INTRODUCTION
We approve today a landmark law, Republic Act No. 8371 to “recognize, protect and promote the rights of indigenous cultural communities/indigenous peoples (ICCs/IPs) and for other purposes” whose social, cultural, political and economic impacts will be felt not merely in our time nor in just the next century but also well through the third millennium.

Through RA 8371 we accelerate the emancipation of our indigenous peoples (IPs) from the bondage of inequity. This social injustice bred poverty, ignorance and deprivation among our indigenous cultural communities (ICCs) and further alienated them people from the mainstream.
EQUITY FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
RA 8371 addresses issues to ameliorate the conditions of our indigenous communities, but its ramifications will bear on all sectors of society, including:

The agriculturally-dependent landowners whose wealth came from the exploitation of these ancestral lands;

The urban poor, many of whom are members of our IPs, may now see in communal ownership a brighter reason to return to their roots;

The natural resource investors who should now deal with the rightful owners of the lands they use;

The agricultural workers, particularly kaingin farmers, who have unwittingly squatted on ancestral lands;

The environmentalists who find in our indigenous peoples an ally in their campaign for environmental protection and conservation;

The warriors among our indigenous peoples whose struggles against cultural and economic domination by the lowlanders have resulted in bloody clashes, and whose causes may now be pursued along the path of peace and development;

And all the other sectors, for they have indirectly benefited from the labors, and culture and talent of our ICCs.
ISSUES ATTENDANT TO LAND OWNERSHIP
Land ownership has always been crucial in shaping the histories of nations. Many wars have been fought to gain land and riches, to change territorial boundaries and to impose the supremacy and culture of the conqueror upon the conquered.

To our indigenous peoples and to many others in our country, who suffered from such exploitation by the elite and the oligarchs, land is a way of life. The value of land goes beyond economics and encompasses the entire spectrum of political, social, cultural and religious aspects of Philippine life.

For so long, the superior force of the lowlanders had deprived the members of our cultural communities not only of their ancestral lands but also of their livelihood and their way of living. Those who resisted through force were called bandits while those who did not adjust to the mores of the lowlands were deemed as savages and were marginalized just because they were different. Mounting injustice against our indigenous cultural communities bred a host of other problems, affecting both rural areas and urban centers, even as it diminished the rights and opportunities of our indigenous peoples.

The problems had to be dealt with directly at their roots, meaning the issue of land ownership.
RECOGNIZING OUR IPs RIGHTS
This new law seeks to stop the prejudice against our indigenous peoples through the recognition of certain rights over their ancestral lands — among these, to live their lives in accordance with their indigenous traditions, religions and customs — and our hope that they will eventually join the mainstream of Philippine society and become efficient and productive contributors to community development and nation-building.

In the words of Senator Flavier, the author of the Senate’s version of RA 8371, this law intends to “recognize and protect the rights of the indigenous peoples not only to their ancestral domains but to social justice and human rights, self-determination and empowerment, and their cultural integrity.”

Among those explicitly recognized, in addition to communally owning the land they occupy, are the following: to remain in their ancestral domain; to be compensated justly and resettled in case of displacement; to enjoy safe and clean air and water; to uphold tribal laws and traditions, including the implementation of their own judicial system; to transfer land/property to other members of their community in accordance with their tribal laws; to enjoy the fruits of their communal land; to exercise self-governance; to be protected in their community and intellectual property; to practice their own religion and ceremonies; to acquire, practice and preserve indigenous knowledge systems; to enjoy equal rights for indigenous women and children as similarly enjoyed by other Filipinos; and to have access to basic services and opportunities to improve their lives.
THE COMMENSURATE RESPONSIBILITIES
These rights, however, are not without commensurate responsibilities. Our IPs carry the duty of maintaining the ecological balance and restoring denuded areas within their ancestral domain, and observing all the provisions of this law and all the other laws of the land.

In order to coordinate the needs of our indigenous peoples and assist them in their march towards empowerment and modernization, RA 8371 creates the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) whose seven members will represent specific ethnographic areas of the country.

The NCIP is mandated to formulate and implement policies, plans and programs for the development of our cultural communities and indigenous peoples and, in addition, it is also tasked with the review of applications for ancestral land titling, the issuance of certificates of these titles, and the adjudication of disagreements regarding land ownership.

Let me clarify that this law specifies that the quasi-judicial functions of the NCIP may only be applied if the parties have exhausted all possible means of settling the dispute in accordance with tribal practices and laws.
THE PRODUCT OF POLITICAL WILL
This law is the product of many years of legislative study and deliberations backed by several decades more of experiential knowledge and scholarly work. It has undergone the crucible of wide-ranging debate and even armed struggle. And, although we cannot lay claim to its perfection, we are assured that it went through comprehensive consultations, dialogues, integrative workshops, and inter-agency/cabinet clustering.

Thus, to those sectors that have belatedly expressed dissatisfaction over portions of RA 8371, government will continue to fine-tune the policies, plans and programs related to it in order to address the special concerns that have been registered.

It took courage to have this law passed in the midst of opposition from many influential groups whose interests would be diminished by returning ancestral rights to our indigenous communities. From the beginning of my term, I had certified to Congress as urgent the various proposed bills that now constitute this law. Although it took these many years to have it passed, given its complexity, it is done.

RA 8371 is a triumph of the executive’s and the legislative’s political will. For only a law of such breath, depth and scope as RA 8371 can provide our indigenous peoples with the seeds of their empowerment and social equity.

The Ramos presidency and the Tenth Congress, I am sure, shall wield such determination and political will again and again to provide more opportunities for the other sectors of society that need to be uplifted.
SUMMING UP
The debates have settled. Now that the law is in place, we start the more difficult task of implementing it in its letter and spirit. Now starts the real challenge that comes with people empowerment for the indigenous cultural communities to show their true worth and spirit of cooperation that would pave the way to their own modernization and that of our people as a whole — in other words, our total upliftment from poverty.

I express my thanks to the non-governmental organizations and the government agencies who worked so hard for the passage of this law, and to all the other sectors who believed in this cause.

I am especially grateful to Speaker Jose de Venecia and Senate President Ernesto Maceda; to Representatives Gregorio Andolana and Jeremias Zapata and Senator Juan Flavier, the authors of this landmark reform law; and all the co-authors; the sponsors and co-sponsors; the committee chairmen; the bicameral conferees; and all the other members of the senate and the house of representatives who consistently supported this act of empowerment.

Sa ngalan ng mga kababayan nating katutubong Pilipino, maraming salamat at mabuhay tayong lahat!

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!!