VIA GRAPHIC PLUS | New York, USA — Addressing a captivated audience of scholars and international conservation leaders, Hon. Limpayen Sibug Las delivered a powerful lecture on empowering Indigenous women in the Philippines at Pace University’s Elizabeth Haub School of Law.
The event held as Pace Law celebrates its 50th Anniversary—marked a pivotal moment in connecting Philippine Indigenous leadership with global legal and environmental movements.
A Legacy Written in the Ancestral Land
Hon. Sibug Las, President of the Tribal Communities Association of the Philippines (TRICAP) and former Secretary/Chairperson of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), delivered a presentation titled “Empowering and Promoting Indigenous Women’s Rights in the Philippines.”
The session resonated deeply with faculty and students, building on identical remarks she delivered to global dignitaries at the United Nations Headquarters in 2024. For Hon. Sibug Las, the cause is deeply personal. Her father, the late Hon. Datu Joseph Sibug, was a key architect of the landmark Indigenous People’s Rights Act (IPRA) during his tenure in the House of Representatives of the Philippines.
Reflecting on her lineage and purpose, Hon. Sibug Las evoked a quiet reverence throughout the room:
“I believe that my presence here today is a call by my ancestors.”
The room fell silent as her words bridged modern legal frameworks with ancestral calling—evoking the famous spirit of naturalist John Muir’s declaration, “The mountains are calling and I must go.”
Mount Busa Takes Center Stage for 2027 World Parks Congress
Beyond the lecture hall, an international partnership dialogue facilitated by Pace Law Professor Nicholas Robinson set the groundwork for global conservation advocacy.
Professor Robinson invited Philippine delegates to formally present Mount Busa at the upcoming World Parks Congress in Panama in 2027—a landmark event held only once every decade.
Known affectionately as Boi Limpayen (“The Light”), Hon. Sibug Las will help lead TRICAP in introducing the sacred mountain, guarded by the ancestors of communities surrounding Mt. Busa since time immemorial, to the international community.
This milestone builds directly on the foundational efforts of the Mount Busa Task Force, established by the Provincial Government of Sarangani alongside multi-sectoral volunteers to secure its initial status as a Local Conservation Area. Momentum continues to build through House Bill 5093, which seeks to formally declare Mount Busa a Protected Landscape, paving the way for future recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an Indigenous Community Conserved Area (ICCA).
This unified initiative is made possible through strong collaborative leadership, including Congressman Steve Chiongbian Solon, Governor Rogelio Pacquiao, municipal mayors, the Association of Barangay Captains, and the Indigenous Political Structure across Maitum, Kiamba, and Maasim (MAKIMA), working in close coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR Region 12).
Collaborative Governance and the Refuge for the Philippine Eagle
This landmark coalition brings together an extraordinary alliance of academic, governmental, and civil society partners committed to protecting Mindanao’s critical biodiversity corridors. Key collaborators participating in the dialogue include Mindanao State University (GenSan), DENR Region 12, the Protected Area Management Office (PAMO-SBPS), the Kiamba Sarangani Development Foundation (KSDFI), and Turtle Stewards International (Canada-Philippines).
Highlighting the urgency of the conservation effort, Carol Villanueva Peralta of the Kiamba Sarangani Development Foundation, Inc. (KSDFI-TSI) underscored the crucial status of the critically endangered Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi):
“Mount Busa stands as one of the very last strongholds for the Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi). Right now, the species faces severe threats from habitat destruction, deforestation, and human encroachment. Securing full legal protection for Mount Busa as a Protected Landscape and ICCA is our urgent imperative—so that our national eagle can fly free from danger, poaching, and harm in its true, sacred forest realm.”
National and international partners led by TRICAP are set to play a central role in framing a historic global introduction for Mount Busa at the 2027 World Parks Congress—honoring ancestral heritage while securing the sanctuary of the Philippines’ grandest forest guardian.
Started in 1927, the Philippines Graphic is the longest-running printed magazine of national circulation that provides relevant news and features and promotes Philippine literature.
