Nat’l tribal assembly urges gov’t: Address our concerns

BAGUIO CITY — Representatives of indigenous people nationwide cited here last week urged government to address their concerns such as ill-effects brought upon their livelihood, health, food security, cultural integrity, and lands by extreme weather events.

Sen. Loren Legarda, speaking on climate change, said during the meet at Teachers Camp here, “It is lamentable that despite the fact that indigenous peoples contribute the least with respect to carbon emissions due to their simple and sustainable lifestyles and practices, they are most affected by the consequences of climate change.”

Legarda, chairperson of the Senate committees on cultural communities and climate change, said during the assembly of representatives from indigenous cultural communities all over Luzon held at the Teachers Camp here that climate change is also aggravated by irresponsible mining operations.

She echoed the concern of IP leaders who said that aside from the effects of climate change, their ancestral domains are being exploited by some irresponsible local and foreign mining companies who promise livelihood, sow disharmony over their communities and leave them in the end in abject poverty, environmental destruction and, worst, with toxic wastes.

“There is an urgent need to assess the implementation of existing laws that protect the environment and the welfare of indigenous communities. Environmental laws have long been enacted and are in place. All we have to do is implement these existing environmental laws,” she said.

Legarda said that based on the sentiments of the Luzon indigenous peoples during the assembly, she will look into the compliance of existing mining firms with their obligations to protect the environment and the communities where they operate.