E/CN.4/2003/90/Add.3 page 7 Introduction 1. At the invitation of the Government of the Philippines, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people paid a visit to the country from 2 to 11 December 2002, where he met with senior government officials, representatives of indigenous organizations, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society. He also had direct consultations with indigenous peoples themselves during one field visit, two regional consultations and one nationwide consultation in Manila. The Special Rapporteur would like to thank the Government of the Philippines for inviting him to visit the country and for the full cooperation extended to him prior to and during the visit, which greatly facilitated his work. He is also grateful to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Coordinator and staff for their assistance throughout the visit and its preparation. He would further like to extend his profound gratitude to the indigenous peoples who received him with an open heart and provided him with invaluable information and testimonials, in particular the Tebtebba Foundation (Indigenous Peoples International Centre for Policy Research and Education) for coordinating his agenda with other indigenous organizations. Thanks are also due to academics and others who assisted his visit. I. PROGRAMME OF THE VISIT 2. The Special Rapporteur visited Manila, Baguio City and Mankayan in Benguet Province, and Butuan in Mindanao. In Manila, he met with senior government officials, including the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Under-Secretary of the Department of Justice, the Under-Secretary of the Department of National Defence, the Co-Vice Chair of Task Force 63, the Presidential Adviser on Peace, the Chair of the Commission for Human Rights, the Commissioners and Executive Director of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), and the Chair of the Commission on the Role of Filipino Women. The Special Rapporteur also met with the Catholic Bishop of Butuan, the President and members of the academic community of the University of the Philippines and other academic institutions, and the President of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines. 3. The Special Rapporteur had fruitful meetings with a wide and representative segment of indigenous peoples’ and human rights organizations, who provided him with valuable information and documentation. He also visited the Lepanto Victoria gold mine where he met with members of the mining community. II. GENERAL CONTEXT 4. The varied geography of the Republic of the Philippines consists of more than 7,000 islands inhabited by about 140 ethno-linguistic groups. Between 15 and 20 per cent of the total population of 80 million are composed of indigenous cultural communities or indigenous peoples (15 to 20 million), who are present in more than 50 of the country’s 78 provinces. NCIP estimates that the majority (61 per cent) of the indigenous peoples live in Mindanao while one third reside in Luzon. The other 6 per cent are scattered among the Visayan islands.1