Historical Background

Up to 15 per cent of the Philippine population

What is the procedure on Ancestral belong to distinct indigenous communities and
Domain Delineation? retain a close link with their traditions. They
avoided Hispanization during Spain's 350-year
 Petition for Delineation colonization of the Philippines. In 1987, after the
 Delineation Proper fall of the Marcos regime, a revised Philippine
 Submission of Proof Constitution recognized the ancestral land rights of
indigenous people, and ten years later, in 1997,
 Ocular Inspection
those rights finally became law in the Indigenous
 Evaluation and Appreciation of Proof Peoples Rights Act.
 Preparation of Maps
 Report of Investigation and Other Modeled on the provisions of the UN Draft RA 871
Documents Declaration on Indigenous Peoples' Rights, the
 Notice and Publication of Ancestral IPRA was meant to be a corrective legislation, it
sought to address historical injustices perpetuated
Domain Claim
against indigenous peoples, and thus contained
The Indigenous
 Endorsement of the Ancestral
four significant aspects: (1) the articulation of the
Domain Claim to the NCIP
recognition of the right to self-governance; (2) the
Peoples Rights Act of
 Turnover of Areas Within Ancestral recognition of the bundle of rights held by 1997
Domains Managed by other indigenous peoples, (3) the establishment of a
Government Agencies process for the formal recognition of land rights
 Issuance of CADT through the introduction of the Certificate of
 Registration of CADTs Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) or Certificate
Ancestral Land Title (CALT); and, (4) the
establishment of the National Commission on
What is the procedure on Ancestral Land Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), the agency mandated
Delineation? to protect the interest of indigenous peoples.

In theory IPRA is one of the most enlightened laws

 Identification of Ancestral Lands dealing with Indigenous Peoples, recognizing the
within Ancestral Domains free prior and informed consent (FPIC) of
Indigenous Peoples, and asserting that in the
 Application for Issuance of CALT absence of such a clear level of consent, a project
over Ancestral Lands within cannot proceed.
Ancestral Domains
 Application for Issuance of CALT The passage of IPRA was indeed historical. It is a
over Ancestral Lands outside progressive law, moving away from the Regalian
Ancestral Domains Doctrine – the state control and ownership of land
 Submission of Proof and other resources. Thus, IPRA received broad
 Notice and Publication support, with a lot of indigenous communities and
advocates being hopeful that this law can actually
 Ocular Inspection and Appreciation
have positive impacts on the lives of the
of Proof
indigenous communities.
 Resolution of Conflicting Claims
Company Name
 Parcellary Survey
 Report of Investigation
 Review by the NCIP Provincial Office
 Issuance of CALT
 The Indigenous People’s Rights
Act of 1997
What is the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act?
This is a landmark law on tribal rights which was
signed by President Fidel Ramos on October 29, 199t. IPRA
recognizes, protects, and promotes the territorial rights of
indigenous peoples in the Philippines. It also seeks to stop
prejudice against tribal peoples through the recognition of
certain rights over their ancestral lands and the right to live
their lives in accordance with their traditions, religitons, and
customs.
The Philippine Supreme Court upheld its
constitutionality after it was challenged by vested interests.
The IPRA potentially benefits an estimated 10 million indigenous
peoples in the biodiversity-rich uplands of the Phlippines.
Who are the Indigenous Cultural Communities or
Indigenous Peoples?
They are 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, and who have, under claims of
ownership since time immemorial, occupied, possessed
customs, tradition and other distinctive cultural traits, or who
have, through resistance to political, social and cultural inroads
of colonization, non-indigenous religions and culture, become
historically differentiated from the majority of Filipinos
What are Ancestral Domains?
Ancestral domains refers 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.
What are Ancestral Lands?
Ancestral lands 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.
What are the Rights of ICCs/IPs to Ancestral
Domains?
 Right of ownership
 Right to develop lands and natural resources
 Right to stay in territories and not to be displaced
therefrom
 Right to regulate entry of migrants and other
entities
 Right to safe and clean air and water
 Right to claim parts of reservation
What are the Rights of ICCs/IPs to Ancestral Lands?
 Right to transfer land or property
 Right to redemption
What are the Responsibilities of ICCs/IPs to their
Ancestral Domains?
 Maintain ecological balance
 Restore denuded areas
 Observe laws
Does the IPRA violate constitutional provisions?
No. Under the IPRA, ancestral lands and ancestral
domains are not deemed part of the lands of the public
domain but are private lands belonging to ICCs/IPs who
have actually occupied, possessed and utilized their
territories under claim of ownership since time immemorial.
What is the Mateo Cariño Doctrine?
The Mateo Cariño Doctrine stemmed from the case
in the United States Supreme Court – Cariño vs. Insular
Government of the Philippine Islands (1909), where Chief
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes delivered the opinion of the
court recognizing “native title” to valid land rights
established by testimonies or memories on land that has
been held, occupied and utilized in ownership since time
immemorial by indigenous population
What is a Native Title?
It refers to pre-conquest rights to lands 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 undisputably presumed to have been that
way since before the Spanish Conquest.
What is a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title/
Certificate of Ancestral Lands Title?
A CADT/CALT refers to a title formally recognizing the
rights of possession and ownership of ICCs/IPs over their
ancestral domains/ancestral lands identified and delineated in
accordance with this law.
What agency is charged with implementing the
provisions of IPRA?
The law created the National Commission on
Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) as the primary government agency
responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies,
plans and programs to recognize, protect and promote the
rights of ICCs/IPs with due regard to their beliefs, customs,
traditions and institutions.
What is Free and Prior Informed Consent as used in
IPRA?
It means 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 an activity, in a language and process
understandable to the community.
What is the Principle of Self-Delineation?
It is the guiding principle in the identification and
delineation of ancestral domains. It states that ancestral
domains shall be identified and delineated by the ICCs/IPs
themselves through their respective Council of Elders/Leaders
whose members are bound by them.
The metes and bounds of ancestral domains shall be
established through traditionally recognized physical landmarks,
such as, but not limited to, burial grounds, mountains, ridges,
hills, rivers, creeks, stone formations and the like.