Introduction

With over 7,600 islands in the Philippines and three major island groups, it’s no wonder
that different cultural practices, traditions, and groups are present in the country. Among
the archipelago’s existing communities, there are indigenous tribes who have managed
to keep their cultural identity, despite the non-recognition and marginalization they’re
facing.

There are two main ethnic groups comprising several upland and lowland indigenous
tribes living within the Philippines – from the northern and southern parts of the
Philippines. The indigenous people living in the northern part of the country are called
the Igorots, whereas those non-Muslim indigenous tribes living in the south are referred
to as Lumad.

Although there are quite a number of indigenous tribes or ethnic groups in the country,
they remain some of the poorest, least privileged, and impeded members of society.
They mostly reside in the mountains, and hence were not affected by Spanish or
American colonization, which is the primary reason they were able to retain their
customs and traditions.1

There are many problems being faced by Indigenous people and one of these is the
lack of fulfillment to their basic Right to Education. Indigenous peoples are the least
served in terms of access to education, mainly due to the remoteness of their ancestral
domains, as well as poverty and the prohibitive cost of sending indigenous children to
school, and the discrimination experienced by indigenous children. Statistics show that
nine out of ten indigenous children in Mindanao have no access to education and many
indigenous communities do not have schools. Armed conflict between the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) continues to be a
serious threat in many IP areas. While some community-based organizations and
religious institutions have sought to provide alternative schools for IPs, there are reports
that these schools, as well as government-run daycare centers, have been used for the
government’s military counterinsurgency program called Oplan Bayanihan (the Internal
Peace and Security Plan). 2

According to Amnesty International, there are 370 million indigenous peoples in the
world that are clustered to 5000 various groups. Seventy percent are in Asia. In the
Philippines, indigenous peoples make up an estimated 17 million of the country’s
population. The United Nations reports that majority of these peoples are situated in
Northern Luzon and in Mindanao and some spread out in Visayas.

Although a concrete and universal definition of “indigenous” is uncertain, there is an

understanding that indigenous people differ from the dominant groups in society in that
they possess “a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that
developed on their territories)”. They have a distinctive social, economic, and political
system and carry with them a firmness to preserve their culture and conserve their
ancestral environments.

However, indigenous peoples face multifarious problems. They are often displaced from
their lands, are relegated as second-class members of society, and are alienated from
the spread of capitalism. These unpleasant realities continue to exist. These distressing
actualities can be majorly attributed to the deprivation of access to quality education for
indigenous communities.

The design of education programs must weigh up the special needs of these
communities. Indigenous students cannot thrive well in mainstream education methods
that do not take into account indigenous culture. Therefore, due to the diversity of
indigenous peoples, a system that assumes universality will not only be ill-fitting but also
be disastrous for them. A tailored model that promotes human rights, gender sensitivity,
and especially “indigenous perspectives, innovations and practices in an environment
that replicates traditional ways of learning)” (qtd. in United Nations Human Rights Office
of the High Commissioner, para. 4) might have utility in the proliferation of a competitive
indigenous education.3

Footnotes:

1
RONICA VALDEAVILLA, “A GUIDE TO THE INDIGENOUS TRIBES OF THE
PHILIPPINES”, 25 TH OF APRIL 2018,
HTTPS://THECULTURETRIP.COM/ASIA/PHILIPPINES/ARTICLES/A-GUIDE-TO-THE-
INDIGENOUS-TRIBES-OF-THE-PHILIPPINES/

2 STATEMENT BY TEBTEBBA – INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR POLICY

RESEARCH AND EDUCATION, 26 SEPTEMBER 2016,
HTTP://WWW.TEBTEBBA.ORG/INDEX.PHP/CONTENT/383-SITUATION-OF-INDIGENOUS-PEOPLES-IN-THE-
PHILIPPINES-SUBMISSION-TO-THE-59TH-SESSION-OF-CESCR

3 EDUCATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN THE PHILIPPINES VIS-À-VIS ASEAN COMMUNITY,

HTTP://BLOG.ASEANKOREA.ORG/?P=1474