SIXTEENTH CONGRESS 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
) 
) 
) 
SENATE 
S.B. NO. 2209 
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'14 
MAY -6 P 3 :25 
Introduced by SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA 
AN ACT 
ESTABLISHING 
RESOURCE 
CENTERS 
FOR 
INDIGENOUS 
CULTURAL 
COMMUNITIESjINDlGENOUS 
PEOPLES 
TO 
ENHANCE 
AND 
ENSURE 
DELIVERY OF ESSENTIAL SERVICES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR 
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
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 an 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. 
-
Lo~u:NiifuARDA 
Senator 


SIXTEENTH CONGRESS 
) 
'14 
M~Y -6 P.3 :25 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
SENATE 
S.B. NO. 2209 
Introduced by SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA 
AN ACT 
ESTABLISHING 
RESOURCE 
CENTERS 
FOR 
INDIGENOUS 
CULTURAL 
COMMUNITIESjINDIGENOUS 
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: 
I 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Resource Centers for 
2 
Indigenous Peoples Act of 2014". 
3 
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby the policy of the State to provide 
4 
Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs)/Indigenous Peoples (IPs) equal access to 
5 
basic services and ensure protection of their rights, taking into consideration their 
6 
customs, h"aditions, values and beliefs. Towards this end, there is a need to set up 
7 
Resource Centers 'in all ethnographic regions to enhance the delivery of government's 
8 
basic services and enable them to be recognized and counted and have freedom to 
9 
engage in participatory development programs, projects and activities. 
10 
SEC. 3. Establishment of Resource Centers for ICCsjIPs. -
There shall be 
II 
established ICCs/IPs Resource Centers, hereinafter referred to as the "Center", in 
12 
strategic places as determined by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples 
13 
(NCIP), hereinafter referred to as the "Commission", taking into consideration their 
14 
ethnological locations. 
2 


1 
SEC. 4. 
Staff and Components of the ICC/IP Resource Centers. - The 
2 
Commission shall designate in every Center a Chief Coordinating Officer. Concerned 
3 
government departments and agencies and local governments shall assign staff 
4 
J.}lembers to the Resource Centers. 
5 
SEC. 5. Composition and Functions of the Center. The Center shall be 
6 
composed of the following three (3) major service areas and their respective functions, 
7 
namely: 
8 
A) Statistical Service Area - documentation and recognition of ICCs/IPs, 
9 
their indigenous knowledge, systems and practices, political structures and 
10 
customary laws through census, appraisal and baseline reports and libraries; 
11 
B) Human Development Index Service Area -
addresses problems of 
12 
ICCs/IPs and provide basic and necessary services through 
link-up with 
13 
concerned government department and agencies, such as training programs, 
14 
grant of scholarships, employment, livelihood and enterprises and health 
15 
services; and 
16 
C) Domains Management Service Area - promotion of participatory 
17 
programs, projects and activities for ICCs/IPs to effectively deliver their 
18 
responsibility of maintaining ecological balance, restore denuded areas, observe 
19 
laws, and ensure the implementation of the Ancestral Domains Sustainable 
20 
Development and Protections Plans and such other existing programs. 
21 
SEC. 6. Monitoring Progress and Implementation and Impact of this Act. -
22 
:rhe Commission shall submit to Congress every three (3) years or as determined in the 
23 
implementing rules and regulations, an annual report of its accomplishments. 
24 
SEC. 7. Funding. - The initial funding requirements for the implementation of 
25 
this Act shall be charged against the current appropriations of the agencies concerned. 
3 


1 
Thereafter, such sums as may be necessary for its continued implementation, shall be 
2 
included in the agencies' yearly budgets under the General Appropriations Act. 
3 
SEC. 8. Implementing Rules and Regulations - Within ninety (90) days after 
4 
the approval of this Act, the Commission, in coordination with the following concerned 
5 
government agencies, to wit: Local Government Units (LGUs), Philippine Statistics 
6 
Authority (PSA), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Technical 
7 
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Education 
8 
(DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Commission on Human Rights 
9 
(CHR), Department of Justice (DOn, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), 
10 
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Health (DOH), Department of 
11 
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Agriculture (DA), Land 
12 
Management Bureau (LMB), Land Registration. Authority (LRA), and such other 
13 
concerned agencies, shall issue the necessary Rules and Regulations for the effective 
14 
implementation of this Act. 
15 
SEC. 9. 
Repealing Clause. - All laws, rules and regulations or parts thereof 
16 
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified 
17 
accordingly. 
18 
SEC. 10. Separability Clause. - If any part, section or provision of this Act shall 
19 
be held invalid or unconstitutional, no other part, section or provisions thereof shall be 
20 
affected thereby. 
21 
SEC. 11. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following 
22 
its complete publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
23 
Approved, 
4 
LOREN LEGARDA 
Senator