- Importance of Data. The report emphasizes the critical need for reliable data to understand and address the challenges faced by IP communities in the Philippines. It highlights the dearth of data in areas that matter to IP communities, such as population and demography, poverty and inequality, the status of Ancestral Domains (ADs), and the interactions between poverty, land, and conflict.
- Data Collection Efforts. This is part of a series of knowledge products prepared under the IP Engagement Strategy, including an IP Data Inventory, an IP Political Economy Analysis, an IP Ancestral Domains Database and Portal Prototype, and an IP Household Survey. These efforts aim to gather important data about IP populations and close information gaps.
- Challenges in Data Collection. It discusses the challenges in collecting data on IPs, such as topography, logistical difficulties, language barriers, discrimination, conflict, and the tendency of IPs not to self-identify due to fear of stigma. It also highlights the lack of systematic data collection, harmonization, and standardization of methodologies across government agencies.
- Living Conditions and Livelihood Opportunities. The report analyzes the poverty, living conditions, social cohesion, and employment of IPs, IP & Muslim ethnic groups, and Muslim ethnic groups in the Philippines. It reveals considerable inequalities both within and across ethnic groups, with IPs and Muslim ethnic groups facing higher poverty rates, poor living conditions, and limited access to basic services.
- Land, Conflict, and Poverty. The complex interplay between land, conflict, and poverty among IP communities, particularly in Mindanao, is explored in the report. It finds that areas with higher shares of IPs are associated with less conflict, including land-related conflicts. However, CADT processing delays can increase violence, highlighting the need for strengthened land governance and improved dispute resolution mechanisms.
Key Policy Recommendations:
- Strengthening IP Data Collection:
- Need for coordinated efforts involving key stakeholders such as the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), relevant departments, and Local Government Units (LGUs) to ensure that ethnicity data is collected more consistently and systematically.
- Introduction of standard ethnicity variables in every official data collection effort, including national and sectoral surveys, administrative data, monitoring and evaluation systems, and projects and studies.
- Improving Land Governance:
- Importance of strengthening land governance to address the challenges related to the recognition and protection of IP land rights.
- Improve dispute resolution mechanisms for overlapping titles and ensuring a more inclusive and effective implementation of CADTs and the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA).
- Enhancing Access to Basic Services:
- Targeted policy interventions to address the disparities in access to basic services such as education, health, clean water, sanitation, and electricity.
- Improving the quality and disaggregation of ethnicity data to positively impact targeting mechanisms for social assistance and efficient service delivery.
- Promoting Inclusive Development:
- Integrate Ancestral Domains Sustainable Development and Protection Plans (ADSDPPs) with other development plans, particularly those of LGUs.
- Building capacity among IP communities to assess development proposals and ensuring that IPs can participate as equal partners in all stages of data collection and development planning.
- Addressing Poverty and Inequality:
- Detailed and precise data to better understand the intersectionality between ethnicity, poverty, and geography.
- Remedial efforts to address persistent inequalities of opportunity and improving targeting mechanisms for social assistance, service delivery, and poverty reduction.