Solon: Sona points good but how about poor IPs?

By Aiza Liza P. Namingit

LAGAWE, Ifugao – Rep. Teddy Brawner Baguilat has expressed disappointment that President Aquino did not mention Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in his third State of the Nation Address on July 23 but despite this, he said, there were many good points in the President’s speech.

“There was no mention of the government’s agenda for IPs, or even just a specific program. Clearly, I still have to work on educating government officials on the IP worldview, their situation and the rights that we are fighting for,” said Baguilat, who also chairs the House committee on national cultural communities.

“Also, Malacanang does not seem to know about the human rights situation. It is getting worse, and a number of the victims are either IPs or civil society leaders fighting for IP rights,” added Baguilat.

He, however, said there were many good points raised by President Aquino in his SONA, particularly his mention of the need for responsible parenthood, and his directive for Congress to pass a new mining law that would raise revenues and protect the environment.

Baguilat has put forward an “alternative minerals management bill” that seeks to amend the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 to make it more equitable to the people who will be directly affected by the mining projects.

He was also heartened by the renewed thrust to grow the agriculture and tourism sectors, which are high on his development agenda for Ifugao, which was cited for its efforts to preserve the world-famous rice terraces.

Recently, the Ifugao Rice Terraces was removed from the list of endangered World Heritage Sites by Unesco because of multi-sectoral efforts to preserve the centuries-old, hand-carved rice terraces.

“I am glad that Ifugao was cited in the report on tourism. If President Aquino can accomplish the promise of 10 million tourist arrivals and then rice self-sufficiency by the end of his term, this would democratize the growth that he is talking about because agriculture and tourism growth is more inclusive,” he said.

“We are willing to help President Aquino meet his goals in tourism, agriculture and education through the budget process,” added Baguilat.