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As early as 1970, a book was published to shed light on the ongoing battle of the Indigenous Lumad people of Mindanao, especially with ancestral territory and their demand for self-determination.

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Why is education still not given importance due to conflicts that hinder defending IPs rights when Lumads desire to sustain learning for many years?

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How are the Lumads getting their education when the schools are closed?

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The Lumads in Mindano, along with the ACT for Peace organization, voice out against the closing of Lumad schools after years of suffering from oppression and being substantially neglected by the government.

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IPs struggled over the security of their lands because of both state and corporate interests; their lands were used for mining, logging, dams, etc. Indigenous customary laws contradict their own purpose in protecting IPs’ lands.

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How can indigenous people be protected by customary laws, when the security of their lands are threatened by state interests?

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There has been a lot of discussion in the mainstream media and among celebrities about the plight of IPs.

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The challenges that Lumad women face as both women and Indigenous People were discussed in the article.

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Poverty, War and Peace: Lumad and Muslim Women’s Issues in Mindanao

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  Background Mindanao is home to diverse communities, with 13 ethno-linguistic groups and around 30 Lumad groups. Of its total population of 25.73 million, some 18 percent are Muslims and approximately 5 percent are Lumad; the rest are migrants and their descendants. Females comprise half of th…

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How are IPs forming internal consensus as small groups representing the Indigenous community?

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The Manobos have spoken out against the Save Our Schools group who’s a network of child rights advocates and the Bayan Muna Rep. Eufemia Cullamat for the misrepresentation and spreading false information about the IPs.

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Why is there a divide among these IP Groups when they are expected to be united as an oppressed community?

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Youth groups, organizations, and initiatives such as LumadAko, Hulagway, or Tingog, a youth organization campaigning and advocating for Lumad rights, have paved the way for the year 2020.

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Misconceptions and harassment continue to afflict Indigenous people. After protests for equal rights and calls for officials' maltreatment, the authorities labeled indigenous lumad students as "terrorists or leftists" and considered them a major threat.

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According to Save Our Schools at least 176 Lumad schools in Mindanao have been shut by the government, depriving Indigenous children of education [File: Francis R Malasig/EPA]

Rights groups, activists and academic institutions have condemned Philippine authorities following a raid targeting Indigenous Lumad students who sought shelter at a Catholic university after being forced from their homes because of fighting between the military and communist rebels.

Monday's roundup, which the government insisted was a "rescue operation", is seen as part of President Rodrigo Duterte's new war against the communists, who have been waging an armed rebellion for half a century.

The Duterte administration recently declared the communists a "terrorist" organisation, after talks with the group collapsed. Since then, it has also accused mainstream left-leaning political parties, workers groups and even academics of acting as "fronts" for the communist rebels - a government campaign that has become known as "red-tagging". Critics accuse the president of using "communism" as an excuse to crack down on any groups who oppose his administration's policies.

During the raid on Monday, at least 21 Lumad students, 19 of them minors, were taken by police from the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, while seven others, including teachers and Lumad elders, were arrested without warrant and accused of kidnapping.

Among those who were detained was Chad Booc, a University of the Philippines graduate and volunteer teacher. Booc, who Al Jazeera previously interviewed for his advocacy for Indigenous students, also campaigned against the anti-terror law, which was passed in 2020 and allowed for longer detention without charge as well as extended surveillance.

This is what the PNP's 'rescue operation' looks like. Manhandling, handcuffing and mauling those they claim they are rescuing, the Lumad.#StandWithBakwitSchool#FreeLumad25 pic.twitter.com/dmbT5R8kje

- Save Our Schools Network (@savelumadschool) February 15, 2021

Images posted on social media showed the students and teachers screaming as police and social workers dragged them from the university grounds.

The Catholic university has provided shelter and makeshift education facilities to the Lumad students since March last year after they fled their homes in the southern island of Mindanao due to armed conflict.

According to the Save Our Schools Network, which advocates for the education of the Lumad children, at least 176 of their schools in Mindanao have been shut down by the government, depriving at least 5,500 Indigenous children of education.

'Leftist activities'

The government has long claimed that the educational facilities for Indigenous students are being used as recruitment grounds for the rebels.

In a press conference on Monday, Police Brigadier General Ronnie Montejo said that the children were reportedly being trained for "militant" and "leftist" activities.

He said the police carried out the operation after at least six Lumad parents made a complaint, saying that their children had been taken by their teachers without their consent.

Montejo added that the seven individuals who were arrested face charges ranging from kidnapping and illegal detention to human trafficking and child abuse.

