The Philippines is recognized as one of the few remaining countries in the world that has a great diversity of ethnic tribes. About five percent of our 80 million population belong to the ethnic minority groups. There are about 150 ethnic groups around our country. Some have retained a high degree of cultural, political and economic independence. But the present generation of indigenous minorities are endangered of being the last.

Globalization, which increased a materialistic lifestyle and attitude that sees consumption as the path to prosperity, have greatly contributed in the collapse of the culture of indigenous tribes.

With only limited political centralization, most of the members of the ethnic minority became victims of individual and systematic discrimination. Lack of formal education made them vulnerable to people from the urban areas. The opportunists from the lowlands took advantage of the minorities’ little knowledge of state laws.

Some of the tribes’ ancestral lands were forcibly taken from them to become a venue for commercial interests. The tribesmen view their land as a communal resource, not a commodity to be bought and sold for profit.

The Philippine Constitution, cognizant of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, has enshrined the recognition of our "Rights to Culture" as a basic human right. It is a fundamental right of the communities to freely participate in its cultural life—whether in process of the evolution, conservation, preservation, and/or in the enhancement of cultural heritage and artistic traditions.

This right will not weigh a lot if the cultural forces that shape the ethnic people’s lives are not respected and understood by the agents of change—the policy makers, artists-educators and cultural workers, government agencies, the private sector and the non-government organizations.

Everybody must know that culture is much more expensive than the economy.

We are featuring several ethnic minorities of our country in the hope that it could stimulate reflections and discussions on issues affecting these tribes in our present society.