Manila: House Deputy Minority Leader and Mamamayang Liberal Partylist Representative Leila de Lima is urging fellow lawmakers to consider a measure seeking to recognize and protect Indigenous Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs) and to promote the rights of Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs) and indigenous peoples (IPs) to self-determination and ancestral domain management.
According to Philippines News Agency, De Lima filed House Bill No. 5761, also known as the ICCA Recognition Act, on Wednesday. The bill affirms IPs’ right and obligation to manage, maintain, and develop natural resources found within their culturally and spiritually significant territories. This is to be done in accordance with their indigenous knowledge systems and practices (IKSPs), and through their traditional political structures and governance systems.
Currently, Republic Act No. 8371, or the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA), serves as the main legal framework defining and safeguarding the rights of indigenous peoples. However, De Lima stated that IPRA does not fully address the concerns of IPs or uphold their rights, particularly in managing their ancestral lands.
The proposed measure includes the establishment of the National ICCA Registry, a national information management system that will contain records on pertinent information about ICCAs. The governance of ICCAs will be overseen by ICCs/IPs in accordance with their customary laws, structures, and mechanisms. Any conflicts within the ICCA will be primarily resolved through customary laws and traditional conflict resolution mechanisms.
If enacted into law, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and other relevant government agencies will support sustainable livelihood opportunities. These will include biodiversity-friendly livelihoods, identified and defined by ICCs/IPs consistent with traditional practices and resource use that contribute to the sustainable use and proper management of the ICCAs.
“This measure underscores that the rights to land and self-determination necessarily entail the full recognition of the traditional resource use rights and practices of ICCs/IPs, including their authority to maintain, protect, conserve, and regulate access to their ICCAs, and to exclude unauthorized intrusion or exploitation thereof,” De Lima said in a statement on Thursday. She added that for many years, IPs have been neglected and experienced discrimination and abuses, highlighting the urgent need for a legislative measure that empowers IPs to uphold their rights and preserve their heritage and conserved areas through their traditional systems of governance.
