On February 21, 2018, the government of the Philippines filed a legal petition to have a number of organizations, associations, and leaders declared as terrorist and outlaws pursuant to the National Security Act of 2007. To the shock of the world, this includes UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Joan Carling, co-convener of the Indigenous Peoples Major Group on Sustainable Development, as well as from across the country.
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz (Igorot) is a well-respected international expert on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. With decades of experience as a development consultant and an international Indigenous activist, in June 2014 she assumed responsibilities as the third UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. She is the first recipient of the Gabriela Silang Award, which was conferred in 2009 by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and was the former Chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2005-2010). As a young activist, Tauli-Corpuz helped organize Indigenous communities in the Cordillera region of the Philippines to fight against the projects of then President Ferdinand Marcos. They succeeded in stopping the Chico River Hydroelectric Dam and the Cellophil Resources Corporation. She is the founder and executive director of Tebtebba Foundation (Indigenous Peoples' International Center for Policy Research and Education). Tauli-Corpuz is also a former board member of Cultural Survival.
Joan Carling has fought for human rights and, in particular, the rights of Indigenous Peoples her entire life; as former leader of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) and the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), expert member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and currently co-convener of the Indigenous Peoples Major Group on Sustainable Development.
Cultural Survival denounces this unfounded and false accusation which poses risks to Carling and Tauli-Corpuz’s security, and undermines the exercise of the fundamental rights and freedoms associated with democratic governance, and violates the human rights obligations of the Philippine government.
, the Philippines is currently marked by a “context of widespread extrajudicial executions and ongoing attacks against voices who are critical of the current government, including human rights defenders.”
Cultural Survival demands action to clear Carling and Tauli-Corpuz’s names. We demand that the Philippine government ensure the physical safety of those listed in the petition and respect international human rights law. We join in the global call to the international community to show solidarity and express their concern to the Philippine government.
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Related to SDG 10: Reduced inequalities
