Solidarity Action Group for Indigenous Peoples and Peasants (SAGIPP) is a broad network of Southern Mindanao based non-government organization workers, members of religious institutions, educators, students, sectoral representatives and individuals who are bound and moved by a common aim of recognizing and supporting the indigenous peoples' (Lumads) struggle for ancestral domain and the right to self-determination and the peasants' call for land- and environmental-justice.

The network defends the indigenous peoples and peasants from the effects of aggressive globalization policies such as large-scale mining, agribusiness expansion, public utility project expansions, logging and land-conversion schemes that threaten food security, ancestral domain and communities. It also defends lumad and peasant communities from the violations to life and land brought by militarism in the guise of 'peace and development'. SAGIPP strives to reaffirm the unity of all peoples in Mindanao to protect our land resources and the sectors that nurture our land and life.

Declaration of Principles

We, members of different organizations, religious institutions, academe, groups and individuals, after having heard and reflected on the situation of our brothers and sisters in the hinterlands, do hereby present this Declaration of Principles supporting the struggle of the Lumad people and peasants, in particular, and the Filipino people, in general, for peaceful and liberating society:

HENCE, inspired by the growing sentiments of the Lumad brothers and sisters for Land, Ancestral Domain and Self-determination, and the peasant brothers and sisters for Land, Justice and Food Security, we do hereby commit for asserting and reaffirming our stand on the sanctity of land as the source of all life, by struggling for a society of the Lumads governed by themselves. Thus;

THAT, the Indigenous peoples’ and peasants' future is threatened by government’s development program such as large-scale open-pit mining, land and crop conversions, agribusiness plantation which adversely affect the Lumads economically, politically, socially and culturally.

THAT, the Lumads’ Ancestral Domain, have kept them and their ancestors alive for centuries, are now being destroyed and grabbed by those who hardly care for it;

THAT, the Lumads are now culturally and socially discriminated against; their rights to food, shelter and security have been denied, thus, deprived of their right to exist;

THAT, the peasants are now marginalized with the expansion of agribusiness affecting their livelihood, security and food, and as farm workers they are deprived of their just wages;

THAT, the Lumads and peasants who were affected by Supertyphoon Pablo continue to suffer from the lack of relief and rehabilitation services from government;

THAT, the State has unleashed war in response to the Lumads’ and peasants' demands and utterance of distress and pain brought about by the lack of basic social services they deserve;

THAT, the mission of God/Allah/Magbabaya for the Mother Earth is preservation and protection of bountiful creatures, made all faithful, men and women, equal and responsible stewards of the bounties of creation and defenders of the given rights;

We, therefore:

Reaffirm the sanctity of life and land, and uphold the rights of Lumads to Ancestral Domain and Self-determination;
Recognize that the land, as source of life, binds peoples’ diversity of faith – Christians, Muslims and Lumad faithful – thus, making a radical outgrowth of these peoples’ faith to God, Allah or Magbabaya;
Recognize the Lumads as a people whose cultural traditions are still rooted in the rich cultural values that defend and protect the source of life, and the land;
Recognize that the identity and race of the Lumads is rooted and sown in the land, and that no person can own the land because it sustains the lifesource of both the present and the future generations;
Recognize the peasants as cultivators and life-givers for sowing the land of food to sustain our needs;
Urgently pursue the call of saving the Indigenous Peoples from threat of total annihilation or ethnocide through supporting them in their struggle to ancestral Domain and Self-determination;

Recognize that, we, members of different organizations, religious institutions, academe, groups and individuals, and other Lumad and peasant advocates have indeed much to contribute for the integral liberation and development of indigenous Peoples and peasants in our land.

SAGIPP's Actions

SAGIPP provides capability-building support to local indigenous peoples and peasants organizations by providing education and trainings for organizational building and empowerment.

SAGIPP actively documents human rights violation cases against the indigenous peoples and peasants and facilitates legal services for human rights victims. It actively mobilizes quick reaction teams in response to critical human rights situations. It also helps in providing sanctuary for human rights victims.

SAGIPP publishes a regular newsletter and utilizes various forms of media as part of an active education and awareness campaign on indigenous peoples. Forums, conferences and educational discussions for the academe, church, and various sectors are also initiated.

SAGIPP initiates medical missions, fact-finding missions and other services for Lumad communities. It also facilitates programs and projects on indigenous children and women, disaster-response, environment, literacy and numeracy, socio-economic, and sustainable agriculture in partnership with its member or allied organizations.

SAGIPP's HELP Campaign

H - Health

The health conditions of Lumads and peasants are affected by the loss of agricultural land and valuable herbs used in indigenous healing as a result of unabated logging, agribusiness expansion and also by military-induced displacement. This was compounded by the devastation left by Typhoon Pablo in Southern Mindanao that destroyed crops. Most Lumads especially children suffer from malnutrition, hypertension, and pulmonary infections.

DONATE medicines for these diseases.
PROVIDE iodized salt, vitamins and clothings.
JOIN medical missions and SHARE your medical skills if you are a health professional/worker.
ESTABLISH health centers in lumad and peasant villages.

E - Environment

Large-scale mining, agribusiness plantations, power utilities, big logging operations, have now denuded most of the arable lands and lumad hunting grounds in the forestlands and rivers.

DO YOUR SHARE in reforesting the highlands.
DONATE seeds or seedlings (of hardwood varieties, or fruit trees like durian, native rambutan, mango, jackfruit and vegetables or food crops).
ORGANIZE tree planting activities in critical watershed areas.

L - Literacy

The fight against illiteracy in the Lumad communities started in the mid-2000s where lumad organizations under PASAKA put up formal community schools with the help of religious and interfaith institutions such as the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines and MISFI. Education statistics show that nine of ten Lumad children have no access to education. But the efforts of community schools, which are now recognized and partners of the Department of Education's Indigenous People's Education Office (IPSEO) are teaching the Lumad children the 3Rs in context of their culture and struggle.

However, the schools and the community are constantly affected by military campaigns that find soldiers occupying schools and houses and putting surveillance on Lumads and teachers. This results to reduction of schoolchildren and even displacement of communities. These attacks on schools must be stopped, as the rights of communities and schoolchildren must be protected from these violations.

SEND lumad children to formal and literacy school.
SPONSOR community education programs.
SPARE your used/unused notebooks, pencils/ ballpens, pad papers, erasers, chalk, crayons, used clothings, etc.
HELP us publish SAGIPP’s literacy reading-writing- arithmetic manuals.
VOLUNTEER as teachers in evacuation centers' makeshift classes.
ADOPT a lumad student, teacher, or school.

P - Production

Long before environmentalism became mainstream, Lumads and peasants already practiced environmentally- sound farming techniques. But the onslaught of logging, mining and other destructive projects have threatened their food security.

HELP lumads increase food production.
DONATE farm tools such as bolo, lagaraw, guna, bairan/limbas, corn/rice mills etc.
SHARE your skills on agriculture and BE INVOLED in food production.

August 31, 2015

About SAGIPP