Hearing the plea of indigenous peoples
OUR indigenous brothers and sisters are in a looming struggle to survive during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. With the normalcy of physical distancing, the needs of indigenous peoples (IP) must not go unnoticed. Pat Turner, chief executive of the National Aboriginal Community Controled Health Organization in Australia, puts it frankly: “I can’t be any blunter, if Covid-19 gets into our communities, we are gone.”
The statement by Turner is not without historic basis. In the past, the IPs had been the most affected by epidemics. IP communities were devastated by the outbreak of the 1918 Spanish flu, measles and smallpox brought by foreigners, including European colonizers. According to the United Nations, IPs were three times more likely to live in extreme poverty than others and have the lowest chances of survival during widespread epidemics.
With higher mortality rates and lower life expectancies, IPs are placed by the UN in the most vulnerable health category during Covid-19. The IPs’ present malnutrition and immune-suppressive health conditions, poor access to sanitation, lack of clean water and, more notably, inadequate medical services are among the major contributing factors to their increased vulnerability to Covid-19. Aside from this, IPs also face the constant threat of discrimination and stereotyping in the standard of care received in hospitals. In reality, such stigma causes IP communities to distrust present healthcare systems.
In a statement by the UN chairman of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, all States were encouraged to “take immediate steps to ensure that indigenous peoples are informed, protected and prioritized during the Covid-19 global health pandemic. In this respect, information in indigenous languages is important to ensure it is accessible and followed.
Of special concern are the vulnerable chronically ill, those in medical fragility, as well as the indigenous elders. The indigenous elders are a priority for our communities as our keepers of history and traditions and cultures.”
Comprising almost 20 percent of the population, there are currently 17 million IPs in the Philippines. Mindanao has the largest IP concentration with 61 percent. The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) follows with 33 percent IP inhabitants. The remaining 6 percent of native IPs are spread out among Mindoro, Palawan, Pampanga, Quezon, Zambales and the Visayas region. Igorots inhabit the northern uplands in CAR. Lumads, on the other hand, mainly inhabit the southern lowlands in Mindanao. Other IP groups of the country include: the Aetas of Northern
Luzon, Badjaos of Sulu, Dumagats of Quezon, Mangyans of Mindoro, Tagbanuas of Culion and Tumandoks of Panay. Collectively, the IPs comprise 110 different ethno-linguistic groups.
When the government imposed the enhanced community quarantine, over 100 Lumad children found themselves displaced in Metro Manila. Fortunately, the University of the Philippines (UP) provided these children valuable shelter. Throughout the lockdown, the Save Our Schools Network in cooperation with the UP College of Fine Arts established a Bakwit School to temporarily educate these displaced Lumad children. In
Davao, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines also provided shelter for displaced Lumad children. Notably, the shared sleeping spaces, limited supply of food and sanitary resources still remain clear problems for both Bakwit teachers and displaced Lumad children during Covid-19.
Luckily, the proximate locations of these two displaced IP groups from developed cities have granted them access to generous donations of relief goods and medical supplies. But how about IP communities from areas that are out of immediate reach? Are the leaders of these IP communities properly briefed on how to ensure proper health protocols for their communities during Covid-19? Further, are these IP communities granted access to essential medical resources and equipment to survive Covid-19?
The dire struggles of IP communities are indeed real and imminent. Besides their increased vulnerability to infection, Covid-19 threatens the very existence of their cultural integrity, livelihood and the survival of their century-old indigenous practices. Certainly, the government must also give this immediate attention.
Mar lon IñigoT.T ron que di sa graduate School. He is a government lawyer, professor of law at San Bed a College Ala bang and a student of the University Laws program. While a law student, he served as head of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Desk of the Ate neo Human Rights Center.