KATRIBU slams NCIP’s ₱50K logo contest, exposes agency’s ‘true priorities’
As Indigenous Peoples face displacement, militarization, and plunder of ancestral lands, KATRIBU denounces NCIP’s misplaced priorities and complicity in corporate-driven development.
KATRIBU condemned the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) for launching a ₱50,000 logo-making contest amid escalating threats to Indigenous Peoples’ (IP) rights, ancestral lands, and self-determination. The contest, announced on October 16, 2026, through the agency’s official Facebook page, was organized in celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Month and the commemoration of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA).
While Indigenous communities continue to face displacement, militarization, and the plunder of their ancestral territories in the name of economic development, the government agency mandated to protect their rights is spending its attention and resources on a logo contest. KATRIBU denounced this misplaced and insulting initiative, exposing the contradiction between the NCIP’s public image as a champion of Indigenous Peoples and its actual role in their continuing oppression.
In response, KATRIBU and other IP rights advocates flooded the NCIP’s comment section with a satirical logo renaming the agency the “National Commission on Imperialist Plunder.” The mock logo features US President Donald Trump and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at its center, surrounded by images depicting the militarization, corporate plunder, and displacement of Indigenous Peoples from their ancestral lands.
“This is the NCIP’s true color: an agency that presents itself as the protector of Indigenous Peoples while acting as a co-conspirator in corruption and the plunder of our ancestral lands," said Funa-ay Claver, Secretary-General of KATRIBU. "It sides with the oppressors, not the oppressed. Corporations can displace communities right before its eyes, yet where is the NCIP when our people are driven out of their homes and stripped of their livelihoods? No logo can conceal its complicity in the very violations it is mandated to prevent."
KATRIBU stressed that Indigenous Peoples do not need symbolic gestures or publicity campaigns from the NCIP. They need concrete action to protect their ancestral lands, livelihoods, and communities from destructive projects and corporate interests that threaten their survival.
“A logo contest is not what Indigenous Peoples need. Our communities need the protection of our ancestral lands, farms, sources of sustenance, and homes, with the assurance of safety and security," said said Beverly Longid, KATRIBU National Convener. "Holding a logo contest while Indigenous communities face displacement is nothing short of a slap in the face. This is a mockery of Indigenous struggles, especially when the agency responsible for protecting our rights fails to stand with us in defending our lands and asserting our self-determination."
The contest comes amid growing opposition to foreign-backed and corporate-driven projects that threaten Indigenous territories and livelihoods. Among these is Pax Silica, a US-led initiative to establish a strategic supply chain for silicon and other critical minerals, with developments in the Philippines linked to the expansion of industrial and technology infrastructure. In Capas, Tarlac, Ayta communities have raised concerns over the threat posed by the planned development to their ancestral lands, homes, and livelihoods.
KATRIBU emphasized that genuine development must uphold Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination, including their authority to decide what happens to their ancestral lands and resources. Development cannot be imposed at the expense of Indigenous communities to accommodate foreign investments and corporate profits.
KATRIBU reiterated that the NCIP must be held accountable for its failure to defend Indigenous Peoples against land grabbing, displacement, and violations of their rights. The agency’s credibility will not be restored through a new logo, but through concrete action to defend ancestral lands, uphold self-determination, and stand with Indigenous communities resisting plunder and oppression.
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Reference:
Funa-ay Claver
Secretary-General, KATRIBU
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