Lumads celebrate International Women’s Day

INDIGENOUS women from six different communities in Luzon and Mindanao open March 8 with indigenous song, dance, and rituals in time for the International Women’s Day and Women’s Month celebration. Carrying a collective call urging voters to choose good leaders in the 2022 National Elections, indigenous women leaders reiterate the importance of electing leaders that will respect and uphold the rights of indigenous women and their communities.

“Women play a significant role in our society because we bear children and give life to our future generation. Our stories and our voices should be listened to because we are directly affected by critical issues and problems in our society,” said Marilou Taupan, an Erumanen Menuvu indigenous young woman leader in North Cotabato.

According to Cherry Ann Dulnuan, a Tuwali young indigenous woman, they are living witnesses on how destructive mining projects have adversely affected their communities and how their opposition was met violently by corporations and agents of the state.

In a statement, LILAK Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights highlighted the multiple challenges that indigenous women face under the current administration and how its militaristic response to the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbates the difficulties experienced by indigenous communities.

“Six years under Duterte’s misogynist and violent administration, indigenous women experienced inconceivable violence and harassment in various forms. Amid pandemic, women continue to fight and protect their ancestral lands from land grabbing of corporations backed by agents of the state for destructive projects such as mining, plantations, and mega-dams. In the process of protecting their homes, their families, and their land, and in asserting their rights, they were being red-tagged and are subjected to threats, harassment, and discrimination by the very government who should protect them,” said Judy Pasimio, LILAK Overall Coordinator.

According to Meralyn Padojelaga, Bukidnon from Negros Occidental, while indigenous women continue to face the challenges of violence, discrimination, and abuse, they see the upcoming elections as the right moment to work together in electing a new set of leaders that has the heart for indigenous women and a proven track record to lead the country.

Bae Kalalagan – Zenaida Mansiliohan, a Talaandig Coconut Farmer leader in Agusan del Sur said that strong indigenous women are women who bridge people to a better future.

“Our collective call this upcoming 2022 National Election is for indigenous people communities to elect worthy and deserving leaders that will protect and uphold the rights of women, indigenous women, and our communities,” said Taupan.

“Indigenous women crafted an electoral agenda that is being presented to aspiring leaders. We see their electoral participation as a milestone in advancing their agenda and in their collective call to end all forms of violence, and in urging the new government to respect and uphold their rights,” Pasimio ended.

The March 8 International Women’s Day celebration was simultaneously held in six different communities of Kirinteken Erumanen Menuvu in Bukidnon, of Aeta Abelen in Botolan Zambales, of Talaandig in Agusan del Sur, of Bukidnon in Negros Occidental, of Tuwali in Nueva Viscaya, and of Erumanen Menuvu in North Cotabato. (LILAK)