Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ‘
Quezon City, Metro Manila 27UAN 2015

16" Congress Lin iy
First Regular Session
359
House Bill No..

Introduced by Representative Teddy Brawner Baguilat

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

Explanatory Note

The 1987 Constitution provides under Article I, Section 22 that, “The State recognizes
and promotes the rights of indigenous cultural communities within the framework of
national unity and development.” Furthermore, it provides under Article XIV, Section 17,
that “The State shall recognize, respect, and protect the rights of indigenous cultural
communities to preserve and develop their cultures, traditions, and institutions. It shall
consider these rights in the formulation of national plans and policies.” To give life to this
Constitutional provisions, Republic Act No. 8371, otherwise known as the ‘Indigenous
Peoples Rights Act’ (IPRA), was enacted into law in 1997

Decades after the passage of the law and despite several engagement on the part of
the government and civil society, however, Indigenous Peoples remain on the fringes of
Philippine society, Due to their geographic isolation, Indigenous Peoples have a hard
time receiving the necessary basic services provided by government. Also, due to their
control and possession of their ancestral domain which are rich of resources, they
becomes targets of human rights abuses.

Given these realities, | am filing this bill, and echoing the Resource Centers for
Indigenous Peoples Bill (Senate Bill No. 2209) of the good Senator Loren Legarda, This
Bill establishes Resource Centers in all Indigenous Peoples Communities, which shall
serve as access centers to enhance delivery of basic, social, technical and legal
services. As such, it will significantly boost current government efforts in uplifting
Indigenous Peoples in the country.

In view of the foregoing, the passage of this Bill is earnestly 5

ai
Representativg/— Lone District of Ifugao


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

16" Congress
Second Regular Session

5359

House Bill No.,

Introduced by Representative Teddy Brawner Baguilat

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 of 2015”

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 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

Represgftative — Lone District of Ifugao