The Philippines is a signatory to the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), which lays the internationally accepted standards on the protection of the rights and welfare of indigenous peoples in the conservation of natural resources within their territories. The CBD also provides a framework for the recognition of Traditional Knowledge Systems as an acceptable and viable option for the management of natural resources and the environment. However, in spite of the tremendous advances made by the indigenous communities along with their support groups and advocates, the Philippine Legislature has yet to ratify the International Labor Organization Convention 169. The convention (ILO 169) is a legal, international treaty that provides the basic standards to protect indigenous workers within the framework of respect for indigenous and tribal peoples’ cultures, their distinct ways of life, and their traditions and customs. Given the limitations of the Government bureaucracy and the effectivity of international law, the Philippines has been actively complying with its commitments and obligations with the treaties, agreements and declarations that it has signed and adopted. Ancestral Domains in the Philippines Ancestral domains are defined in the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act as: “all areas generally belonging to ICCs/IPs comprising lands, inland waters, coastal areas, and natural resources therein, held under a claim of ownership, occupied or possessed by ICCs/IPs, themselves or through their ancestors, communally or individually since time immemorial, continuously to the present except when interrupted by war, force majeure or displacement by force, deceit, stealth or as a consequence of government projects or any other voluntary dealings entered into by government and private individuals, corporations, and which are necessary to ensure their economic, social and cultural welfare. It shall include ancestral land, forests, pasture, residential, agricultural, and other lands individually owned whether alienable and disposable or otherwise, hunting grounds, burial grounds, worship areas, bodies of water, mineral and other natural resources, and lands which may no longer be exclusively occupied by ICCs/IPs but which they traditionally had access to for their subsistence and traditional activities, particularly the home ranges of ICCs/ IPs who are still nomadic and/or shifting cultivators” (IPRA, Chapter 2, Sec. 3a) With the Philippines consisting of at least 7,100 islands, ancestral domains come in various forms and configurations. These can be found in the upland ecosystems all the way to the coastal zones of the Archipelago. Under the IPRA, the disposition of ancestral domains can either be communal ownership or through clan or family ownership. As such, a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) is issued to a community while a Certificate of Ancestral Land Title (CALT) is awarded to clan or family claimants. As of 2015, the NCIP has issued 158 CADTs and 258 CALTs covering 4,323,728.722 hectares (ha) or 14% of the nation’s total land area. These are distributed all over the country with the islands Lok Niti 99