Weaving Culture, Enriching the Future: Empowering Indigenous Communities Every October, the Philippines celebrates National Indigenous Peoples (IP) Month, a time to recognize the rich heritage, wisdom, and resilience of the country’s Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs). The theme, “Weaving Culture, Enriching Future: Empowering Indigenous Communities as Bedrock of Sustainable Development,” highlights how indigenous knowledge and traditions are not relics of the past, but living practices that guide a more balanced and sustainable future. Indigenous cultures are deeply connected to the land, waters, and ecosystems they protect. Traditional practices such as communal farming, forest stewardship, and indigenous governance systems show how development can coexist with nature. By valuing these practices, the celebration reminds us that sustainability is strongest when it respects ancestral knowledge and the right of IPs to manage their domains according to the...