IP professionals reject Padilla’s ‘special eligibility’ proposal

Young indigenous people (IP) professionals have denounced Senator Robin Padilla’s suggestion to ease entry requirements for IPs into government service as “insulting” and “condescending,” calling it a distraction from urgent indigenous rights issues.

During the Civil Service Commission (CSC) budget briefing on 13 October 2025, Padilla proposed that the commission grant “special eligibility” or lower the passing threshold for IPs taking the civil service exam from 75 to 70. He argued that such an administrative action would be faster than passing new legislation.

“This is stupid and insulting,” declared Karl Degay Alangui, a member of the Pidlisan Tribe of Northern Sagada and the Applais of Bagnen, Bauko, both in Mountain Province.

“We indigenous peoples are acquiring eligibilities on merits... Matalino rin naman kaming katutubo a. We have the same brain structure as any Homo sapiens,” he said, stressing that many IPs have earned their credentials through hard work and ability. Alangui currently works with a government agency.

Another IP professional, Karlston Lapniten, a consultant from Mountain Province and Benguet, also rejected the senator’s proposal, saying IPs do not need “special preference” that makes them appear less capable.

Lapniten criticized Padilla’s frequent self-identification with the IP sector, saying it was “very insulting coming from a senator who is fond of associating himself as an IP.”

Meanwhile, Rocky Jake Ngalob, a government employee from Besao and Bauko, Mountain Province, argued that Padilla’s proposal could violate the constitutional right to equal protection.

“New laws and policies, without reasonable classification, must apply to all and not to a particular sector,” Ngalob said.

Advocates also criticized Padilla for what they called “misplaced legislative priorities,” urging him to focus instead on protecting ancestral domains and addressing systemic violations of IP rights.

“The elected senator should focus on mechanisms to protect IPs and indigenous cultural communities from multinational and anti-IP rights acts in the government,” Alangui said.

Lapniten added that what IPs truly need is not easier tests but respect for their inherent rights and land.

“What we need is for non-IPs like Senator Padilla and the government to respect and give preference to our prior rights and indigeneity,” he said.

He further suggested that any form of special preference should be economic rather than academic.

“Jay ketdi shares ti communities from extraction industries ti ag-plus 10% da! (Instead, shares for the communities from extractive industries should be their plus 10%),” Lapniten proposed.