10/12/2019 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly is confronted again with the issue of whether the NCIP's jurisdiction is limited to cases where both parties are ICCs/IPs, or primary and concurrent with regular courts, and/or original and exclusive to the exclusion of said courts, on all matters involving the rights of ICCs/IPs. After a circumspect review of the relevant laws and jurisprudence, the Court maintains that the jurisdiction of the NCIP under Section 66 of the IPRA is limited to claims and disputes involving rights of IPs/ICCs where both parties belong to the same ICC/IP group, but if such claims and disputes arise between or among parties who do not belong to the same ICC/IP group, the proper regular courts shall have jurisdiction. To begin with, jurisdiction over the subject matter is conferred by the Constitution or by law. A court of general jurisdiction has the power or authority to hear and decide cases whose subject matter does not fall within the exclusive original jurisdiction of any court, tribunal or body exercising judicial or quasi-judicial function.[22] In contrast, a court of limited jurisdiction, or a court acting under special powers, has only the jurisdiction expressly delegated.[23] An administrative agency, acting in its quasi-judicial capacity, is a tribunal of limited jurisdiction which could wield only such powers that are specifically granted to it by the enabling statutes.[24] Limited or special jurisdiction is that which is confined to particular causes or which can be exercised only under limitations and circumstances prescribed by the statute.[25] As held in the main decision, the NCIP shall have jurisdiction over claims and disputes involving rights of ICCs/IPs only when they arise between or among parties belonging to the same ICC/IP group because of the qualifying provision under Section 66 of the IPRA that "no such dispute shall be brought to the NCIP unless the parties have exhausted all remedies provided under their customary laws." Bearing in mind that the primary purpose of a proviso is to limit or restrict the general language or operation of the statute,[26] and that what determines whether a clause is a proviso is the legislative intent,[27] the Court stated that said qualifying provision requires the presence of two conditions before such claims and disputes may be brought before the NCIP, i.e., exhaustion of all remedies provided under customary laws, and the Certification issued by the Council of Elders/Leaders who participated in the attempt to settle the dispute that the same has not been resolved. The Court thus noted that the two conditions cannot be complied with if the parties to a case either (1) belong to different ICCs/IP groups which are recognized to have their own separate and distinct customary laws, or (2) if one of such parties was a non-ICC/IP member who is neither bound by customary laws or a Council of Elders/Leaders, for it would be contrary to the principles of fair play and due process for parties who do not belong to the same ICC/IP group to be subjected to its own distinct customary laws and Council of Elders/Leaders. In which case, the Court ruled that the regular courts shall have jurisdiction, and that the NCIP's quasi-judicial jurisdiction is, in effect, limited to cases where the opposing parties belong to the same ICC/IP group. That the NCIP's quasi-judicial jurisdiction is limited can be further gathered from Justice Perez' discussion in Lim v. Gamosa,[28] thus: elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/63044 7/32