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SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES
SIXTEENTH (~ONGRESS
First Regular Session
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SENATE
Senate Bill No.
1426
R[~CEI\,E{) BV:_f-
Introduced by SENATOR JOSEPH VICTOR G. EJERCITO
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The Constitution mandates the State to recognize, respect, and
protect the rights of Ingenious People to preserve and develop their
cultures, traditions, and institutions. Republic Act 8371 or the
Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (AFRA) of 1997, guarantees the rights
of IPs to ancestral domain, self-governance and empowerment, social
justice and human rights, education and cultural integrity. Under The
Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997, ancestral domains refer
to "all areas generally belonging to IPs composed of lands, inland
waters, coastal areas, and natural resources held under a claim of
collective or individual ownership, continuously occupied or possessed
by IPs by themselves or their ancestors since time immemorial.
As of 2000 a total of 234,188 hectares of ancestral lands
certificates and/or agreements have been issued to indigenous
communities and a total of 3.64 million hectares are covered by
existing corpmrate agreements for mining explorations. The mining
applications alone cover some 10.6 million hectares which reportedly
include ancestral lands, compared to only 2.7 million hectares covered
by claims to ancestral domain. There are pending applications for
ancestral domain certificates but the same has not been resolved to
this date. From 2002 to 2010, a total of 20 certificates of ancestral
domain title (CADT) for indigenous peoples (IPs) were awarded to
indigenous peoples by the National Commission on Indigenous
Peoples (NCIP) covering a cumulative area of 336,660.06 hectares. As
of October 2010, Benguet has the largest CADT area at 257,550.50
hectares or 76.5 percent of all ancestral domains in the region. Ifugao
is second at 47,187.53 hectares or 14.0 percent while Apayao is third
at 11,268.03 hectares or 3.3 percent. No CADTs were awarded in CAR
for the years 2003 and 2007.
This bill intends to reinforce the rights of IP over their ancestral
lands and to have an option to secure a Certificate of Title under
Commonwealth Act 141, as amended, or the Land Registration Act
496 as provided for under Section 12 of Republic Act No. 8371 and a