E/CN.4/2003/90/Add.3 page 2 Executive summary At the invitation of the Government, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people visited the Philippines from 2 to 11 December 2002, where he met with government officials, indigenous and other organizations and United Nations agencies. About 140 indigenous ethno-linguistic groups, representing 15-20 per cent of the total population of 80 million, are present in more than 50 of the country’s 78 provinces. They have continuously lived as communities in communally bounded and defined territories, which they have occupied from time immemorial. By retaining their traditions and values from long before European colonization they contribute to the rich cultural diversity and uniqueness of the Philippine nation. The legal framework in which indigenous rights must be considered under the Constitution is the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997, which also established the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples. While IPRA recognizes the right to land, self-determination and cultural integrity of indigenous peoples, the Special Rapporteur is concerned about serious human rights issues related to the lack of its effective implementation. For poor indigenous farming communities crucial land rights are addressed by filing legal claims to their own ancestral domains and titles. The process is cumbersome and indigenous representatives perceive that the business interests of private enterprises, which over the years have encroached upon their ancestral domains, are more protected than their own rights based on land use and continuous occupation. High poverty rates and the lack of basic social services force many indigenous people to migrate to poor urban areas where the situation of women and children is of particular concern. The present report documents serious human rights violations regarding the human rights implications for indigenous communities of economic activities such as large-scale logging, open-pit mining, multi-purpose dams, agribusiness plantations and other development projects. Of particular concern are the long-term devastating effects of mining operations on the livelihood of indigenous peoples and their environment. These activities are often carried out without their prior, free and informed consent, as the law stipulates. Communities resist development projects that destroy their traditional economy, community structures and cultural values, a process described as “development aggression”. Indigenous resistance and protest are frequently countered by military force involving numerous human rights abuses, such as arbitrary detention, persecution, killings of community representatives, coercion, torture, demolition of houses, destruction of property, rape, and forced recruitment by the armed forces, the police or the so-called paramilitaries, such as Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Units (CAFGUs). The militarization of indigenous areas is a grave human rights problem, as members of indigenous communities are sometimes accused of rebellion or engaging in “terrorist” activity. In the context of the armed conflict that still prevails in the countryside, indigenous communities and organizations are often victimized and their human rights abused.