Gov. Lacson vows support for IPs

“For national unity and development, we have to ensure that our Indigenous Peoples are not left behind, and should be able to participate on all matters affecting them.”

Thus said Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson during the Aug. 9 International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (IPs) rites at the Manuel Y. Torres Memorial Coliseum and Cultural Center in Bago City.

Lacson assured the IP communities in the province that they can count on the support of the Provincial Government “in building a world that works for all and a world that leaves no one behind.”

The IP population in Negros Occidental province has reached 308,272, data from the provincial government indicated Gov. Lacson led the commemoration which was attended by IP Community representatives from the different cities and towns of the province.

Bago Mayor Nicholas Yulo welcomed the participants led by Teresita Sinceda, IP representative to the Committee on Women of the Provincial Government, Executive Assistant to the Governor Marie June Castro, and Milina Jeruta of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

The governor also said that globalization, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic worsened pre-existing inequalities and vulnerabilities faced by indigenous peoples, thus assuring the IPs in the province of government support.* (With Capitol PIO text & photos)