Republic Act No. 8371 | GOVPH
AN ACT TO RECOGNIZE, PROTECT AND PROMOTE THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS CULTURAL
COMMUNITIES/INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, CREATING A NATIONAL COMMISSION ON INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES, ESTABLISHING IMPLEMENTING MECHANISMS, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSESCHAPTER IGeneral 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 distinction or discrimination;
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,
interests and institutions, and to adopt and implement measures to protect their rights to their ancestral
domains.
CHAPTER IIDefinition 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