Photo by Sane of DND

The Department of National Defense (DND) took part in the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) event titled “Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICC)/Indigenous Peoples (IP) Unification with the Government Nation Building” with the theme, “Building Families, Building Ancestral Domain (AD)/Ancestral Land Communities and Building the Nation" on November 16, 2022 at the AFP Commissioned Officers' Clubhouse, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

This activity highlighted the gains, challenges, strategic directions, and ways forward of ICCs/IPs through the very first State of the Indigenous Cultural Communities/ Indigenous Peoples Address (SIIPA) delivered by Allen A. Capuyan, Chairperson of the NCIP.

In the first SIIPA, Sec. Capuyan spoke about the vulnerability of IP communities to the infiltration of revolutionary ideologies and leaders and its impact on the smooth implementation of the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act. "The entry of migrants and front organizations disrupted their exercise of self-governance which consequently affected their stability, peace, tranquility, and unity," he said.

Sec. Capuyan expressed, however, that NCIP shall provide an abundance of opportunities for their way ahead, and this process of nation-building shall ensure their food, land, and labor security.

To concretize the proponents' commitment to NCIP's initiatives, NGAs and private sectors signed a pledge of support and manifesto of peace, unity, and development for IPs and their ADs.

The DND, via Executive Order 70 that created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, has been actively collaborating with its lead and partner agencies to eradicate insurgency in the country.

####