House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said he will push for the creation of two federal states for indigenous peoples - one in Cordillera, and another one in Mindanao - in the charter change debates leading to the shift to a federal system. He made the pronouncement at the roundtable by the House Committee on Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples chaired by Rep. Nancy Catamco, the first of  a series the Committee in partnership with the Institute for Autonomy and Governance and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Philippines will organize to ensure IP rights are recognized and protected under the proposed federal setup. Here's the transcript of a portion of the Speaker's comments during the roundtable:

 "In my discussion with the other government officials, it would seem that they like that IPs will be part of different states, which I objected. Sabi ko wag ganun. What I want is there will be separate states for the IPs, one in Mindanao and one in the Cordilleras. Ibig sabihin nun, kapag merong separate state ang IP, ang gusto ko mangyari na igalang ng federal state kung ano ang gusto natin base sa ating customary laws. Halimbawa: Sa IPs, wala tayong mayor, governor. Ano ang meron tayo? Datu? Meron tayong sariling pamamaraan how to govern ourselves.

Titling of lands: Hindi tayo dapat kasama dun sa titling of lands ng federal states/federal goverment kasi meron tayong sarili. To preserve the culture, kailangan hayaan yung IP states how to govern themselves. Wag natin pakialaman.

Sabi nila paano yung territory? Sabi ko, hindi naman kailangan contiguous ang territory. Pwede yan carved out from different provinces but they are under one administrative state. Let’s say Blaan, Manobo, Mandaya: kanya kanyang tribo, kanya kanyang pamamarann. Igalang natin yun.

Mag-su-survive ba tayo? No, initially. Ano ang gagawin? In Malaysia may tinatawag na parang equalization/special fund para i-assist yung mga mahirap na states at para mag-survive sila. So responsibility ng federal government para tulungan yung IP state na mag-survive, pero hindi nila [federal government] pwede pakialaman kung ano ang gusto ng IPs. Let’s say natural resources: ngayon pagka binigyan ng lisensya ng DENR, wala tayong magagawa, pag magmina sila sa area natin, wala tayong magagawa kahit pang sabihin na ancestral domain yun.

Dapat i-recognize ng bagong saligang batas yung karapatan ng IPs.

So ngayon pag hindi ninyo ako samahan dito, my voice will just be a voice in the wilderness. Eh ako lang mag isa ang sumusulong nito. 

May narinig na ba kayo na nagsabi na gusto nila ang IP state? Ang naririnig lang natin ay ang Bangsamoro kasi sila lang yung very aggressive dun sa claim nila. Yung mga IPs wala namang nagsasalita. 

I put that on the table. Sinabi ko kay Cong. Nancy Catamco na kailangan i-champion natin itong karapatan ng IPs. Kailangan magkasia tayo to promote the rights of the IPs: Mindanao and Cordillera."