Kenneth Tucker

CARTOONING

CARTOONING_295_PROPOSAL

The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) is the agency of the national

government of the Philippines that is responsible for protecting the rights of the indigenous

peoples of the Philippines.The commission is composed of seven commissioners.It is

attached to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.== History ==

The commission began as the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes created by the Insular

Government during the American Colonial Period of the Philippines.It then became an

independent agency called the Commission on National Integration (CNI).In 1972, then

President Ferdinand Marcos split CNI into the Southern Philippine Development Authority

(SPDA) and the Presidential Assistance on National Minorities (PANAMIN).In 1984, Marcos

created the Office of Muslim Affairs and Cultural Communities (OMACC) to assist both

Muslim and non-Muslim minorities.In January 1987, then President Corazon Aquino's

administration abolished the OMACC and through three Executive Orders created the Office

for the Muslim Affairs (OMA), the Office for Northern Cultural Communities (ONCC), and the

Office for Southern Cultural Communities (OSCC).In 1997, then President Fidel Ramos

signed Republic Act 8371 or Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997, which merged the

latter two offices, the Office for Northern Cultural Communities and Office for Southern

Cultural Communities into current commission.The NCIP was under the supervision of the

Department of Social Welfare and Development until 2024, when it was transferred to the

Office of the President of the Philippines through Executive Order No.71 signed by

President Bongbong Marcos.== Criticism ==

In 2011, the commission's Oriental Mindoro office was criticized after it made a meeting

with indigenous Mangyan communities in Mindoro, where the commission was pushing for

the removal of the indigenous Mangyans from their ancestral domains for the establishment

of a landfill proposed by the local government of Puerto Galera.The Mangyan walked out of

the meeting, sparking outrage from the top officers of the commission.The news broke out

and the national commission itself dropped all its social media accounts and even its own

website, leaving only the websites of some branch offices operational.Since it was criticized

by the public, the commission's Oriental Mindoro office has been in a limbo state, with no

actual programs being done.The head commissioner continues to govern the commission,

along with the provincial officer, despite the status quo, surging to further

criticisms.Provincial officer of NCIP Oriental Mindoro Karen Ignacio and Puerto Galera

mayor Hubbert Dolor retaliated by using the IPRA Law as defense for the establishment of

the landfill against the indigenous Mangyan people.The IPRA Law is the same law that was

made to protect the rights of indigenous peoples in 1997.==== Gaps in the Law ====

Section 56 of the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997 or the IPRA Law states that

“property rights within the ancestral domains already existing and/or vested upon

effectivity of this Act, shall be recognized and respected.” This section is problematic as it

means that any title before 1997 holds more weight than an ancestral claim.Scholars and

pro-indigenous groups have criticized this section as it effectively destroys any ancestral

land claim before 1997.Historians have pointed out that most indigenous groups in the

Philippines have been in the archipelago prior to Spanish occupation in the 15th

century.However, according to Section 56, since there is no proper documentation

land that have been in non-indgenous possession prior to 1997.This makes multi-national

companies and local government units have the power to resist ancestral claims and use the

IPRA Law itself to counter indigenous land claims, as testified in an ongoing Mangyan case

since 2011, which evicted indigenous Mangyans from a claimed land they have been using

for many years.In 2015, it was announced that the indigenous land shall be made into a

sanitary landfill by the Puerto Galera local government unit, and that the Mangyans shall be

relocated into a site near the landfill itself.All Mangyan-planted coconut trees on the landfill

site shall be chopped down by the government and the local government unit shall

compensate only 100 pesos (approximately 2 US dollars) each to the Mangyans.=== 2019

Chico river project case ===

On May 16, 2019, amid national outrage after the anti-indigenous Chico river dam project

was approved by the government, the NCIP called on to stop the project for a moment as

they have yet to release a certificate of approval as the area is an indigenous land of their

constituents, the Kalinga ethnic people.On May 27, 2019, it was later revealed that the NCIP

already released a certificate for the company to continue with the destructive Chico river

dam project, mounting to indigenous protests.The locals have stated that the agency (NCIP),

which was made to protect the rights of indigenous people, is now serving the greed of

multi-national corporations, to the demise of the people that they were intended to

serve.On May 28, 2019, the head of the NCIP, Leonor Quintayo, was replaced by Allen

Capuyan, after government released a statement which verified that Quintayo was being

investigated by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission for intensive corruption.==

References ==
== External links ==

National Commission on Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines