their role in conservation, land use, ancestral domain and heritage. Their land rights should be recognized and protected. • Indigenous Peoples and Learning Spaces in the Academe This forum was organized in celebration of the National Indigenous Peoples Day in the Philippines and International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. It was held at the UP-Law Center Institute of Human Rights on August 9, 2022, where Atty. Raymond Marvic C. Baguilat came as resource person. Atty. Baguilat is UP IHR Senior Legal Associate and IP Law and Policy Education Program Head. The forum was held to honor and promote the hundreds of thousands of indigenous peoples who live in the Philippines archipelagos' highlands. 6. Advocacy on Persons with Disabilities (PWD) Persons with disabilities are some of the most exposed to harm and are often placed in a condition of elevated risk. This is due to the numerous impairments they endure and have to cope with overall. Their active, equal, balance, and meaningful participation in society are largely hampered by their limitations, such that they require substantial and immediate support from the government. With the intention of helping them move towards reaching even just a semblance of equality with the rest of society and enabling too their optimum potential, the CHR advocates for specific protection actions on their behalf. This includes: equipping them with knowledge of their human rights; making available education and information, and forging partnership platforms to foster knowledge and understanding on the plight of the PWDs; and campaigning for the conversion of social attitudes, perceptions and behaviours toward their social grouping into more enabling, fair and supportive policies and actions. • Special Committee on Persons with Disabilities This special committee meeting aimed to address the accessibility concerns of persons with disabilities in time with the 2022 national elections. The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) enlightened the Committee and the persons with disabilities sector on crucial matters pertaining to the conduct of the elections and how the PWDs can fully participate and exercise their right to vote. In aid of legislation too, the Committee reviewed the current status of implementation of Republic Act No. 10366 entitled, “An Act Authorizing the Commission on Elections to Establish Precincts Assigned to Accessible Polling Places Exclusively for Persons with Disabilities and Senior Citizens”. • Internal Scoping Meeting on the National Disability Guidebook The general objective of the project is to create a “National Disability Guidebook” that would be used as reference by government agencies and other advocates of the rights of persons with disabilities towards unifying and standardizing the terminologies in current use. The guidebook will assess and identify the gaps in the current use of disability terminologies by government agencies and public documents. Towards this end, the participants conducted a series of focus group discussions with persons with disability, government agencies, civil society organizations, non-government organizations, the health sector and allied service professionals. The CHR sought to be of assistance to the academe in coming up with the content of the guidebook. Upon the production of the said learning material, the CHR together with its project partners will advocate for the implementation and putting into practice of said manual in the conduct of projects and programs for and with persons with disability. 27