“We indigenous people (IP) are not uneducated. We have our own knowledge, our own spirituality.”
Thus affirmed Senate aspirant Teddy Baguilat Jr. at the webinar of the University of St. La Salle – College of Education Student Council entitled, “Crossing Cultural Boundaries: Building Intercultural Relations In The Challenged Areas.”
At the webinar, Baguilat shared his experiences in teaching IP communities, and urged the government to have a more culturally appropriate, diverse, and decentralized curriculum that adapts to the tradition and practices of IPs.
Baguilat cited as an example some classes he witnessed under the Indigenous Peoples Education Program of the Department of Education (DepEd) in 2012 while he was Chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee on Indigenous People. Teachers under the program went to IP areas to teach subjects such as English, Science, and Mathematics, but Baguilat noticed that the volunteer-teachers treated the IPs as if they were uneducated.
Baguilat stressed that although IPs need to learn the basic subjects, they more importantly need to know their rights and how they can fight for them through legal means. He added that the most important topics for IPs are climate change, environmental protection, and the preservation of their culture.
“Lagi kong sinasabi sa mga IPs tuwing ako ay nagtutungo sa kanila na mayroon tayong karapatan, kinakailangan na ipaglaban niyo iyon kasi hindi naman ibibigay ang mga iyan (I always tell IPs when I go to them that we have rights and they need to assert their rights because those will not be given to them) on a silver platter. You have to struggle for them,” Baguilat said.
He also shared that some IP communities have their own schools that teach their own alphabet, have a different curriculum, and focus on teaching the youth about their ethnicity, traditions, cultural beliefs and practices. However, Baguilat lamented that DepEd does not recognize these schools and IP students from those schools who want to go to high school still need to undergo an additional year of study in a conventional school.
Baguilat added that IP schools struggle to register as official schools because of the requirement to submit to the curriculum handed down by DepEd, which Baguilat calls “Tagalog-centric.”
These conditions have led Baguilat to file the IP Education bill while he was a congressman. Aside from mandating the DepEd to recognize IP schools, Baguilat’s bill also aims to integrate IP culture into the regular school curriculum.
Baguilat has vowed to continue to push for this legislative proposal. Baguilat is running for the Senate in the 2022 elections under the unified ticket of Vice President Leni Robredo and Sen. Kiko Pangilinan. He aims to bring to the Senate the platform of indigenous peoples and the indigenous mindset which nurtures and promotes rights, culture and the environment.
