The government should stop treating indigenous peoples (IPs or lumad) poorly if it wants to stop poverty, Vice President Ma. “The summary of poverty is how does the entire government view the IP community. “One of the first agencies that I met with when I started functioning as your Vice President is the NCIP [National Council of Indigenous Peoples]. “Even the NCIP… on how the government treats the IPs, it’s like they are just third-class citizens. The IP community is one of the most marginalized of all sectors of society, meaning your property, beliefs and culture are not being valued the way [they]deserve [to be valued],” Robredo said.

Source: Manila Times October 27, 2016 12:30 UTC