Indigenous peoples commemorated this week the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples by holding a protest action against Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP)-funded projects that will displace thousands of indigenous peoples from their ancestral homes.

In a protest held in Mendiola Bridge last August 12, Ayta, Igorot, and Dumagat tribe members denounced President Aquino regime for his ‘crimes [against] indigenous peoples.’

“Aquino touted the construction of the Kaliwa Dam, the Jalaur Dam, and the Clark Green City in his SONA (State of the Nation Address). These projects will adversely affect almost 30,000 indigenous peoples.  It seems that Aquino was enumerating how else this administration will further violate indigenous peoples’ rights in the last stretch of his presidency,” said Piya Macliing Malayao, spokesperson of Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (KAMP).

The P11-Billion Jalaur Dam is among the projects funded by the controversial DAP that was struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional.

“[Contrary to Aquino’s claims], these projects are long protested by indigenous peoples as it will cause displacement of their communities and the destruction of the environment,” Malayao added.

According to KAMP, 10,000 Tumanduk and Remontado people in Rizal and Quezon will be displaced if the Kaliwa (also known as Laiban) Dam pushes through, while some 17,000 Tumanduk indigenous peoples in Calinog, Iloilo will lose their ancestral lands in the Jalaur Dam Project. Clark Green City, on the other hand, is poised to displace around 2,000 Ayta people in Capas, Tarlac.

Malayao, a Bontoc-Igorot from the Mountain Province, said, “We are the government’s sacrificial lamb in the altar of foreign investors in mining and logging, palm oil plantations, energy projects, special economic zones, real estate and tourism projects.”

Aside from illegally using taxpayers’ money for questionable projects such as the Jalaur Dam, the group said that Aquino’s policies cause the continued plunder of natural resources.

According to the group, five of the six existing Financial Technical Assistance Agreements (FTAA) for mining are located within the ancestral lands of indigenous peoples.  Also in IP territories are: 148 of the 339 Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSA), 23 of the 61 Exploration Permits (EP), 30 of the 84 Mineral Processing Permits (MPP), and 45 of 222 Industrial Sand and Gravel operations approved by the current administration.

KAMP also underscored the increasing number of extrajudicial killings of indigenous peoples. According to KAMP, 43 indigenous people have been killed by state forces and AFP-backed paramilitary groups since June 2010. Six of these killings were children.

“Indigenous peoples continue to be under attack as they resist massive dislocation and environmental destruction of their ancestral lands, and are targets in Aquino’s counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan,” Malayao said.

Despite the arrest of retired general Jovito Palparan, KAMP said that human rights violations continue unabated. “Oplan Bayanihan is no different from past counter-insurgency programs that allow and coddle the likes of the butcher Palparan. There are many other Palparans under this administration,” Malayao added.