The Nagkakaisang Mga Tribu ng Palawan, Inc. (NATRIPAL) or the United Tribes of Palawan, is an indigenous people’s (IPs) organization federated by 63 local associations spread across the island of Palawan, consisting of three indigenous groups, namely: the Tagbanua, the Pala’wan and the Batak. It is an organization of indigenous communities, by indigenous communities, and for indigenous communities. NATRIPAL works for the recognition of IP rights to own their ancestral lands, manage their own livelihood, protect their own resources and properly govern and protect their people and their customs. NATRIPAL implements programs involving land rights, natural resource management, enterprise development, community organizing and on the late part of the decade works with anti-mining advocacy since most mining areas are homeland of indigenous people. Among the notable accomplishments, is the issuance of titles or claims to 13 local IP community partners. It had been involved in the establishment of sustainable livelihood enterprises based on the collecting of wild Apis dorsata honey and on high-quality crafts made of rattan and other forest materials. Meanwhile, the gradual empowerment of the join indigenous peoples of Palawan is perhaps the single most significant achievement of NATRIPAL. The federation was organized in December 1989 and was formally registered with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission on February 4, 1991 as a non-stock, non-profit, non-sectarian organization. There are thirteen (13) member board of directors headed by the President that administers the federation. In the 1980s, the indigenous communities of Palawan began to feel the intrusion of migrants into their ancestral domains. They came in first as buyers and then middlemen and slowly but surely as concessionaires who took control not only of the products flow but of the land and forest resources as well. The communities’ movements and livelihoods became restricted. Forest products flowed out of their forests without the communities getting their fair share of the profit. At that time, a Filipino priest, Rev Fr. Armando R. Limsa of the Filipino Tribe Apostolate (TFA), recognizing the trend of migrant intrusion and the diminishing control of the IPs on their ancestral land, started going around and laid down the foundation for the building of the federation. The series of meetings with the IP communities culminated in a general assembly in 1989 and the first main objectives of the federation were:
• Strengthening the spirit of interdependence, brotherhood and solidarity among the indigenous people of Palawan
• Securing the freedom of indigenous people within their ancestral domains. • Promoting the sustainable use of natural resources towards raising the quality of life of the indigenous people of Palawan.
• Formulating, implementing and cooperating with other agencies on programs/projects addressing the primary needs of the indigenous people of Palawan such as health, education, livelihood and security of tenure within the land.
• Generating awareness in the minds of Indigenous People on the real conditions of IP in Palawan, the country and the world with response to ecological balance. Preserving the indigenous Palawan culture, traditions and learnings from the wisdom of elders.

The proposal envisions our indigenous communities with improved human well-being supported by our land and sea’s sustained ecosystem services through the protection, security and management of our ancestral domains that would enable us to be productively engaged in inclusive economic growth. The project consolidates NATRIPAL’s vast experience obtained from years of active participation in development projects. We shift from a project perspective to a life-long vision that takes all our experiences, resources, and lessons learned and use them to enhance our cultural beliefs, systems, and mechanisms.

Our proposal focuses on three major priorities:

1) Secure our ancestral domains to empower us in prioritizing our needs, assume responsibilities over our decisions, and lead development efforts in our communities,

2) Protect our natural resources which is home to our culture and all that is sacred to us, including the valuable ecosystems services that underpin our livelihood, and

3) Build sustainable community enterprises from the natural capitals our sacred lands sustainably offer. Cross-cutting interventions are, a) capacity-building, b) knowledge management and communications, c) digital inclusion, and d)partnership-building. The capacity-building. The activities will address individual and community requirements to enhance their role and the quality of their participation in organizational and resource governance. Our project will be a powerful learning opportunity for the indigenous communities, enabling them to take the lead in sustaining and building on project gains on their own. The knowledge management will focus on capturing, processing, organizing, and sharing project knowledge for continuous improvement. It will put the right knowledge in the right hands or to whom they would matter most. It will also help us measure our progress using scientific metrics and decision-making tools. The digital inclusion responds to the growing digital divide because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With lockdowns shifting relationship-building and participation in the social, political, economic, and cultural affairs to digital platforms, the indigenous communities are almost always left out. Most indigenous communities are often left uninformed and isolated from the digitizing world because of limited access to the internet, multi-functional devices, proper information, and communications and technology tools. Our digital inclusion hopes to bridge that divide and slowly mainstream the community into digital platforms, allowing them to reconnect with families and friends across the globe, access market and other information, participate in the monitoring of their natural resources and its biodiversity, and even allow indigenous children to have access to proper education. Our project also hopes to build partnerships that could mobilize resources and inspire actions that support our endeavours. The change we imagine starts in having the peace of mind and the confidence in knowing that our ancestral lands are finally our own, and that any investment we make will benefit our children and their children’s children. We know that our lives are closely tied to our land sand we will do our best to protect and enhance it – we always do our best, hoping for positive changes and a chance at better future.