V. THE IPRA IS A RECOGNITION OF OUR ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THE INDIGENOUS INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT.

The indigenous movement can be seen as the heir to a history of anti-imperialism stretching back to prehistoric times.  The movement received a massive impetus during the 1960's from two sources.  First, the decolonization of Asia and Africa brought into the limelight the possibility of peoples controlling their own destinies.  Second, the right of self-determination was enshrined in the UN Declaration on Human Rights.^[238] The rise of the civil rights movement and anti-racism brought to the attention of North American Indians, Aborigines in Australia, and Maori in New Zealand the possibility of fighting for fundamental rights and freedoms.

In 1974 and 1975, international indigenous organizations were founded,^[239] and during the 1980's, indigenous affairs were on the international agenda.  The people of the Philippine Cordillera were the first Asians to take part in the international indigenous movement.  It was the Cordillera People's Alliance that carried out successful campaigns against the building of the Chico River Dam in 1981-82 and they have since become one of the best-organized indigenous bodies in the world.^[240]

Presently, there is a growing concern for indigenous rights in the international scene.  This came as a result of the increased publicity focused on the continuing disrespect for indigenous human rights and the destruction of the indigenous peoples' environment, together with the national governments' inability to deal with the situation.^[241] Indigenous rights came as a result of both human rights and environmental protection, and have become a part of today's priorities for the international agenda.^[242]

International institutions and bodies have realized the necessity of applying policies, programs and specific rules concerning IPs in some nations. The World Bank, for example, first adopted a policy on IPs as a result of the dismal experience of projects in Latin America.^[243] The World Bank now seeks to apply its current policy on IPs to some of its projects in Asia. This policy has provided an influential model for the projects of the Asian Development Bank.^[244]

The 1987 Philippine Constitution formally recognizes the existence of ICCs/IPs and declares as a State policy the promotion of their rights within the framework of national unity and development.^[245] The IPRA amalgamates the Philippine category of ICCs with the international category of IPs,^[246] and is heavily influenced by both the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 169 and the United Nations (UN) Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.^[247]

ILO Convention No. 169 is entitled the "Convention Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries"^[248] and was adopted on June 27, 1989.  It is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and many other international instruments on the prevention of discrimination.^[249] ILO Convention No. 169 revised the "Convention Concerning the Protection and Integration of Indigenous and Other Tribal and Semi-Tribal Populations in Independent Countries" (ILO No. 107) passed on June 26, 1957. Developments in international law made it appropriate to adopt new international standards on indigenous peoples "with a view to removing the assimilationist orientation of the earlier standards," and recognizing the aspirations of these peoples to exercise control over their own institutions, ways of life and economic development."^[250]