As indigenous people continue to face attacks in the Philippines, human rights and youth groups urged senators to prioritize a long-awaited bill for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

In a statement headlined by human rights group Ako Bakwit on Saturday, September 26, over 90 youth groups including Akbayan Youth, Kabataan, and Youth Resist called on the government to protect IDPs.

Celebrities including Janine Gutierrez and Kakie Pangilinan also voiced their support as among at least 141 individual signatories.

Ako Bakwit stressed that the rising number of COVID-19 cases has intensified the plight of IDPs in the country as they continue to suffer the “denial of basic human rights such as freedom from torture and discriminatory treatment,” as well as “access to food, water, sanitation, personal security, education, and health care.”

According to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 370,000 individuals in Mindanao were reported to have been forcibly displaced due to conflict, persecution, and violence at the end of May 2020.

“The pandemic has exceedingly worsened their plight as they have become the most vulnerable to the transmission of COVID-19 owing to substandard conditions,” Ako Bakwit said.

On top of this, Ako Bakwit stressed that the pandemic has further excluded IDP children from receiving formal education due to the continued shutdowns of schools for the Lumad or indigenous people, on top of the shift to online learning.

“Even before the pandemic, formal schooling has been made practically impossible by inaccessible learning materials, Lumad bakwit school shutdowns, and the absence of conducive learning environments. Now the nationwide shift to online instruction, which has necessitated access to more advanced technological devices and internet connectivity, has excluded them even more ruthlessly,” Ako Bakwit said.

Lumad communities and schools have long been the target of attacks and closures by government forces and agencies. In 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to bomb Lumad schools, alleging links between indigenous communities and communist insurgents. 

Even during the pandemic, Lumad schools continue to face attacks. From March to May this year, the Save Our Schools Network has documented 32 attacks on Lumad schools.

This has pushed Ako Bakwit, along with other groups and personalities, to reiterate the need for an IDP rights framework and law in the Philippines. They also called on the Senate committees on justice and human rights to prioritize the IDP rights bill.

The proposed Senate Bill No. 3317 and House Bill No. 5627 or the “Rights of Internally Displaced Persons Act of 2013” seeks to protect the rights of persons internally displaced by armed conflict, violence, and natural disasters. It also seeks to provide and give IDPs access to basic necessities such as food and housing.

Former president Benigno Aquino III had vetoed the bill in 2013, citing his opposition to a provision allowing IDPs to claim financial assistance and compensation from the government, among other concerns.

The unity statement comes after Ako Bakwit’s chairperson and former senatorial candidate Samira Gutoc called on Filipinos to amplify the call for the bill’s immediate passage. 

This pandemic is displacing the already displaced Filipinos who are suffering the most. They need our voices! Help us amplify the call for the immediate passage of the IDP Rights Bill. For more info, please click: https://t.co/AMdTj4nfMS and RT#IDPKarapatanPaglaban #AkoBakwit

— Samira Gutoc (@GutocSamira) September 22, 2020

Aside from the prioritization of the bill, Ako Bakwit also called on Filipinos to “break the culture of ignorance and apathy” for IDPs through increasing one’s own awareness on their ongoing struggles, countering discriminatory narratives, and supporting IDP businesses.

They also urged people donate resources through legitimate and trusted avenues dedicated to aiding IDPs, and echo demands for local government units to “organize a system for the IDPs where they can be properly identified and documented.”

“It is the responsibility of our government to serve IDPs through the form of policies that allow them protection and assistance, especially as COVID-19 continues to devastate our nation,” Ako Bakwit said.

“The disregard for the basic rights of our IDPs is an affront to our own freedoms. In the face of systemic oppression at its worst, the displaced Filipinos’ fight for their lives is the fight of our lives,” the group added. – with reports from Russell Ku/Rappler.com