09/08/2026
Today, we celebrate the ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐'๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ, and the ๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐ฒ๐๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ (๐๐๐๐).
In celebrating the strength of their spirit and the unparalleled beauty of their culture, we are called to remember their storiesโthe ones that are consistently being silenced by the very institutions that promised to protect them. To this day, our Indigenous communities continue to fight for their land, their people, and their future, as they are met with injusticesโnamed and unnamedโat every turn.
In truth, beyond the recognition of their own struggles lies a reality that we often miss: their burden does not end with the systemic oppression attached to their Indigenous identities. They are women who fight for gender equality. They are youth who hope for quality education. They are workers who demand for better wages and working conditions. These are challenges that they continue to face on top of the weight they were already made to carry as a marginalized group.
๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ. We continue to fight alongside them until every Indigenous communityโs rights are recognized and upheld. Today, we stand with them as they commemorate the names of ancestors, sing the songs of their elders, and tell the tales of the mountains and the seas to their youth. Today, we say a prayer for our Indigenous brothers and sisters who keep the flame aliveโnever forgetting who they are as a community.
Photo Courtesy of:
Ateneo Human Rights Center
Artemio Dumlao. ๐๐ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ญ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐บ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ธ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด, Philstar, September 12, 2019, ๐ข๐ท๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต https://www.philstar.com/nation/2019/09/12/1951228/ip-voice-local-cordillera-councils-weak-despite-law-recognizing-their-rights (last accessed Aug. 9, 2026)
Danilo Doguiles. ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ: ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด, Philippine Information Agency, October 29, 2024, ๐ข๐ท๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต https://pia.gov.ph/news/leader-to-fellow-ip-youth-learn-to-play-traditional-instruments/ (last accessed Aug. 9, 2026)
Journal Online. ๐๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ด: "๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ด", Journal Online. June 8, 2026, ๐ข๐ท๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต https://journal.com.ph/fisherfolk-green-groups-protect-oceans-to-protect-food-security-and-livelihoods/ (last accessed Aug. 9, 2026)
Kilab Multimedia. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ'๐ด ๐๐ข๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด, Davao Today, March 4, 2020, ๐ข๐ท๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต https://davaotoday.com/human-rights/indigenous-women-commemorate-womens-day-with-vow-to-assert-rights/ (last accessed Aug. 9, 2026)
Sun Star. ๐๐ข๐ท๐ข๐ฐ ๐๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐๐'๐ด 1๐ด๐ต ๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต, Sun Star Digital, November 12, 2025, ๐ข๐ท๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต https://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/davao-city-pioneers-phs-1st-ip-teen-center-for-cultural-youth-development (last accessed Aug. 9, 2026)