 What is the Principle of Free and Informed Prior Consent?

The Principle of Free and Informed Consent (FPIC) is the principle that acknowledges the
right of a community to give or withhold its consent to proposed projects that may affect the
lands they own or occupy. According to the UN-REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation
and forest Degradation) Programme in 2013, in the guidelines they published regarding the
Principle of Free and Informed Consent, these are the meanings in a closer look:

 Free – voluntarily and void of force

 Prior – sought in advance before any activities done in the inhabitants’ area
 Informed – providing the potential effects and consequences after giving consent
 Consent – a collective decision by the community

 What is its legal basis?

FPIC has already been recognized as a legal norm in international law (UN-REDD, 2013).
Furthermore, FPIC has been described a right by the United Nations Human Rights Committee,
the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the UN Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples.
The Indigenous People’s Rights Act1 (IRPA) which was enacted in the Philippines Congress
in 1997 recognizes the indigenous peoples’ rights to self determination and provides
mechanisms for the protection of indigenous ancestral domains and all resources therein
(Magno & Gatmaytan, 2013). The FPIC was adopted by the IRPA to give rights to the
indigenous peoples’ lands and promote community participation in decision-making. Also, the
Philippine Constitution explicitly states the indigenous peoples’ rights in these articles:

 Sec. 22 of Art. II. The State recognizes and promotes the rights of indigenous cultural
communities within the framework of national unity and development.
 Sec. 5 of Art. VI. For three consecutive terms after the ratification of this Constitution,
one-half of the seats allocated to party-list representatives shall be filled, as provided by
law, by selection or election from the labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural
communities, women, youth, and such other sectors as may be provided by law, except
the religious sector.
 Sec. 5 of Art. XII. The State, subject to the provisions of this Constitution and national
development policies and programs, shall protect the rights of indigenous cultural
communities to their ancestral lands to ensure their economic, social, and cultural
wellbeing.
 The Congress may provide for the applicability of customary laws governing property
rights or relations in determining the ownership and extent of ancestral domain.
 Sec. 6 of Art. XIII. The State shall apply the principles of agrarian reform or stewardship,
whenever applicable in accordance with law, in the disposition or utilization of other
natural resources, including lands of the public domain under lease or concession
suitable to agriculture, subject to prior rights, homestead rights of small settlers, and the
rights of indigenous communities to their ancestral lands.
  Sec. 17 of Art. XIV. The State shall recognize, respect, and protect the rights of
indigenous cultural communities to preserve and develop their cultures, traditions, and
institutions. It shall consider these rights in the formulation of national plans and policies.

SOURCES:

(Magno & Gatmaytan, 2013)

Magno, C., & Gatmaytan, D. B. (2013). Free Prior and Informed Consent in the Philippines Regulations
and Realities . Boston: Oxfam America.

Tara Ward,The Right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent: Indigenous Peoples' Participation Rights
within International Law, 10 Nw.J. Int'lHum.Rts.54 (2011).
http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njihr/vol10/iss2/2

(UN-REDD Programme, 2013)

Magno, C., & Gatmaytan, D. B. (2013). Free Prior and Informed Consent in the Philippines Regulations
and Realities . Boston: Oxfam America.

UN-REDD Programme. (2013). Guidelines on Free, Prior and Informed Consent. Switzerland: International
Environment House.