Congress urged to review indigenous peoples’ rights law

MANILA, Philippines - Congress should review the constitutionality of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA), which is reportedly hampering the development of an island in Coron as an international resort destination, a tourism investor said yesterday.

Orlando Sacay said lawmakers should revisit the IPRA 18 years after it was enacted into law.

Sacay questioned the principle of self-delineation, wherein indigenous peoples shall by themselves identify and delineate ancestral domains.  

“This provision deprives land owners of due process. It violates our vested rights of ownership guaranteed by the Constitution,” he said in an interview.

Sacay noted that the Tagbanua Tribe of Coron Island Association, with about 30 members, is claiming all the land in Barangay Bulalacao as their ancestral domain.

He said only six percent could be actually owned by the indigenous peoples in the community, and the rest of the lands they are claiming are owned by the national and local governments and some private individuals.

“Indigenous peoples do not recognize the authority of the national and the local governments,” Sacay said, adding that tax declaration is not recognized as proof of physical possession since the IPRA law does not require actual possession in applications for ancestral land title.

According to Sacay, the constitutionality of the IPRA law was raised in the Supreme Court a few years ago but the vote was a standoff at 7-7. He also said the implementing rules and regulations of the law were unconstitutional.

It is the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), an agency under the Office of the President, which implements Republic Act 8371, the IPRA of 1997.

Sacay was among the investors who developed Boracay but later transferred his investments to Coron. He and his team had also developed a resort in Calaguas Island in Camarines Norte.

He cited the role of the NCIP in blocking the construction of a 2,000-room hotel in the town of Busuanga due to a claim by the indigenous peoples that the land eyed for development is ancestral property.

The area was eyed for development by the Correos Internacionale Inc., a company affiliated with Manila Ocean Park, but the firm shelved its plan after a temporary restraining order (TRO) was issued two years ago.