The Committee,

1. Having examined document LHE/24/19.COM/6.a,
2. Recalling Chapter V of the Operational Directives and its Decision 14.COM 10.a.4,
3. Expresses its appreciation to Philippines for submitting, on time, its first report on the status of the element ‘Buklog, thanksgiving ritual system of the Subanen’, inscribed in 2019 on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding;
4. Takes note of the efforts undertaken by the State Party to safeguard the element, in particular by encouraging its transmission within families and communities and through education, especially in the Schools of Living Traditions, featuring the element as part of an Indigenous Peoples Education Programme, developing learning materials in an indigenous Subanen language, and successfully raising awareness and improving the viability of the element;
5. Encourages the State Party to pursue its efforts to transmit the element to younger generations, including through education, to develop orthographies of indigenous Subanen languages, to strengthen the structures of indigenous representation in decision-making, to ensure participatory safeguarding and favour cultural exchanges among communities, and to enhance collaborations among institutions and organizations;
6. Notes with concern the reduced space associated with the element, and the declining frequency of its practice by Subanen communities, along with the growing challenges in gathering necessary materials due to human activities and the impacts of climate change;
7. Invites the State Party to support Subanen communities in their efforts to access and utilize ancestral lands and to ensure sustainable management of natural resources, including through the protection of forests, in order to secure materials to use for the practice of the element.