IMPLEMENTATION OF PHILIPPINE

LAWS AND POLICIES

 Indigenous People's Rights Act
• Indigenous People's Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA) (RA
8371) is a legislation that recognize and promote all
the rights of Indigenous Cultural
Communities/Indigenous Peoplesof the Philippines
What is the significance of IPRA?
• IPRA has provided as a safeguard the “free, prior and
informed consent” instrument for indigenous
communities in order to ensure consultation before
any major economic activity is undertaken within the
ancestral domains and ancestral lands.
During the 8th Congress:
the IPRA, formerly known as Ancestral Domain
Bill, was first filed in the Congress sometime in
1987 under the Senate Bill No. 909 authored by
Senator Santanina Rasul, Senator Joseph
Estrada and Senator Alberto Romulo, but was
never enacted in to law.
In the 9th Congress:
Senator Rasul introduced Senate Bill No. 1029 and
Senator Macapagal-Arroyo introduced Senate
Bill No. 1849. However, the bill was never
sponsored and deliberated upon in the floor.
 Senator Juan Flavier sponsored the Bill no. 1728 which meant that he
1996
has to defend the bill in all the Senate deliberations and discussions.
he discussed the legal bases for the bill which can be found in the 1987
Constitution. He also discussed the basic rights of the ICCs, the
contents of the bill itself, and the immediate need of protection of the
Filipino Indigenous People.

Sept.
1997 The House of Representatives finally approved
the bill.

Oct.
President Fidel V. Ramos signed and making it
1997 Republic Act No. 8371 Indigenous People's Rights
Act of 1997 which aims to "Recognize, Protect and
Promote the Rights of Indigenous cultural
Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPS) and for
other Purposes."
 What is the importance of IPRA law?

• Because of this, a more comprehensive law is

needed that "seeks to stop prejudice against
indigenous people through recognition of
certain rights over their ancestral lands, and to
live in accordance recognize and protect the
rights of the indigenous people not only to
their ancestral domain but to social justice.
 What is the role of NCIP?

• The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) is

the agency of the national government of the Philippines
that is responsible for protecting the rights of the
indigenous peoples of the Philippines.
• On May 28, 2019, the head of the NCIP, Leonor Quintayo,
was replaced by Allen Capuyan, after government released a
statement which verified that Quintayo was being
investigated by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission
for intensive corruption.
• Agency executive: Allen A. Capuyan, Chairperson
• Parent Agency: Department of Social Welfare ...
• Headquarters: Quezon City, Philippines
• In a statement, Capuyan said he is
an IP by blood as he comes from
the Manobo Tribe of Agusan Del
Sur, contrary to some media
reports which questioned his
legitimacy as an IP member.
• "I am an IP by blood from the
Manobo Tribe of Agusan Del Sur,"
the NCIP head said.
• He added that he has the lineage
and certification to prove that he
is a legitimate IP member as he
even became a Commission of
National Integration College
Scholar prior his entry to the
Philippine Military Academy
(PMA) in 1979 and graduation in
1983.
• Capuyan is from the Philippine Military Academy Class
of 1983. His classmates include Interior Secretary
Eduardo Año, National Irrigation Administration chief
Ricardo Visaya, National Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management Council Executive Director Ricardo Jalad,
and resigned Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office
general manager Alexander Balutan.
• Capuyan became the chief for operations of the
military's Intelligence Service in 2004, under the
Arroyo administration. From 1997 to 2000, he was
chief of Davao City's Intelligence Service Unit, which
likely led him to meet Duterte.
 Is Capuyan qualified, given that an NCIP
chairman 
• The rules get more specific, stating they must be a "bonafide
member, by consanguinity" of an indigenous cultural
community or indigenous peoples. This must be certified by
their tribe, through the "attestation of the Council of Elders,
community leaders, or indigenous peoples organization."They
are even required to submit their genealogy, to the 4th
degree, which must have been certified by traditional leaders.
• Former presidential adviser on the peace process Jesus Dureza
attested to Rappler that Capuyan is a "member of a tribe in
Davao del Norte."
• He could not recall the exact name of the tribe but some news
articles identify Capuyan as a Manobo.
• Given the President's past remarks, his main concern with the IPs is
their vulnerability to being influenced by communists.
• He once threatened to bomb Lumad schools for supposedly teaching
Leftist ideology. He told Lumad leaders to prepare for relocation so
he can better keep them away from the NPA. In December last year,
he "refined" this idea, suggesting he would "hamlet" indigenous
peoples into areas guarded by the military and police.
• Hamletting involves isolating people in villages known to have
communist rebel presence or influence through forced
relocation. Human rights groups have criticized the practice as
making communities vulnerable to human rights abuses and
harassment.
 What is the purpose of implementing rules and regulations?

• – These Rules and Regulations are

promulgated to implement the State policies
and objectives under the Act which aims to
promote and facilitate the transfer,
dissemination, and effective use,
management, and commercialization of
intellectual property, technology and
knowledge resulting from research and
development ...
 What is NCIP Certificate?

