Their lands are not for sale. Their rivers are not for exploitation. Their lives, cultures, and rights must never be sacrificed in the name of development.
This Indigenous Peoples Month, the Center for Development Programs in the Cordillera (CDPC) stands with Indigenous Peoples as they defend their ancestral lands, protect their communities, and assert their right to shape their own future. We honor their rich cultures, enduring traditions, and deep connection to the land, as well as their courage and resilience amid persistent threats to their territories and ways of life.
October has long been observed as Indigenous Peoples Month. The commemoration grew from historic declarations by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines in 1978 and the National Council of Churches in the Philippines in 1988, and was later affirmed by Presidential Proclamation No. 1906, s. 2009. Each year, churches and organizations mark the occasion by championing the rights, dignity, and welfare of Indigenous Peoples.
In solidarity with the Regional Ecumenical Council in the Cordillera (RECCORD), and in partnership with the Diocese of Baguio – Social Action Ministry, the Baguio City Ecumenical Council (BCEC), and the Baguio City First United Methodist Church, CDPC joins the Indigenous Peoples Month Celebration through an Ecumenical Service and Fellowship themed “Journeying with Indigenous Peoples for Land, Water, Life and Rights.”
Yet celebration must not obscure a painful truth: How can we celebrate Indigenous Peoples while their ancestral lands are threatened, their communities face mounting pressure, and those who defend their territories endure harassment, intimidation, and red-tagging?
Across the Cordillera, Indigenous communities remain on the front lines, protecting the lands, waters, and resources that sustain life. In Mankayan and Itogon, Benguet, communities continue to resist destructive mining operations and their expansion. In Conner, Apayao, residents oppose ongoing information, education, and communication (IEC) activities and proposed exploration by OceanaGold and other mining interests. In Kabugao, Apayao, communities are challenging Pan Pacific’s proposed Gened Dam project, which threatens their territories and future.
These are more than disputes over natural resources. They are struggles to safeguard homes, livelihoods, food sources, sacred places, cultural identity, and the future of generations to come. Ancestral lands are not vacant spaces awaiting exploitation. They are the living foundations of Indigenous Peoples’ identity, history, spirituality, and survival. Rivers nourish communities, forests sustain life, and the land carries the stories, wisdom, and sacrifices of their ancestors.
The Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) recognizes Indigenous Peoples’ rights to ancestral domains, self-governance, cultural integrity, and free and prior informed consent. Yet continuing threats from destructive development cast serious doubt on whether these rights are truly respected and protected.
What does recognition mean if Indigenous Peoples must still fight to remain on their own lands? What is development worth if it endangers the communities it claims to serve? And what does solidarity mean if we celebrate Indigenous cultures while staying silent as their lands and rights are threatened?
Indigenous Peoples Month must not be reduced to an annual display of songs, dances, traditions, and culture while the struggles shaping everyday life go unseen. We cannot honor ancestors while ignoring those who defend their ancestral heritage today. Nor can we speak of peace, justice, and development while defenders of land, water, and rights are harassed or silenced.
True solidarity goes beyond words, ceremonies, and declarations. It requires us to listen to Indigenous Peoples, respect their decisions, support their struggles, and defend their right to determine the future of their ancestral territories.
CDPC calls on churches, civil society organizations, government institutions, and all people of conscience to stand with Indigenous Peoples in protecting ancestral lands, safeguarding waters and forests, resisting destructive projects, and upholding the rights to self-determination and a dignified life.
May this Indigenous Peoples Month deepen our shared commitment to walk alongside Indigenous communities, not only in prayer and fellowship, but also in their pursuit of justice, land, water, life, and rights.
When Indigenous Peoples defend their ancestral lands, they fight for more than themselves. They protect the sources of life, preserve generations of wisdom, and safeguard a future shared by us all.
We must not meet their struggle with silence. Their courage must not be met with indifference. Their rights must never be traded for profit.
THIS INDIGENOUS PEOPLES MONTH, LET US DO MORE THAN CELEBRATE. LET US STAND WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLES. LET US DEFEND THEIR LAND, WATER, LIFE, AND RIGHTS.
Their land is their life. Their struggle is a call for justice. Their future is worth defending.