UN DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

UNCLAS MANILA 004349 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL KTIA UN RP SUBJECT: UN DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES REF: STATE 169257 ¶1. (SBU) Jointly with officers from the New Zealand and Australian Embassies, poloff on October 12 delivered reftel demarche on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs Director Noel Servigon. Servigon said the decision as to how the Philippines will vote in the UNGA now lies with Foreign Secretary Romulo, but he promised to convey these views to the Secretary. He noted that the Philippines had abstained in the Human Rights Council vote in June because it had not had a chance fully to consider the Declaration. ¶2. (SBU) Servigon described two Philippine concerns with the Declaration: its implications for ancestral domain, and its provision for self-determination. He highlighted the GRP's ongoing peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Muslim Mindanao as a complicating factor, due to a lively debate over these very issues. He added that the indigenous peoples movement in the Philippines "has grown strong," and expressed surprise that nations with "similar concerns" -- especially from Latin America -- had voted in favor of the Declaration in the Human Rights Council. He requested copies of any formal voting position issued by any of the three governments. KENNEY