Of the country’s current projected population of 90.4 million,1
indigenous peoples are estimated to comprise some 10%, or
around 9 million. There has been no accurate comprehensive
count of Philippine indigenous peoples since 1916. They generally
live in isolated areas with a lack of access to basic social
services and few opportunities for mainstream economic activities.
They are usually the people with the least education and
the smallest income. An abundance of valuable natural resources
in their areas makes them vulnerable to development aggression.
The different indigenous groups in the northern mountains of
Luzon (Cordillera) are collectively called Igorot while the different
groups in the southern island of Mindanao are collectively
called Lumad. There are smaller groups collectively called Mangyan
in the central islands as well as even smaller, more scattered
groups in the central islands and Luzon.2
They generally
cannot be differentiated physically from the majority population,
except for a few bands of dark-skinned people collectively
called Negritos.
The year 2007 commemorated the tenth year of the promulgation
of the Republic Act 8371, known as the Indigenous Peoples’
Rights Act (IPRA). The law calls for respect for indigenous peoples’
cultural integrity, right to their lands and right to self-directed
development of these lands.