SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
REPUBLIC O F T H E PH ILIPPIN ES
F irst R egular S essio n
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'16
■16
IIIL 28
Anno
SENATE
S.B. No.
912
I n tr o d u c e d b y S e n a to r LOREN LEGARDA
AN ACT TO INCLUDE ETHNIC ORIGIN IN TH E NATIONAL SURVEY
CONDUCTED BY T H E PH ILIPPIN E STATISTICS AUTHORITY
E xplanatory Note
The 1987 Philippine C o n stitu tio n m a n d a te s th e recognition a n d prom otion of
th e rig h ts of in d ig e n o u s c u ltu ra l co m m u n ities a n d th e developm ent of th eir
c u ltu re s, tra d itio n s a n d in stitu tio n s w ithin th e fram ew ork of n a tio n a l u n ity a n d
developm ent. It e n jo in s th e S ta te to p ro tec t th e rig h ts of in d ig en o u s peoples to
th e ir a n c e stra l la n d s to e n su re th e ir econom ic, social, a n d c u ltu ra l well-being.
The In d igenous P eoples’ R ights Act of 1997 (IPRA) or R epublic Act 8371 fu rth e r
stre n g th e n s th is m a n d a te by providing th a t, “th e S ta te sh all, w ith d u e
recognition of th e ir d istin c t c h a ra c te ristic s a n d identity, accord to th e m em b ers
of th e Ind ig en o u s C u ltu ra l C om m unities (IC C s)/Indigenous Peoples (IPs) the
rights, p ro tectio n s, a n d privileges enjoyed by th e re s t of th e citizenry. It shall
extend to th em th e sam e em ploym ent rig h ts, o p p o rtu n ities, basic services,
ed u catio n al a n d o th e r rig h ts a n d privileges available to every m em b er of the
society.” M oreover, th e law recognizes th a t, “IC C s/IP s have th e rig h t to special
m e a su re s for th e im m ediate, effective, a n d co n tin u in g im provem ent of th e ir
econom ic a n d social co n d itio n s, including a re a s of em ploym ent, vocational
train in g a n d re tra in in g , h o u sin g , sa n ita tio n , h e a lth , a n d social se cu rity .”
The su ccessfu l im p lem en tatio n of law s, how ever well m ean in g th ey are, is
a n ch o red on th e p o sse ssio n of relev an t a n d a c c u ra te d a ta , w hich is th e b a sis of
so u n d policies th a t in tu rn are tra n s la te d into effective a n d targ e te d action. To
d ate, th e governm ent, p a rticu la rly th e N ational C om m ission on Indig en o u s
Peoples (NCIP), relies on e stim a te s b a sed on o u td a te d figures. More th a n a
decade h a s p a sse d since th e recognition of th e rig h ts of th e IPs th ro u g h the
p assag e of IPRA b u t th e re is still disaggregated d a ta on th e ex act p o p u latio n of
o u r in d igenous b ro th e rs a n d siste rs.
T his bill seek s to form ally in clude th e e th n icity a n d e th n o -lin g u istic variable in
o u r n a tio n al c e n su s . F u rth e rm o re , it req u ire s th a t th ere be e n u m e ra to rs or
c e n su s d a ta g a th e re rs w ho a re tra in e d by th e NCIP on th e different eth n o linguistic g ro u p s all over th e c o u n try a n d th e p ro p er m a n n e r of ask in g
cu ltu rally -sen sitiv e q u e stio n s p e rta in in g to ethnicity. It is only th ro u g h th is
knowledge th a t we c a n effectively m ake policies th a t will tru ly prom ote th eir
welfare a n d a d d re s s th e ir p ressin g need s. In view of th e following, im m ediate
p assag e of th is bill is e a rn e stly sought.
LOREN LEGARDA
S e n a to r