Lumad and Bakwit Schools amid the Pandemic Report from Teachers, Students, and Parents Save Our Schools Network and Jose Monfred Sy In the Philippines, indigenous peoples (IPs) continue to be sequestered to the fringes of society, receiving a minuscule share of the government’s social provisioning despite their crucial role in preserving intact and enriching the environments of their ancestral domains. Historically, due to the shortfall of state services in their communities, IP groups have taken it upon themselves to cultivate alternative practices that cater not only to their needs but also to improving their lifeways, thus paving the way for their own vision of development. As an example, the Lumads (as they call themselves in southern Philippines), which comprises of thirty-five (35) non-Muslim ethnic groups in Mindanao, have built clinics and schools to serve their communities in lieu of distant government hospitals and schools. Before, only one out of ten Lumad children knew how to read, write, and count. This induced corporations, in collaboration with state agencies, to deceive elders and leaders into signing contracts that vend parcels of the Lumad yutang kabilin or ancestral domain. To combat the alarming incidence of illiteracy and its dangerous consequences, religious groups, along with human rights organizations and IP advocates, built community schools where Lumad people of all ages could learn literacy and numeracy (SOS 2019b). Many of the Lumads welcomed these schools and soon helmed their establishment and development. Contrary to allegations made by certain state agencies that Lumad schools teach its students to go against the government and rebel, academic subjects in these schools, in fact, follow the prescribed basic education curricula mandated by the Department of Education (DepEd). Unlike, however, in the mainstream educational system, all classes taught in these schools seek to respond to the needs of Lumad communities. Academic 65