Some 50 Indigenous women from across the country voiced their struggles with hunger and lack of support from the current government during a National Indigenous Women’s Gathering in Quezon City.
Hosted by LILAK (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights), the event spotlighted the harsh realities that women face in their communities, exacerbated by climate change and corporate control over their lands.
The gathering coincided with a recent SWS survey indicating a spike in hunger among Filipinos, reaching its highest since the global pandemic with 14.6 percent reporting hunger in the first quarter of 2024.
LILAK highlighted that the impact is most severe among Indigenous women farmers and small food producers, who also contend with rising commodity prices.
“If there is change in the “Bagong Pilipinas”, it is the influx of applications for corporate-driven projects such as in the extractive industries that will destroy the environment and the entry of energy projects within agricultural and ancestral lands,” said Judy Pasimio, LILAK’s overall coordinator.
LILAK has raised concerns about the rising number of approvals and applications for projects that could harm the environment.
The group said 38 mines have recently been approved and registered, with an additional 148 applications under consideration since 2021.
LILAK highlighted the persistent challenges faced by Indigenous women leaders, including intimidation, red-tagging, and acts of violence, as they advocate for their rights and protections.
“In the third SONA, we can now ask the president where his promises are, and for whom this ‘Bagong Pilipinas’ is for. It has now become clearer that the ‘Bagong Pilipinas’ is for the Marcos family and their cronies – it is not for our country, not for indigenous communities, and definitely not for Filipinos,” said Pasimio.
