INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

ISSUES AND ANCESTRAL

DOMAIN
By : Delista, Randy Lain

Ortiz, Rhea Mae

What are the Indigenous People Issues?

 Issues of violence and brutality, continuing

assimilation policies, marginalization, dispossession
of land, forced removal or relocation, denial of land
rights, impacts of large-scale development, abuses by
military forces and armed conflict, and a host of other
abuses, are a reality for indigenous communities
around.
 THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES –
 According to the United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples
(UNDRIP) the term ‘indigenous people’ is used to refer to a distinct social and
cultural group that has the following distinctive characteristics:

 (a) Self-identification as members of a distinct indigenous social and cultural

group, and recognition of this identity by others;
 (b) Collective attachment to geographically distinct habitats, ancestral territories,
of seasonal use or occupation as well as to the natural resources in these areas;
 (c) Customary cultural, economic, social, or political systems that are distinct or
separate from those populations of mainstream society or culture; and
 (d) A distinct language or dialect, often different from the official language or
languages of the
 Many of the 110 ethno-linguistic indigenous
groups in the Philippines
experience discrimination, degradation of
resource bases, and armed conflict. IP
communities, generally located in distinct
ancestral territories, have high rates of
unemployment, underemployment, and
illiteracy.
 What is Ancestral Domain?

 The term 'ancestral domain' as stated in the

Indigenous Peoples Right Act refers to all
areas generally belong to Indigenous Cultural
Communities (ICCs)/ Indigenous Peoples (IPs)
comprising lands, inland waters, coastal areas
and natural resources therein, held under a
claim of ownership, occupied possessed by
ICCs/IPs .
 REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8371

 RA 8371 – this act also “known as Indigenous Peoples Rights Act”

(IPRA Law) of 1997 .

- AN ACT TO RECOGNIZE, PROTECT AND PROMOTE THE

RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS CULTURAL
COMMUNITIES/INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, CREATING A
NATIONAL COMMISSION ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES,
ESTABLISHING IMPLEMENTING MECHANISMS,
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES
 WHAT IS THE IPRA?

- Is a comprehensive law that includes not only the rights of IPs over their ancestral domain but
to their rights to social justice and human rights, self-governance and empowerment, and
cultural integrity. 

- It is in response to their belief and practice that land is their worship area (religion), their
institution of learning (education), their area of governance (politics and government) their
livelihood and market place (economy), their medical center (health), shelter (defense and
security), identity (personality and character), and their history.
 Legal Basis

a. Mandates of the 1987 Philippine Constitution; (State Policies under the

Constitution)

 Section 22, Article II; The recognition & promotion of IPs

 Section 5, Article XII; The protection of the rights of ICCs to their ancestral lands to
ensure their economic, social and cultural well-being.
 Section 6, Article XIII, the recognition of prior rights, homestead rights of small
settler, and rights of ICCs to their ancestral land.
 Section 17, Article XIV The recognition, respect and protection of the rights of IPs
to preserve and develop their cultures, traditions and institutions particularly in the
formulation of national plans and policies.

b. International Treaties and Convention, notably ILO Convention 169

c. UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
 Who are covered by IPRA?
 IPRA applies to all Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines who, according to available data as
of 2007 number to about 14.2 Million comprising roughly 16% of the country’s population.
They are scattered over seven (7) ethnographic regions and comprised of about 110 ethnic
groups.

Indigenous Cultural Communities/ Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs)

- Refer to a group of people or homogenous societies identified by self-ascription and ascription by others,
- Who have continuously lived as organized community on communally bounded and defined territory,

- Or, who have, through resistance to political, social and cultural inroads of colonization, non-indigenous
religions and cultures, became historically differentiated from the majority of Filipinos.
 Estimated IP Population

Total Estimated IP Population: 14,184,645

- Luzon 4,822,779 (34 %)

- Visayas 425,540 ( 3 %)
- Mindanao 8,936,326 (63 %)

 Proportion of IP Population to National Population: 16%

 Number of Ethnolinguistic Groups:   110
 What does IPRA recognize and the rights that it guarantees?

4 Basic of Rights of ICCs/IPs:

 Rights to Ancestral Domains and Lands (mga karapatan sa lupaing ninuno)

 Right to Self-Governance and Empowerment (karapatan sa sariling

pamamahala at kapangyarihan)

 Right to Social Justice and Human Rights (katarungang panlipunan at mga

karapatang pantao)

 Right to Cultural Integrity (karapatan sa kabuoang pangkalinangan)

 Rights to Ancestral Domain/ Lands
 All areas generally belonging to ICCs/IPs comprising of lands, inland waters,
coastal areas, and natural resources therein;
 Held under a claim of ownership, occupied or possessed by ICCs/IPs, by themselves
or through their ancestors, communally or individually since time immemorial,
continuously to present;
 Necessary to ensure their economic, social and cultural welfare. (Sec. 3[a], IPRA).
The Concept of Native Title

- Pre-conquest rights to land and domains which, as far back as memory reaches, have
been held under a claim of private ownership by ICCs/IPs, have never been public
lands and are thus indisputably presumed to have been held that way since before
the Spanish conquest. (Sec. 3 [l], IPRA)
- Exception to the Regalian Doctrine.
 Resposibilities of IPs over their Ancestral
Domain

 Maintain ecological balance – to preserve, restore and maintain balance ecology in

the ancestral domain by protecting the flora and fauna, watershed areas and other
reserves.

Restore denuded forests – to actively initiate, undertake and participate in the
reforestation of denuded areas and other development programs and projects subject
to just and reasonable remuneration.

Observe laws - to observe and comply with the provisions of IPRA and the rules
and regulations for its effective implementation.