Who Is Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the Kankanaey Igorot Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize?
This year, 351 candidates are vying for the Nobel Peace Prize, the second-highest number of nominees in the history of the awards. Among some of the more popular names that have been floating around include Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, and Chief Raoni Metuktire.
There happens to be an indigenous Filipino nominee, as well, by the name of Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, a world-renowned Kankanaey Igorot activist, civic leader, and development consultant.
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Who Is Victoria Tauli-Corpuz?
Born in Besao, Mountain Province on October 19, 1952, Tauli-Corpuz is best known for her economic and social development efforts, as well as her role in empowering the Philippines' indigenous communities. She graduated with a degree in nursing from the University of the Philippines Philippine General Hospital, School of Nursing, back in 1976.
As a young woman living through the horrors of Martial Law, she would first be known as an organizer for indigenous communities to fight against the projects of then-President Ferdinand Marcos. Among some of her most notable achievements during her earlier years in the field were preventing the Chico River Hydroelectric Dam project and the logging operations of Cellophil Resources Corporation on indigenous ancestral domains.
Since then, she has organized various initiatives for peace-building and social development among indigenous communities. The '80s had her working on community-based health programs and research initiatives in the Cordillera region. The civic leader would go on to become chairperson of Cordillera Peoples' Alliance and Center for Development Programs in the Cordillera, Inc.
In 1994, she became a founding member of the Indigenous Initiative for Peace, which was comprised of Indigenous leaders worldwide and set up by Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum. Tauli-Corpuz also organized the First Asian Indigenous Women's Conference in Baguio City. She would be a co-founder of the Indigenous Peoples Rights International, as well.
For her efforts, she became the first recipient of the Gabriela Silang Award by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples back in 2009.
Tauli-Corpuz served as chairperson of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from 2005 to 2010 and became the rapporteur for the Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations, too. But perhaps the stint that she is most famous for is becoming the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples from 2014 to 2020.
In 2018, the New York Times wrote of her, saying she “has come to embody the very problem that she has been documenting as a special rapporteur: the criminalization of indigenous activists."
Tauli-Corpuz is no stranger to red-tagging in the hands of the state during some of the Philippines' most tumultuous years in the modern era. She had been included in the list of the Philippine government's alleged terrorists during the Duterte administration. The persistent threats of assault and murder have forced the activist to leave the country.
The first and last Filipino to win a Nobel Peace Prize was Rappler CEO Maria Ressa. An award-winning journalist, Ressa was recognized for safeguarding freedom of expression. She had been constantly maligned and targeted by critics and allies of the former president for speaking up against power and authoritarianism.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee is set to award the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, October 6.
