NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
First Regular Session 
) 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez 
House Bill No.  _____ 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Republic Act No, 8371, otherwise known as the 'Indigenous Peoples Rights Act' 
(IPRA), was enacted into law in 1997 to give effect to the constitutional recognition and 
cognizance to the estimated 12 to 15 million Indigenous Cultural Communities 
(ICCs)/Indigenous Peoples (IPs) present in 48 provinces and 13 cities nationwide. Said law 
provides for the creation of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) as its 
implementing agency. Eventually, various national, regional, grassroots and non-government 
organizations/networks were established, all geared towards their recognition, promotion and 
well-being. Likewise, numerous international treaties, conventions and declarations with 
similar objectives were entered into by the government.  
Despite concerted efforts exerted by the government, in partnership with various 
private organizations and adequate financial support from international communities, still they 
remain the poorest and marginalized sectors of our society. Basic services remain wanting in 
most geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs). Further, the reported serious 
human rights violations, displacement from their ancestral domain and destruction of their 
natural environment and cultural values, calls for immediate and drastic measures to address 
the same.  
Pursuant to the foregoing reasons, there is a need to establish Resource Centers in 
all ICCs/IPs which are ethnographically located, gender and rights based, as may be 
determined by the NCIF. The centers shall serve as access centers to enhance delivery of 
basic, social, technical and legal services. It shall be composed of the following service areas, 
namely: Statistical Service Area, Human Development Index Service Area and Domains 
Management Service Area. The NCIP shall provide the necessary officers and staff of the 
resource centers.  
In view of the foregoing and to hasten the improvement of the quality of life of our 
indigenous peoples, early passage of this bill is earnestly sought.  
 RUFUS B. RODRIGUEZ 
January 11, 2023
6:18 pm
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NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
First Regular Session 
) 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez 
House Bill No.  _____ 
AN ACT 
ESTABLISHING 
RESOURCE 
CENTERS 
FOR 
INDIGENOUS 
CULTURAL 
COMMUNITIES/INDIGENOUS PEOPLES TO ENHANCE AND ENSURE DELIVERY OF 
ESSENTIAL SERVICES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER 
PURPOSES  
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled:  
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Resource Centers for Indigenous 
Peoples Act".  
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby the policy of the State to provide Indigenous 
Cultural Communities (ICCs)/Indigenous Peoples (IPs) equal access to basic services and 
ensure protection of their rights, taking into consideration their customs, traditions, values and 
beliefs. Towards this end, there is a need to set up Resource Centers in all ethnographic 
regions to enhance the delivery of government's basic services and enable them to be 
recognized and counted and have freedom to engage in participatory development programs, 
projects and activities.  
SEC. 3. Establishment of Resource Centers for ICCs/IPs. - There shall be established 
ICCs/IPs Resource Centers, hereinafter referred to as the "Center", in strategic places as 
determined by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), hereinafter referred 
to as the "Commission", taking into consideration their ethnological locations.  
SEC. 4. Staff and Components of the ICC/IP Resource Centers. - The Commission shall 
designate in every Center a Chief Coordinating Officer. Concerned government departments 
and agencies and local governments shall assign staff members to the Resource Centers.  
SEC. 5. Composition and Functions of the Center. The Center shall be composed of the 
following three (3) major service areas and their respective functions, namely:  
A) Statistical Service Area - documentation and recognition of ICCs/IPs, their indigenous
knowledge, systems and practices, political structures and customary laws through census,
appraisal and baseline reports and libraries;
B) Human Development Index Service Area - addresses problems of  ICCs/IPs and provide
basic and necessary services through link-up with concerned government department and
agencies, such as training programs, grant of scholarships, employment, livelihood and
enterprises and health services; and
C) Domains Management Service Area - promotion of participatory programs, projects and
activities for ICCs/IPs to effectively deliver their responsibility of maintaining ecological
balance, restore denuded areas, observe laws, and ensure the implementation of the
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Ancestral Domains Sustainable Development and Protections Plans and such other existing 
programs.  
 
SEC. 6. Monitoring Progress and Implementation and Impact of this Act. - The Commission 
shall submit to Congress every three (3) years or as determined in the implementing rules and 
regulations, an annual report of its accomplishments.  
 
SEC. 7. Funding. - The initial funding requirements for the implementation of this Act shall be 
charged against the current appropriations of the agencies concerned. Thereafter, such sums 
as may be necessary for its continued implementation shall be included in the agencies' yearly 
budgets under the General Appropriations Act.  
 
SEC. 8. Implementing Rules and Regulations - Within ninety (90) days after the approval of 
this Act, the Commission, in coordination with the following concerned government agencies, 
to wit: Local Government Units (LGUs), Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Department of 
Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Technical Education and Skills Development 
Authority (TESDA), Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education 
(CHED), Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of 
Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of 
Health (DOH), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of 
Agriculture (DA), Land Management Bureau (LMB), Land Registration Authority (LRA), and 
such other concerned agencies, shall issue the necessary Rules and Regulations for the 
effective implementation of this Act.  
 
SEC. 9. Repealing Clause. - All laws, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with 
the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.  
 
SEC. 10. Separability Clause. - If any part, section or provision of this Act shall be held invalid 
or unconstitutional, no other part, section or provisions thereof shall be affected thereby.  
 
SEC. 11. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following its complete 
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.  
 
Approved,