Sison: Free Birth Registration for Indigenous Peoples

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

A BILL requiring free birth registration for indigenous peoples (IPs) has been filed in Congress to give them access to privileges and afford them the protection they deserve from the government.

House Bill 4701 authored by Reps. Rufus Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro City) and Maximo Rodriguez (Party-list, Abante Mindanao) mandates all Civil Registrars to accept both timely and delayed birth registration of members of IPs free of charge.

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The lack of birth registration is often caused by the fact that many of these IPs are indigent and lack the necessary finances to be able to register, hence the need to encourage them in order for the state to afford them the necessary protection they deserve.

According to Rodriguez, many IPs are not registered and for disadvantaged Filipinos such as them, birth registration only becomes significant when they experience problems in transactions requiring proofs of name, age or nationality.

The discrepancies in data on IPs are due to classification limitations and because some indigenous peoples have difficulties in registering marriages, births or deaths, Rodriguez said.

The 2000 Philippine Census estimated that 6.3 million IPs belong to 85 ethno-linguistic groups while the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) has different data sets based on unofficial surveys of population by ethnographic region, Rodriguez added.

Rodriguez said the issue concerning birth registration of IPs should be addressed because without any legal birth record, an individual does not officially exist and therefore lacks legal access to the privileges and protection of a nation, Rodriguez said.

House Bill 4701 not only waives all fees arising from or related to birth registration of members of IPs but also penalizes any person caught charging any form of fee or payment for the birth registration with imprisonment of not more than six months or a fine of not more than P5,000 or both.

The bill likewise declares it as policy of the State to recognize and promote all rights of indigenous cultural communities/indigenous peoples within the framework of the constitution and for the State to establish necessary mechanisms to enforce and guarantee the realization of these rights, taking into consideration their customs, traditions, values, beliefs and their rights to their ancestral domains.

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The indigenous peoples of the Philippines consist of a large number of indigenous ethnic groups living in the country. They are the descendants of the original inhabitants of the Philippines who have managed to resist centuries of Spanish and United States colonization and in the process have retained their customs and traditions.

In the 1990s, there were more than 100 highland tribal groups constituted approximately three percent of the population. The upland tribal groups were a blend in ethnic origin like other lowland Filipinos, although they did not have contact with the outside world. They displayed a variety of social organization, cultural expression and artistic skills.

They showed a high degree of creativity, usually employed to embellish utilitarian objects, such as bowls, baskets, clothing, weapons and spoons. These groups ranged from various Igorot tribes, a group that includes the Bontoc, Ibaloi, Ifugao, Isneg, Kalinga and Kankana-ey, who built the Rice Terraces. They also covered a wide spectrum in terms of their integration and acculturation with lowland Christian and Muslim Filipinos. Native groups such as the Bukidnon in Mindanao, had intermarried with lowlanders for almost a century. Other groups such as the Kalinga in Luzon have remained isolated from lowland influence.

There were several indigenous groups living in the Cordillera Central of Luzon in 1990. At one time, it was employed by lowland Filipinos in a pejorative sense, but in recent years, it came to be used with pride by native groups in the mountain region as a positive expression of their ethnic identity. The Ifugaos of Ifugao Province, the Bontocs, Kalinga, Tinguian, the Kankana-ey and Ibaloi were all farmers who constructed the rice terraces for many centuries.

Other mountain peoples of Luzon are the Isnegs of northern Kalinga-Apayao Province, the Gaddangs of the border between Kalinga-Apayao, and Isabela provinces and the Ilongots of Nueva Vizcaya Province and Caraballo Mountains all developed hunting and gathering, farming cultivation and headhunting. Other indigenous people such as the Negritos formerly dominated the highlands throughout the islands for thousands of years, but have been reduced to a small population, living in widely scattered locations, primarily along the eastern ranges of the mountains.

In the southern Philippines, upland and lowland tribal groups were concentrated on Mindanao and western Visayas, although there are several indigenous groups such as the Mangyan living in Mindoro. Among the most important groups found on Mindanao include the Moro, Manobo, Bukidnon of Bukidnon Province, Bagobo, Lumad, Mandaya, and Mansaka, who inhabited the mountains bordering the Davao Gulf; the Subanon of upland areas in the Zamboanga; the Mamanua in the Agusan-Surigao border region; and the Bila-an, Tiruray and Tboli in the region of the Cotabato province. The tribal groups of the Philippines are known for their carved wooden figures, baskets, weaving, pottery and weapons (Wikipedia).