On the Right to Self-Determination

On the Right to Self-Determination

Beverly Longid's input during the VIVA PALESTINA! A Solidarity Fair for Justice and Freedom workshop entitled “Home and Horizon: Struggle for Self-Determination and the Right of Return"

March 22, 2026

Good day. Magandang hapon sa ating lahat.

I am Beverly L. Longid, an Igorot - a Bontok-Kankanaey from Mountain Province. I am the convener of Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas – an alliance of Indigenous Peoples’ organizations and communities in the country.

I speak today on the right to self-determination, specifically of Indigenous Peoples. This right is not only recognized in international law but also rooted in the lived struggles, histories, and aspirations of Indigenous Peoples worldwide.

Self-determination is not a concept we learned from books or institutions. It is a right we have always exercised—long before colonization, long before the nation-states that now claim authority over our lands and lives.

Self-determination means that Indigenous Peoples, Bangsamoro, and the Palestinian people have the inherent right to freely determine our political status and pursue our economic, social, and cultural development. This principle is affirmed in international standards and strongly upheld by declarations of minority people’s organizations, communities, and our indigenous socio-political structures and self-governments. It is our right to decide who we are, how we live, and how we shape our future as distinct peoples.

But self-determination is not abstract and dictated from outside. It is lived and shaped by concrete conditions. Its form is not uniform. It is defined by us, based on our distinct historical and social contexts. Self-determination is not given. It is fought for.

First, it depends on the degree of assimilation into the wider society. Some Indigenous communities have retained strong traditional systems and identities, while others have experienced deep disruption due to colonization, displacement, and state policies. Alongside this is the persistence or, in some cases, the disintegration of Indigenous culture, as well as the realities faced by the minorities in diaspora who continue to assert identity and rights even outside their ancestral lands, homelands, and territories.

For some of our people, centuries of colonization have pushed deep assimilation. For others, our cultures, governance systems, and ways of life remain largely intact. For many, there is a painful reality of cultural disintegration. For those in the diaspora, the struggle continues to reclaim identity and assert rights even far from ancestral lands, homelands, and territories.

Second, the form of self-determination is shaped by the degree of organization and unity among ourselves. Strong, collective assertion of rights through community organizing, alliances, and movements enables Indigenous communities, the Bangsamoro, and the Palestinian people to define and advance their aspirations more effectively.

Our strength lies in our unity and organization. When we are organized—when we build strong movements and assert our rights collectively—we are more able to define and advance our aspirations effectively. When we are divided, the forces that seek to exploit our lands and erase our identity only grow stronger.

Third, it is influenced by the level of support within the nation-state that enclose us or in which we find ourselves. This includes legal recognition, public solidarity, and the openness or repression of state institutions toward Indigenous claims and assertions. Some of us face outright repression—militarization, criminalization, killings of our leaders. Others find limited spaces for recognition, often hard-won and always under threat.

And fourth, the strength of international support for our struggles also matters. Global solidarity, advocacy, and pressure from other people’s movements and allies across borders can play a crucial role in advancing our rights, especially in contexts of occupation and where national governments are hostile or unresponsive. International support strengthens our struggles.

Taken together, these factors show that self-determination is not a one-size-fits-all model. It is a dynamic and evolving process, grounded in the realities of each people’s history and struggle.

At its core, self-determination is inseparable from land. Our ancestral lands and territories are the material and spiritual foundation of our identity and survival. There is no self-determination without land. It is not merely a resource—it is our life, our history, our identity, and our future. Without secure control over our territories, there can be no genuine autonomy or self-governance. When our land is taken, everything is taken.

And yet, across the world, our lands are under attack—by mining, dams, plantations, and militarization. These are imposed in the name of “development,” “peace and democracy” and even “green” solutions, but for us, they bring the suffering of displacement, violence, and destruction. Too often, they proceed without genuine consent.

This is why the right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) is essential. Indigenous Peoples have the right to decide what happens to our lands and our lives. When FPIC is violated, our right to self-determination is violated as well.

Governments and corporations insist on consent through processes like Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, but too often, FPIC is manipulated, violated, or reduced to a mere formality. This is not consent; it is coercion. And so, we resist.

The struggle for self-determination is a struggle against systemic injustice—against both historical and ongoing forms of colonization, marginalization, and exclusion. We defend our land. We defend our communities. We defend our right to exist as peoples.

For this, many of our leaders are harassed, jailed, or even killed. They call us obstacles. They call us threats. But in truth, we are defending life.

At the same time, Indigenous resistance is not only about defending against threats. It is also about forwarding and building alternatives—asserting Indigenous systems of governance, sustainable economies, and cultural integrity. These are not only vital for Indigenous communities; they offer pathways to address broader global crises, including climate change and social inequality.

We continue to practice, revive, and enhance our cultures. We strengthen our traditional governance. We assert our own models of development that is rooted not in profit, but in collective intergenerational well-being and respect for nature.

These are not backward alternatives. They are necessary solutions in a world facing climate crisis, inequality, and ecological collapse.

In conclusion, the right to self-determination is inherent. It is defined by the Peoples themselves, shaped by their histories, conditions, and collective strength.

To uphold this right is to stand for land, culture, justice, and genuine democracy. It is to recognize that Indigenous Peoples, the Bangsamoro, and the Palestinian people are not passive recipients of rights, but active agents shaping their own futures.

Thus, when we speak of self-determination, we are not asking for recognition. We are asserting a right that is already ours. A right that we will continue to defend through our unity, our struggle, and our unwavering connection to our land.

Our history shows that despite centuries of oppression, we are still here - FIGHTING. The struggle continues—but so does our determination to live freely, with dignity, and on our own terms.

Our struggle for self-determination is a struggle against ongoing colonization, occupation, against systems that profit from our dispossession, and against states that deny our rights while exploiting our lands.

Thank you!