue their indigenous
leadership and traditional political
structure. The state policy towards
IPs has evolved from that of
segregation, to assimilation and
integration, and currently to that of
recognition and preservation.
 An important factor for this
shift in policy is the more than ten
years involvement of the Church and
other support groups in the lobbying
for a law to address the
marginalization of the indigenous
peoples.
 On October 29, 1997,
Republic Act No. 8371 A.K.A. the
Indigenous Peoples Rights Act
(IPRA) was passed into law. IPRA is
a landmark legislation in the history
of IPs’ struggle for recognition of
their basic human rights and the
right to self-determination.
 It promotes the rights of IPs
to their ancestral lands and
domains, self-governance and
empowerment, the right to cultural
integrity and their customary laws.
 It acknowledges the right of
the IPs to give consent to
development interventions in their
communities through the process of
Certification Precondition/ Free and
Prior Informed Consent (CP/FPIC).
 However, more than fifteen
years after its approval, a number of
political factors still hamper its true
implementation. The National
Commission on Indigenous Peoples
(NCIP), which has the noble task of
implementing the
law, must now undertake the
definition of the IPRA’s relationship
with other existing laws and
regulations which impede the full
implementation of the IPRA.
End of the Topic!
Closing prayer: