Mindanao-wide Indigenous Peoples Youth Assembly & Empowerment Program – MIPYAE
Bonded by a common interests and goal to unify, capacitate, and empower the Indigenous Peoples’ youth all over Mindanao in promoting and preserving their culture. The MIPCPD’s youth arm, Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Youth Organization (MIPYO) in partnership with the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) launched a series of two (2) phases of activity dubbed as Mindanao-wide Indigenous Peoples Youth Assembly & Empowerment Program last Nov. 16 – Dec. 16, 2020 and on Sept. 18 – Nov. 15, 2021 respectively.
The primary objective of the said activitiy is:
- To raise the awareness of the IP youth on the impact of insurgency and ideology in the lives and development of the ICCs/IPs;
- To strengthen the IP youth organization by providing linkages and support systems from government agency and private sectors.
Background and Rationale:
The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 recognizes the vital role of the children and youth of ICCs/IPs in nation-building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being. Towards this end, the State shall support all government programs intended for the development and rearing of the children and youth of ICCs/IPs for civic efficiency and establish such mechanisms as may be necessary for the protection of the rights of the indigenous children and youth.
While it is true that the state recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building, the left leaning organizations uses the same concept to lure the youth, particularly of the ICCs/IPs into their organization that oppose every plan of the government to develop the ICCs/IPs.
Because of the vulnerability of the IP youth and children, some were eventually recruited in the arm struggle that lead to the displacement of many ICCs/IPs in their ancestral domain.
To counter the offensive of insurgency, the government, through the President of the Philippines, issued Executive Order No. 70 dubbed as the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF –ELCAC). The Executive Order was created to synchronize the utilization of the government instrumentalities of power and capabilities of private sector stakeholders to finally end the 50-year long deceit, lies and atrocities committed by the communist terrorist against the people.
Recognizing the need to develop awareness on the effect of insurgency among the ancestral domains of the ICCs/IPs and the role of the IP youth in the development, the NCIP in coordination with the NTF- ELCAC facilitated several activities to empower the IP youth sector of the ICCs/IPs. The empowerment of the IP youth sector in a whole of nation approach is vital in countering the effort of left leaning organizations.
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Updated by: Alvin Sison – March 26, 2023