Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

Chapter 2.2: Challenges at the National Policy Level
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Act. These were the result of concerted national advocacy, and
legal pressure. Yet, there is still a continuing struggle to see the
spirit of the Act implemented, especially as under-resourced
Land Councils struggle against well-resourced company lawyers.
As Brian Wyatt notes in the case study, although much
of the legislation is no doubt well intentioned, it has created
a paternalistic bureaucracy, which in a number of ways stop
Aboriginal people from effectively deciding their own future.
In contrast to Australia, in neighboring New Zealand/
Aotearoa, the Maori managed to wrestle a Treaty out of the
British colonial powers, the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi. The
Treaty ensured the Maori retained possession of their land
and resources, which was recognized in the 1865 Native Rights
Act. Over time, however, the Maori were still dispossessed of
the majority of their land. In the second half of the 20th century,
Maori activists fought back, which led to various government
initiatives. These included the Waitangi Tribunal (which
has been hearing claims against the government for breaches
of the Treaty since 1975) and the 1995 Ture Whenhua Maori
Act (which established a Maori Land Court and the principle
of Maori collective ownership). Finally, in 1995 the Office of
Treaty Settlements was created to oversee the process of claim
negotiations. There are of course still problems; for instance
the Waitangi Tribunal recommendations are not binding,
and are therefore often ignored by the government. As if to
emphasize the challenges ahead, through the 2004 Public
Foreshore and Seabed Act, the government unilaterally extinguished
Maori customary right to these areas, until it was
repealed in 2011, after much public criticism. 10
The themes running through these different experiences
are that concerted lobbying from indigenous campaigners is
bearing fruit at the national level, particularly in terms of realizing
long-held ambitions for some form of indigenous, collective
land titling. Especially where they are pitted against the
wishes of extractive industry companies, however, the practical
outcomes can be less positive. The clear message though is
that over the longer-term, national struggles continue to gain
ground, bolstered by international standard setting, exemplified
by the UNDRIP.