Saturday, July 26, 2008 Indigenous people to expose state of lives
HUNDREDS of indigenous peoples will gather on July 28 to 31 at Camp Alano, Toril this city to expose the real state of the lives of the indigenous peoples in Mindanao.
The three-day conference, dubbed as State of the Indigenous Peoples Address (SIPA), will be in time for Arroyo's 8th State of the Nation Address (SONA).
SIPA members believe that they seemed to be always missing in President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's area of concern and programs.
The SIPA, with a theme "IPRA and BEYOND: Asserting Our Right to Self-Determination," will also partly assess the implementation of Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) as it marks its 10th year anniversary in October.
During President's Arroyo SONA in 2001, she said that the government will distribute 100 Certificate of Ancestral Domain Titles (CADT) every year.
Records from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) show that the latter has awarded only 11 CADTs all over the country. (Annabelle Ricalde)
