Stricter policies vs. IP misrepresentation sought

AN INDIGENOUS Peoples Education Consultant and Chair of Benguet Council of Elders is backing the Department of Education’s policy for teachers to be vigilant on textbooks with wrong portrayal of Indigenous Peoples in the Cordilleras

Belmer Yano said teachers must be attentive in their lessons when it comes to the portrayal of IPs in the region.

“Nakakabenta iyang mga iyan kasi may bumibili. If we can have stronger set of policies so the teachers are more vigilant, critical on the things they buy and they use. But over and above, the education sector must be vigilant,” Yano stressed.

Yano said DepEd should conduct an inventory of all schools materials particularly on those with erroneous protrayals.

“The thing is, DepEd, is hindi natin control mga publishers, we have our requirements, standards and we imposed them, but we cannot impose on publishers,” Yano added.

Yano also expressed their support to the move of National Commission on Indigenous Peoples study on the possibility of filing liber cases against publishers who have wrongly portrayed IPs in the Cordilleras.

“The worst is that they misrepresent us with the Aetas, dalawa tayong sinaktan, others are also misrepresented and there is a general ignorance on what IPs are,” he added.

On October 8, some 4,000 teachers of Benguet on Monday convene for the Benguet Indigenous Peoples Education summit at Wangal, La Trinidad where on the same day, dances of the different Indigenous Cultural Communities were showcased IP dances including the Tallak, Taychek, Binukaw, Ginatiley, Hagigi and Bendian or ‘Bindiyan’ dance of Benguet.

IPEd program is the Department of Education’s response to the right of IP to basic education and respect of the IP identities and promotes their indigenous knowledge and competencies.