• This program validates and

confirm Certificates of Tribe Membership
conferred to members of Indigenous Cultural
Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs)
only for the intent and purpose it was issued,
e. g. tribal identification, scholarship, local
employment, travel abroad, land matters,
NAPOLCOM, AFP (PAF, PA, PN, PM ]
 What is Adsdpp?
• The Ancestral Domains Sustainable
Development and Protection Plan (ADSDPP) is
the consolidation of the plans of indigenous
cultural communities within an ancestral
domain for the sustainable management and
development of their land and natural
resources as well as the development of
human and cultural resources.
 Related International Legislation
on IP Rights

• The United Nations acknowledges worldwide the rights of the indigenous

people. The article on the UN Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples is recognized in the international sphere and was
adopted by the United Nations General Assembly during its 61st session at
UN Headquarters in New York City on 13 September 2007.
• The Declaration is structured as a United Nations resolution, "with 23
preambular clauses and 46 articles concerning the collective and individual
rights of the indigenous peoples in different parts of the world including
protection of their cultural heritage and manifestations of their cultures
including human and genetic resources."
• The Philippines did not immediately support the draft. It abstained when the
first votes were called, despite the existence of the Indigenous People's
Rights Act of 1997. However, after reviewing the declaration for many times,
the Philippines supported and voted a yes.
• In the end, the final result of the votes for the passing of the charter resulted
to 143 yes votes, 4 no votes (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and U.S.) and
11 abstentions.
 Organizations related to IPRA

• Asian Development Bank (ADB)- gives loan to government

to create projects such as Cordillera Agricultural Resource
Management (CHARM) that help the development of IP's.
The CHARM project involves helping the IPs in Cordillera to
develop the agricultural resource of IPs land. They also
helped in project Mindanao Basic Education Development
project to give poor some education
• International Labor Organization- made some conventions
regarding IPs such as poverty program, regarding on how IPs
can assert more control and development of their own
lands, regarding steps on how can IPs protect and guarantee
their right of ownership and possession, regarding the
responsibilities of government to ensure the rights of IPs.
• Philippine Action for Intercultural Development- helped
the IPs regarding community mapping, where they help IPs
in legalizing the boundaries of their respective lands
• National Confederation of Indigenous Peoples - aims to
unite the different IP rights organization to fight for their
rights. Their past projects includes Ancestral Domain
Sustainable Development Protection Plan (ADSDPP),
demarcation of Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT)
on the ground in favor of the Ati in Boracay Island etc.[21]
• Tribal Communities Association of the Philippine- provides
legal assistance to IPs
 Gaps in the Law
Section 56 of the Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997
or the IPRA Law states that “property rights within the
ancestral domains already existing and/or vested upon
effectivity of this Act, shall be recognized and
respected.” This section is problematic as it means that
any title before 1997 holds more weight than an
ancestral claim. Scholars and pro-indigenous groups
have criticized this section as it effectively destroys any
ancestral land claim before 1997. Historians have
pointed out that most indigenous groups in the
Philippines have been in the archipelago prior to
Spanish occupation in the 15th century.
However, according to Section 56, since there is no proper
documentation committed by the indigenous people prior to 1997,
an indigenous group cannot claim any land that have been in non-
inidgenous possession prior to 1997.
This makes multi-national companies and local government units have
the power to resist ancestral claims and use the IPRA Law itself to
counter indigenous land claims, as testified in an ongoing Mangyan
case since 2011, which evicted indigenous Mangyans from a claimed
land they have been using for many years.
In 2015, it was announced that the indigenous land shall be made into
a sanitary landfill by the Puerto Galero local government unit, and
that the Mangyans shall be relocated into a site near the landfill.
All Mangyan-planted coconut trees on the landfill site shall be
chopped down by the government and the local government unit
shall compensate only 100 pesos (approximately 2 US dollars) each
to the Mangyans.
Indigenous peoples’ groups decry use of IPRA and NCIP for development aggression

1. the resources lying within the indigenous peoples’ ancestral

territories are being extracted for profits by a few, leaving
environmental destruction in its wake while the indigenous
peoples themselves are either displaced or exploited as cheap
labor.
2. the recently unveiled Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2011-
2016 of the Aquino government as in the same mold of destructive
“strategies for development.” Continuing to espouse and “simply
repackaging the neo-liberal globalization policies of liberalization,
privatization and deregulation,” Aquino’s development framework,
said KAMP, would only further deprive the indigenous peoples of
their rights to ancestral land and self-determination.
3. As of Dec 2010, the National Commission on
Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) has issued 156
Certificates of Ancestral Domain (CADT) covering
4.3-million hectares. But only 37 of these are
registered, representing about 937 thousand
hectares, said Giovanni Reyes, secretary-general of
KASAPI (Coalition of Indigenous Groups in the
Philippines).
“In other words,” Reyes said, “after nearly 14 years of
IPRA, less than 1-million of approximately 7.5-
million hectares of ancestral domains have been
titled.”
4. Summarizing the numerous cases of stalled ancestral domain claims
recounted by different tribesmen and tribeswomen, it takes an
average of seven years to complete the processing of CADT, Reyes
said, “because the application process is, by design, rigorous and
incomprehensible.”
Among others, the documents are written in English; it must pass
through many stages and through many levels of the NCIP and other
implementing government offices. But instead of addressing the
bureaucratic obstacles, the NCIP saw it fit to “exasperate the
indigenous peoples,” said Reyes. He cited as example the IPRA
requirements that CADT/CALT applicants should submit. Supposedly,
the IPRA requires that only “any one of ten” enumerated
ethnographic proofs should be submitted. Yet, the NCIP has made all
10 of the IPRA’s optional ethnographic proofs mandatory. “In so
doing, the NCIP has significantly increased the burden of proof on
indigenous peoples,” Reyes said.
• 5. Other leaders of indigenous peoples’
organizations added that the NCIP has also been
inventing “fake” set of elders and IP leaders who it
prefers to talk to in matters of FPIC and CADT.
• On the other hand, the NCIP has not been as
restrained in issuing certifications for mining, logging
and dams. Reyes reported that during the same
period that the NCIP has impeded the granting of
CADT titles to indigenous peoples, it has issued 320
certifications for mining mostly, plus certifications
for logging and dams.