The People’s Cordillera Day is a day of international solidarity, a day of hope and belief in a just and sustainable society.
The Province of East Flanders, in partnership with Solidagro, a Belgian NGO and recently also the Belgian University College Odisee Waas is working, together with the CDPC network, in the Cordillera since 1994.
Our partnership focusses on sustainable development in the Cordillera region. Sustainability is not only about nature, it is also about equality, about participation of the people, and about human rights. We pursue a common vision and share goals amid actual development challenges such as global warming, climate change, social injustice, militarism, civil war and economic globalization (that is posting more negative than positive effects to the local economies in the Cordillera).
Worldwide 193 nations signed the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They agreed to shift the world to a path of sustainable development; to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and take action against climate change. The Philippines is one of them.
The current policies on mining, energy projects and large scale agriculture don’t take into account the effect on local people or the environment.
Nevertheless the Cordillera knows a strong civil society. Even in small and isolated villages, people are organized to work together for social changes, to change their own future in the short and long term.
We sincerely support this social movement for a more sustainable society. We support our partners in the Philippines, because we believe that without a strong social movement, sustainable change is impossible. We hope the social movement in the Philippines can continue to grow, we hope more and more people will believe in the power of cooperation, believe in the possibility of change.
It is everyone’s duty to show solidarity with people who stand up for a fair and sustainable society. It is everyone’s duty to fight against human rights violations.
We wish you strength and courage.
From your partners, your friends of the Province of East-Flanders
Leentje Grillaert,
Deputy of the Province of East-Flanders
Solidarity message for the 35th celebration of the Cordillera Day
Solidagro is greatly honored to express our solidarity for the annual celebration of the struggle of the Cordillera people, and to commemorate the death of Cordillera hero Macliing Dulag. We have been working with the Center for Development Programs (CDPC) in the Cordillera for several years through the various programs on health and food security catering to women, youth, farmers, workers, indigenous people, and elders. We have learned a lot in the past from your strength as a people who have to confront many obstacles in defending human rights, and the right to your ancestral land.
We are deeply concerned with the continuing reports of human rights violations, including those about trumped up charges against development workers, as in the case of CDPC’s CHESTCORE staff, Rachel Mariano. To quote from the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, Michel Forst , “At a time when human rights defenders are being attacked, harassed and stigmatised … we should pay tribute to these thousands of men and women to whom we owe so much.”
We are aware of your continued resistance against so-called “development aggression” such as large-scale mining, land grabbing and diversion of resources for renewable energy projects like the controversial Chico river dam. During project visits in the Cordillera, we are always inspired by your practice of empowering local communities to advocate and act for the environment, for sustainable agriculture, and for the right to food and resources.
In this momentous day of celebrating the Cordilleran heroes , we stand with the Cordillera people in your struggle to defend your lands and uplift your communities!