# Republic Act No. 6766/Article XI

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Source: Official Gazette. Vol. 85, No. 48. Manila. National Printing Office. 1989. pp. 7624–7625.
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Article XI
ANCESTRAL DOMAIN AND ANCESTRAL LANDS
Section 1. The Regional Government shall undertake measures to protect the ancestral domain and the ancestral lands of indigenous cultural communities.
Subject to the Constitution and national policies, all lands and natural resources in the Autonomous Region that have been possessed or occupied by indigenous cultural communities since time immemorial, except when prevented by war, force majeure, or other forms of forcible usurpation, shall form part of the ancestral domain.
Sec. 2. Ancestral lands consist of lands under communal or tribal ownership.
Communal or tribal ownership is exercised by a group of people belonging to a definite indigenous cultural community, ili or village.
Lands in the actual, open, notorious, and uninterrupted possession and occupation by an indigenous cultural community for at least thirty (30) years are ancestral lands.
Sec. 3. The constructive or traditional possession of lands and resources by an indigenous cultural community may also be recognized subject to confirmation by a competent tribunal, the petition for which shall be instituted within a period of ten (10) years from the effectivity of this Act. The procedure for such confirmation of imperfect titles under existing laws shall, as far as practicable, apply to the confirmation of titles to ancestral lands.
The foregoing provisions notwithstanding, titles secured under the Torrens system, and rights already vested under the provisions of existing laws shall be respected.
Sec. 4. Upon the identification and demarcation of ancestral lands, including those within townsite reservations in the area of autonomy, the appropriate land agency of the Regional Government shall issue titles over ancestral lands to communities or tribes.
Sec. 5. Subject to the Constitution and national law, the Cordillera Assembly shall pass, within a period of ten (10) years from its organization, laws relating to customary tenure of land and communal property including the rights and usages connected thereto. Such legislation on ancestral domain and the lands therein shall embody the customs of the indigenous community and prescribe the extent and the manner in which dispositions of lands may be made.
Sec. 6. The Regional Government shall require corporations, companies and other entities within the ancestral domain of the indigenous cultural communities whose operations adversely affect the ecological balance to take the necessary preventive measures and safeguards in order to maintain such a balance.
Sec. 7. Unless authorized by the Cordillera Assembly, lands of the ancestral domain titled to or owned by an indigenous cultural community shall not be disposed of to non-members.
Sec. 8. No portion of the ancestral domain shall be open to resettlement by non-members of the indigenous cultural communities.
Sec. 9. Nothing in this Act shall authorize any person to enter or occupy by force or other unlawful means, any portion of the Autonomous Region under the guise that the same forms part of the ancestral domain.
Sec. 10. The ancient rice terraces in the Cordilleras are hereby declared as national treasures and part of the national heritage of the cultural communities in the area as well as the Filipino people.
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