Article 133p. 133

NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS STATUTES and IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS

not affected thereby, shall continue in full force and

effect.

SECTION 167. Effectivity. — This Code shall take effect

fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official

Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general publication.

Approved on February 25, 1998

RA No 8371 |

The Indigenous Peoples'

Rights Act of 1997

October 29, 1997

AN ACT TO RECOGNIZE, PROTECT AND PROMOTE THE

RIGHTS

OF

INDIGENOUS

CULTURAL

COMMUNITIES/INDIGENOUS

PEOPLE,

CREATING

A

NATIONAL

COMMISSION

OF

INDIGENOUS

PEOPLE,

ESTABLISHING

IMPLEMENTING

MECHANISMS,

APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER

PURPOSES

➔

See IRR here

Be

it

enacted

by

the

Senate

and

House

of

Representatives

of

the

Philippines

in

Congress

assembled:

CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as "The

Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997."

Section 2. Declaration of State Policies. - The State shall

recognize and promote all the rights of Indigenous

Cultural

Communities/Indigenous

Peoples

(ICCs/IPs)

hereunder enumerated within the framework of the

Constitution:

a) The State shall recognize and promote the rights of

ICCs/IPs within the framework of national unity and

development;

b)The State shall protect the rights of ICCs/IPs to their

ancestral domains to ensure their economic, social and

cultural well being and shall recognize the applicability

of customary laws governing property rights or relations

in determining the ownership and extent of ancestral

domain;

c) The State shall recognize, respect and protect the

rights of ICCs/IPs to preserve and develop their cultures,

traditions and institutions. It shall consider these rights

in the formulation of national laws and policies;

d) The State shall guarantee that members of the

ICCs/IPs regardless of sex, shall equally enjoy the full

measure

of

human

rights

and

freedoms

without

distinctions or discriminations;

e) The State shall take measures, with the participation

of the ICCs/IPs concerned, to protect their rights and

guarantee respect for their cultural integrity, and to

ensure that members of the ICCs/IPs benefit on an equal

footing from the rights and opportunities which national

laws and regulations grant to other members of the

population and

f) The State recognizes its obligations to respond to the

strong expression of the ICCs/IPs for cultural integrity by

assuring maximum ICC/IP participation in the direction

of education, health, as well as other services of ICCs/IPs,

in order to render such services more responsive to the

needs and desires of these communities.

Towards

these

ends,

the

State

shall

institute

and

establish the necessary mechanisms to enforce and

guarantee the realization of these rights, taking into

consideration their customs, traditions, values, beliefs,

their rights to their ancestral domains.

CHAPTER II DEFINITION OF TERMS

Section 3. Definition of Terms. - For purposes of this Act,

the following terms shall mean:

a) Ancestral Domains - Subject to Section 56 hereof, refer

to all areas generally belonging to ICCs/IPs comprising

lands,inland waters, coastal areas, and natural resources

therein, held under a claim of ownership, occupied or

possessed

by

ICCs/IPs, themselves or through their

ancestors,

communally

or

individually

since

time

immemorial, continuously to the present except when

interrupted by war, force majeure or displacement by

force, deceit, stealth or as a consequence of government

projects or any other voluntary dealings entered into by

government and private individuals, corporations, and

which are necessary to ensure their economic, social and

cultural welfare. It shall include ancestral land, forests,

pasture,

residential,

agricultural,

and

other

lands

individually owned whether alienable and disposable or

otherwise, hunting grounds, burial grounds, worship

areas,

bodies

of

water,

mineral

and

other

natural

resources, and lands which may no longer be exclusively

occupied by ICCs/IPs but from which their traditionally

had

access

to

for their subsistence and traditional

activities, particularly the home ranges of ICCs/IPs who

are still nomadic and/or shifting cultivators;

b) Ancestral Lands - Subject to Section 56 hereof, refers

to land occupied, possessed and utilized by individuals,

families and clans who are members of the ICCs/IPs

since time immemorial, by themselves or through their

predecessors-in-interest, under claims of individual or

traditional group ownership,continuously, to the present

except

when

interrupted

by

war, force majeure or

displacement

by

force,

deceit,

stealth,

or

as

a

consequence

of

government

projects

and

other

voluntary dealings entered into by government and

private

individuals/corporations,

including,

but

not

limited

to, residential lots, rice terraces or paddies,

private forests, swidden farms and tree lots;

c) Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title - refers to a title

formally

recognizing

the

rights

of

possession

and

ownership

of

ICCs/IPs

over their ancestral domains

identified and delineated in accordance with this law;

d) Certificate of Ancestral Lands Title - refers to a title

formally recognizing the rights of ICCs/IPs over their

ancestral lands;

e) Communal Claims - refer to claims on land, resources

and rights thereon, belonging to the whole community

within a defined territory

f) Customary Laws - refer to a body of written and/or

unwritten

rules,

usages,

customs

and

practices

traditionally and continually recognized, accepted and

observed by respective ICCs/IPs;

g) Free and Prior Informed Consent - as used in this Act

shall mean the consensus of all members of the ICCs/IPs

to; be determined in accordance with their respective

customary laws and practices, free from any external

manipulation, interference and coercion, and obtained

after fully disclosing the intent and scope of the activity,

in

a

language

an

process

understandable

to

the

community;

h) Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples

- refer to a group of people or homogenous societies

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