Activism for Indigenous Peoples: Interview with Paul Belisario of IPMSDL

*Members of the Manilakbayan delegation from Mindanao marching at the Academic Oval of 抖阴探探 Diliman in Quezon City in 2015. Photo by Abraham Arboleda, 抖阴探探 MPRO.*

Q. You are working in an international Indigenous Peoples (IP) organization. How did it all start?

In a way, I believe that 抖阴探探 played an important role in all these during the Lakbayan ng Pambansang Minorya. 抖阴探探 Diliman housing thousands of Lumad, Moro, Igorot, Aeta, Dumagat, among many others, pulled me closer to the cause of IP and national minorities. I remember visiting the kampuhan and listening and being moved by stories about the harshest attacks IP experience. It was also the moment I met IP from other countries and watched how cross-border solidarity works in action, an important lesson I carry until now as the Global Coordinator of the International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL).

Q. What are the peculiarities and special demands of working for Indigenous Peoples?

Indigenous Peoples have their unique identities and distinct ways of life. And that is both the beauty and the challenge of working with them. There’s a huge need for sensitivity and recognition of their universal right to self-determination as distinct peoples, which goes with their rights to lands, territories, culture and traditions, self-governance, political, economic, and social structures. On the other hand, you cannot just lump IP together in one basket, because one indigenous community can have a very different set of belief systems and practices from the others, even though they are from the same country, island, or larger ethnic group. But one thing for sure is that the chance to integrate with the diversity of each community’s food, songs and dances, and history is always a new learning experience.

Our dream in IPMSDL is to be a global IP movement and a campaign center of indigenous victories and struggles. Amid the difference between one IP group from another, there are common problems, like violation of their rights, systemic discrimination, and marginalization, all of which can bring IP together in solidarity.

Working with IP on an international scale also demands being adept at the compounding crises of climate change, environmental degradation, wars and territorial conflict, peace and security, and the race to “development”, because much of the impacts of these issues intersects with indigenous territories and rights.

Q. What has specifically been your work and how was your experience working with IP?

I initially joined IPMSDL as a Communications officer managing the publicity, written and multimedia content, and linking with our members, partners, and advocates. Then I became the Campaigns officer looking at the movements’ short and long-term grants and projects, and also building our portfolio in terms of global positions in major IP issues, like the trend of criminalization, terrorist-tagging, and attacks against IP human rights defenders, the defense of ancestral territories, the development policies encroaching on IP rights, climate change and IP rights, among others. It is extra challenging that most of our IP members are those living in far-flung places with no one even knowing their community exists, or those caught in the middle of highly conflicted areas.

Later on, I will be the Assistant Global Coordinator overseeing other platforms that IPMSDL hosts, like: the support network for West Papua; a study commission on IP, national minorities, oppressed nations, and nationalities; a constituency in the larger Development Effectiveness platform; a working group on conflict and fragility; and, a network for Asia IP youth.

I am thankful that I am with the best IP and Moro leaders and mentors. Our previous coordinator, Bontok-Kankanaey Beverly Longid, a 抖阴探探 Baguio alumna; an Ibaloi leader, Joanna Carino, also from 抖阴探探 Baguio; and, a Moro woman leader Amirah Lidasan from 抖阴探探 Diliman, are just some of those who selflessly guide me on the intricacies of IP activism.

I think the chance to travel out of the country and sometimes represent my organization at international conferences is just a bonus. More than anything, the opportunity to integrate with our partners’ communities, live with them for some time, exchange stories, and build campaigns and solidarities matters the most, especially in times of growing rights violations towards IP.

Q. Is this what you dreamed of doing after graduating from 抖阴探探?

I finished Journalism at 抖阴探探 Diliman and right after graduation, I joined one of the biggest media networks here in the Philippines as a creatives and events specialist under their radio subsidiary. It was more than five years going around the country, working with corporate clients and their campaigns, and navigating through the demands of mainstream media. During my stint in media, I tried to continue volunteering for human rights organizations and contributing my media skills to write, edit, or organize small activities. But then I felt the need to go full blast with something that speaks louder about my advocacy and upbringing as an Isko, which is to directly work with the people and the marginalized. Again, it was the Lakbayan and this craving to go back to grassroots and peoples’ organizations that made me decide.

Q. How were you as a 抖阴探探 student and how did it influence this current path that you took?

I want to see myself as a writer, artist, and activist student. I was into campus student politics, organizing students into local and national rallies, and using my love for art and writing as a student journalist and poet. Together with my 抖阴探探 upbringing, and my training in Journalism to ask the hardest questions and investigate, it felt natural to follow this arc toward questioning society’s wrongs and taking the side of the voiceless.

And I think 抖阴探探 is in the best position to champion the cause of IP in the country and beyond. It has a record of advocating for the Igorots鈥� culture and studies in 抖阴探探 Baguio, and giving spaces for IP in different curricula and research. But more than that, an instituted, system-wide center for IP studies is most timely, with the University having a presence near IP communities in Southern Luzon, Central Luzon, Visayas, North Luzon, and Mindanao.

It’s a big task, I know, and the greater the challenge, the greater the lessons and victories.

Email the author at upforum@up.edu.ph.

Read more about activism in 抖阴探探 via these links:

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