PAFID General Assembly 2011

A total of 38 members attended the PAFID General Assembly on 07 May 2011 at the LB Soriano Hall of the SEAMEO-INNOTECH Center on Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City. The assembly provided a venue for the members to get an update about PAFID as well each other. It also provided opportunities for members to rekindle ties and renew friendships.

Fr. Francis Lucas, the incumbent PAFID Chairperson, called the Assembly to order at 1:47 PM. Mr. Sam Pedragosa then made a roll call and introduced the members present.  Having determined that there was a quorum, the general assembly proceeded to do business.

The assembly began with the remaining incumbent members of the PAFID Board of Trustees expressing their messages. They are Fr. Francis Lucas, Rev. Delbert Rice, Datu Vic Saway, and Prof. J. Prospero De Vera.

Mr. Dave De Vera, PAFID Executive Director, presented his report on the status of PAFID and its operations. An open forum followed his presentation. Mr. Pedragosa served as the moderator of the forum.

The highlight of the general assembly was the election of the new members of the PAFID Board of Trustees. The following were elected as PAFID Trustees:

1.  Datu Victorino Saway
2.  Atty. Gwen Pimentel-Gana
3.  Rev. Delbert Rice
4.  Father Francis Lucas
5.  Prof. Carol Sobritchea
6.  Prof. Jaime Veneracion
7.  Prof. J. Prospero De Vera

There being no more business to discuss, Rev. Delbert Rice declared the assembly adjourned at 4:45 PM. 

National IP Summit

Quezon City—Around 150 indigenous peoples from all over the country gathered at the SEAMEO Innotech Center in this city for a groundbreaking three-day national summit to affirm the National Indigenous Peoples’ Policy Agenda and formulate a common IP Action Plan for upholding their rights. The policy agenda and its action plan will comprise the sector’s major recommendations to the legislative and executive branches of the Philippine government.

The summit revolved around the theme “Building Consensus, Claiming the Future.”

In a resolution finalized at the close of the three-day summit, the indigenous peoples manifested the following:

1.  Called on the government to immediately suspend the processing of Free Prior and Informed Consent and issuance of Certificate of Pre-Conditions for major projects such as mining and infrastructure on grounds that these have violated their rights to self-determination.

2.  Urged the government to immediately revise the guidelines for the granting of the FPIC in consideration of their claims to their ancestral domain and their desire to live peacefully according to their own culture and traditions. The FPIC is required by the government before mining and dam projects, for example, can push through. Indigenous peoples claim, however, that many of these multi-billion peso projects have managed to go ahead despite their stiff opposition.

3.  Recommended that the Mining Act of 1995 be repealed and that alternative mining bills that provide for rational management of minerals and upholds the rights of indigenous peoples be passed.

4.  Urged the government to declare a moratorium on large-scale mining and strictly regulate small scale mining.

5.  Recommended that a mechanism be established to ensure that the IPs themselves can take part in the selection and appointment of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, which is the main government agency mandated to implement the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act.

6.  Call for a review of all programs on basic social services to consider the ethnic variabilities and cultural appropriateness of the delivery programs, particularly the 4Ps program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The summit was organized by the Consultative Group on Indigenous Peoples (CGIP) which includes ADFI, AKBAYAN, ALG, ANGOC, AnthroWatch, ATM, ECIP, FPP, GZOPI, KAMP, KASAPI, KATRIBU,  PRRM, and PAFID.

The conference got support from the United Nations Development Programme, Foundation for the Philippine Environment, Peace and Equity Foundation, Philippine Tropical Forests Conservation Foundation, and the Foundation for Sustainable Societies, Inc.

PAFID and FUNDESO of Spain Embarks on a New Partnership in Aurora

FUNDESO of Spain and PAFID recently signed a collaboration agreement to implement a project in two (2) communities in Maria Aurora, Aurora. The project aims to contribute to the reduction of poverty and improving the living conditions of the indigenous Ilongot community in Bayanihan, and the community of migrant Igorots in Kadayakan.

Among others, the project will support the development of potable water systems, provide livelihood support and technical assistance to increase farm production.

Pilot Training on Carbon Sequestration

In partnership with the Kalahan Educational Foundation (KEF), PAFID conducted the pilot training on carbon sequestration. The training was held in Imugan, Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya on  01- 04 February 2011. It seeks to develop the abilities of local communities in measuring the carbon sequestration capacities of their ancestral domains.

The training involved familiarization with the attendant issues on climate change and carbon trading. Actual sample plotting were conducted to compute and project the carbon sequestration capacity of a certain parcel of forestland.

The training is part of the small project supported by the International Land Coalition (ILC).

29th PAFID Board of Trustees Meeting

The PAFID Board of Trustees had its 29th meeting on 13 December 2010. The board approved the final list of members that would be invited to the PAFID General Assembly which will be held on 02 April 2011 at the Soriano Hall, SEAMEO-Innotech Center, Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City. 

Present during the meeting were (from left to right): Dave De Vera (Executive Director), Datu Vic Saway, Fr. Francis Lucas (Chairperson), Prof. Popoy De Vera, Ms. Shirley Libre (former Executive Director), and Rev. Delbert Rice. Ms. Libre was invited to present the status of the traditional knowledge documentation report that PAFID asked here to helped organized.

Asian Regional Workshop on Women and Land Rights

PAFID is participating in the Asian Regional Workshop on Women and Land Rights (25 - 26 October 2010) currently ongoing in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This activity is organized by the Asian NGO Coalition (ANGOC) and its local partner in Bangladesh, the Association for Land Rights and Development (ALRD), in partnership with the International Land Coalition (ILC).

The workshop seeks to develop a roadmap towards promoting women's land rights as an input to the planning process of ILC-Asia's work program. It is also expected to identify potential contributions to efforts in advancing women's land rights in the region.

PAFID is a member of the International Land Coalition (ILC).

CBD Conference in Nagoya, Japan

The PAFID Executive Director leads a three-person delegation to join thousands of decision makers meeting in Nagoya, Japan (18 to 29 October) to discuss a ‘Big Plan’ for the next 10 years to reduce the current pressures on the planet’s biodiversity. On the table at the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 10) are 20 targets designed to tackle the extinction crisis and restore the earth’s natural capital.

For more on this check out http://www.iucn.org/cbd/meetings/nagoya_2010/