Environmental inequalities among indigenous people in the Philippines: the case of the Tagbanua in Tara Islands, Palawan

Issue Date

10-2014

Abstract

The struggle of indigenous peoples in the Philippines over land rights is a classic illustration of how existing social inequalities beget environmental inequalities. Using the Environmental Inequality Formation perspective, this paper examines the sociohistorical processes that engender environmental inequalities among the Tagbanua whose natural environment is threatened by the loss and degradation of land and water resources. Based on the narratives generated from oral histories, in-depth interviews, archival documents, and small-group discussions, these environmental inequalities were rooted in the misconceptions by non-indigenous claimants regarding the authenticity of indigenous identity of the Tagbanua, coupled by the inaction or conflicting actions of the state at the local and national levels. However, the resolve of the Tagbanua to capitalize on state policy governing ancestral domains and process it at the national level rather than combat contrary
actions of the state at the local level proves beneficial in asserting their self-determination and eventually achieving recognition of their ownership over their ancestral land and water.

Source or Periodical Title

Ecosystem & Development Journal: A Journal on Tropical Forests and Natural Resources

ISSN

2012-3612

Volume

5

Issue

1

Page

31-38

Document Type

Article

Physical Description

maps; tables

Language

English

En – AGROVOC descriptors

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' LAND RIGHTS; INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' TENURE; NDIGENOUS PEOPLES; LAND RIGHTS; PHILIPPINES

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