Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

Part 3: Concluding Observations
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Promote FPIC, as expressed in the UNDRIP and ILO
Convention 169, as a framework for any engagements of the
extractive industry with indigenous peoples
It was agreed that the new network would initially organize
from a regional level due to language considerations, and
would identify national and regional focal points. A secretariat
would be required to coordinate these functions.
The network, the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Network on
Extractive Industries has formed, 5 with regional focal points
agreed, and has met regularly since then formulating a strategy
for implementing the ambitious tasks that were set for
it. It is hoped that the information contained in this report
will serve as the basis for education work, also to be used for
sustained policy advocacy campaigns and reform work at the
national and global levels, and as a starting point for new
research.
The last word, however, should be to ensure that the links
between the local, national, regional and global are sustained
because we cannot achieve our goals for sustainable development
and respect for human rights just at one level. While
the big stress should be to focus on strengthening capacities
of indigenous peoples at the local level to assert their rights
to their lands, resources and territories and their right to selfdetermination,
it is not fair to let them carry the main burden
of making corporations behave responsibly. The burden of
regulating corporations, whether owned by the state or the
private sector lies with the state, the corporations themselves
and the multilateral bodies which are responsible for monitoring
how state parties are complying with their legal obligations
on binding human rights and environment standards.
This report has covered themes from the local to the national
to the international, but at its heart is the struggle of
communities. In the information and case studies provided,
the impetus for action has come from affected communities.
The initiatives taken very often rely on the bravery of indigenous
leaders and human rights defenders, many of whom
sacrificed life and limb. The national and international advances
charted in this publication are based on a great deal of