The Society of the Divine Word (SVD), which runs the 238-year-old Catholic university, said it considered the incident with "serious concern".

The organisation also denied the police allegations of kidnapping and human trafficking, saying that "no rescue" was needed, as it only provided temporary shelter and education to the displaced students, whose stay in Cebu had been prolonged as a result of the coronavirus lockdown.

"All throughout, they were nurtured, cared for, and treated with their best interest in mind," it said.

Fr Narciso Cellan Jr, University of San Carlos president, told an online press conference on Monday evening that the police provided no warning of the planned operation.

Carlos Conde of Human Rights Watch in the Philippines said that the incident was the latest in the "targeting of Indigenous peoples".

"For as long as anyone can remember, these Indigenous communities suffer from so-called 'development aggression,' where companies, often foreign-owned, build mining or plantation operations, displacing the Lumads. This has created intense anti-govt animosities among tribes," he wrote on social media.

The Lumads, who have defended their lands from incursions, have long accused the government of neglecting their rights in favour of big business.

A 2020 Global Witness report said that at least 43 Philippine land-rights advocates, many of them from Lumad communities, were killed in 2019.

The Save Our Schools Network condemned the incident as "pure harassment".

"It has been through the Save Our Schools Network that the Lumad continue their education and the protection of their ancestral lands," the group said.

Congressman Carlos Zarate, who was also recently accused by the Duterte administration of being a communist sympathiser, has called for an inquiry into the incident.

"This is truly outrageous and condemnable," Zarate said in a statement. "The Lumad students are there because the military destroyed their schools in Mindanao and now even in their evacuation school, they are being harassed and abducted."

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Philippines police raid targets displaced Indigenous students

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Rights groups, activists and academic institutions have condemned Philippine authorities following a raid targeting Indigenous Lumad students who sought shelter at a Catholic university after being forced from their homes because of fighting between the military and communist rebels.

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The members of Ata tribe have initiated a campaign to halt the selling of their ancestral domains.

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Last Monday, Datu Amansing Sampiano, Barangay Salapawan tribal chieftain, led the holding of a ritual to start the campaign as the community installed billboards where the words "Ancestral Domains are NOT FOR SALE" were printed.

"The ritual symbolized the remembrance and respect to their ancestors who gave them their ancestral domains. The ritual also emphasized the respect and guidance of Manama for the success of the project. The chicken used symbolizes the purity, strength, and peace of the Ata tribe," the tribe said in a statement.

The billboards were installed in Sitio Kiman-anaw, Barangay Salapawan, Paquibato District as part of the call of the community that under Indigenous Peoples Rights Act, or Republic 8371, selling of ancestral domains is strictly prohibited.

The provision of the law states: "The indigenous concept of ownership generally holds that ancestral domains are the ICC's/IP's [Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples] private but community property, which belongs to all generations and therefore cannot be sold, disposed (of) or destroyed."

Violation of the law punishes the violator with at least nine months but not more than 12 years of imprisonment, or a fine of not less than P100,000 but not more than P500,000 or both dependent on the discretion of the court.

The city government said the campaign is in line with its Peace 911 program which not only implements peace and development projects but also protects the rights of possession and ownership of tribal communities over the ancestral domain land to preserve their culture.

The tribe said its campaign will also be expanded to every barangay of the district to ensure that more people are informed.

The campaign is a realization of the tribe's call for the support of Mayor Sara Duterte to promote awareness and recognition of the indigenous peoples' rights, including those that cover the ancestral domains.

"We sincerely thank our Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio [for her] response to our concern especially to protect our motherland. [We want to] respect and preserve our culture,"said Berino Mambo-o Sr., vice president of the community association.

In June, the City Information Office reported, the City Planning and Development Office assured the tribe of its support for the campaign as, based on the record of the office, the tribe has 65,796 hectares of ancestral domain with 56,506 hectares situated within the boundaries of the city.

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Ata tribe campaigns vs selling of ancestral domain - Mindanao Times

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Last Monday, Datu Amansing Sampiano, Barangay Salapawan tribal chieftain, led the holding of a ritual to start the campaign as the community installed billboards where the words "Ancestral Domains are NOT FOR SALE" were printed. "The ritual symbolized the remembrance and respect to their ancestors who gave them their ancestral domains.

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Why was the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 or the Republic Act No. 8371 of 1997 not enforced and implemented in a way that benefits its own recipient?

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The IPs in Mindanao struggle towards the preservation of their ancestral domains in the wake of rampant buying and selling of their lands, as well as the inhumane harassment, threats, and killings that they endure within their own territories.