Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon city

Fifteenth Congress
Third Regular Session

COMMITTEE REPORT NO. 2273

Submitted by the Committee oy peed Cultural Communities or8 0 JUL 2012___
Re House Bill No. 641:

Recommending its approval in substitution of House Bill Nos. 4701 and 5184
Sponsors: Representatives Teddy Brawner Baguilat, Jr., Luzviminda C. Iagan and Rufus B.
Rodriguez

Mr: Speaker:

The Committee on National Cultural Communities to which were referred House Bill No.
4701, introduced by Representatives Rodriguez (R.), Rodriguez, (M.), Bagasina, Mercado-Revilla,
Vergara, Catamco and Climaco, entitled:

“AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE FREE BIRTH REGISTRATION OF INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES”

and House Bill No. 5184 introduced by Representatives Ilagan, De Jesus, Baguilat Jr., Sarmiento,
Zamora-Apsay, Umali (R.), Casifio, Palatino and Vergara, entitled:

“AN ACT PROVIDIN' FOR A FREE AND CULTURE-SENSITIVE CIVIL
REGISTRATION SYSTEM FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES”

has considered the same and recommends that the attached House Bill nb4 19 ited:

“AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A FREE AND CULTURE-SENSITIVE SYSTEM OF
REGISTRATION CONCERNING THE CIVIL STATUS OF INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES”

be approved, in substitution of House Bill Nos. 4701 and 5184, with Reps. Rodriguez (R.),
Rodriguez (M.), Hagan, De Jesus, Bagasina, Mercado-Revilla, Baguilat, Sarmiento, Vergara,
Catamco, Zamora-Apsay, Umali (R.), Climaco, Casifio, Palatino and Padilla as authors thereof.

Respectfully Submityed:

‘The Honorable Speaker
House of Representatives
Quezon City


FACT SHEET

House Bill No. 6419
(As Approved on June 4, 2012)

“AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A FREE AND CULTURE-SENSITIVE SYSTEM OF
REGISTRATION CONCERNING THE CIVIL STATUS OF INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES”

Introduced by: Representatives Rodriguez (R.), Rodriguez (M.), Hagan, De
Jesus, Bagasina, Mercado-Revilla, Baguilat, Sarmiento,
Vergara, Catamco, Zamora-Apsay, Umali (R.), Climaco,
Casino, Palatino and Padilla

Committee Referral: Committee on National Cultural Communities

Committee Chairperson: Rep. Teodoro Brawner Baguilat Jr.

OBJECTIVES:

* To encourage the participation of the country’s indigenous peoples (IPs) in the civil
registration system

© To recognize and validate indigenous cultural practices on birth, marriage, dissolution
of marriage and death

KEY PROVISIONS:

* Provides for a culture-sensitive civil registration system for IPs

* Provides that both timely and late registration of acts and events concerning the civil
status of indigenous peoples, particularly on birth, marriage, dissolution of marriage
and death, be rendered free of charge

* Provides that the reports by the IPs themselves or their parent/s or by the concerned
tribal priest/elder/leader/doctor/midwife concerning birth, marriage, dissolution of
marriage and death, which were attended to or were conducted following their
traditional cultural practices be acceptable upon the Local Civil Registry Office without
requiring for any additional documents

* Mandates that the National Statistics Office (NSO) shall issue for free a Certificate of
Registration of Authority to Solemnize Marriage (CRASM) to IPs who are recognized
by their respective indigenous communities as competent persons to solemnize
marriage

* Amends the existing civil registry forms to ensure uniformity of all civil registry
documents

RELATED LAWS:

e Republic Act No. 3753, otherwise known as the Civil Registry Law
Republic Act No. 8371, otherwise known as the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997



Apsay, Umali (R.), Climaco, Casifio, Palatino and Padilla

Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CON
Third Regular

House Bilt No, 8419

(Substitute to HB Nos. 4701 and 5184)

ESS,
sssion

Introduced by Representatives Rodriguez (R.), Rodriguez (M.), Iagan, De Jesus,
Bagasina, Mercado-Revilla, Baguilat, Sarmiento, Vergara, Catamco, Zamora-

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A FREE AND CULTURE-SENSITIVE
SYSTEM OF REGISTRATION CONCERNING THE CIVIL
STATUS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES 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 "Free and Culture-
Sensitive Indigenous Peoples Civil Registration System Act of 2012."

SEC. 2. Coverage.- T

is Act shall apply to all indigenous peoples (IPs) defined
in Section 3 hereof, regardless of their present religion, including those who have
converted to Islam.

SEC. 3. Definition of Indigenous Peoples.- Indigenous Peoples refer to a group
of people or homogeneous societies identified by self-ascription and ascription by
others, who have continuously lived as organized community on communally bounded
and defined territory, and who have, under claims of ownership since time immemorial,
occupied, possessed and utilized such territories, sharing common bonds of language,
through resistance to political, social and cultural inroads of colonization, non-

indigenous religions and cultures, became historically differentiated from the majority


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of Filipinos. The IPs shall likewise include peoples who are regarded as indigenous on
account of their descent from the populations which inhabited the country, at the time of
conquest or colonization, or at the time of inroads of non-indigenous religions and
cultures, of the establishment of present state boundaries, who retain some or all of their
own social, economic, cultural and political institutions, but who may have been
displaced from their traditional domains or who may have resettled outside their
ancestral domains,

SEC. 4. Culturally-sensitive Civil Registration System.- Within one (1) month
from the effectivity of this Act, the National Statistics Office (NSO), in collaboration
with the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Philippine Association
of Civil Registrars, National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and
distinguished anthropologists and selected elders and leaders of IPs, shall establish an
Indigenous Peoples Civil Registration System (IPCRS) that is sensitive and appropriate
to the unique cultural practices and identification systems of IPs: Provided, That the
IPCRS shall be harmonized with existing laws and systems on civil registry.

8)

5. Ethnicity details in the civil registry documents.- The IPCRS shall take
into account the various ethnic affiliations of the IPs in the country. For this purpose,
the NSO Administrator, acting as the Civil Registrar General, instead of issuing separate
forms for the IPCRS, shall cause the amendment of the existing civil registry forms, for
uniformity of all civil registry documents to ensure acceptability by end-user agencies
or institutions of the facts and information contained in said documents and ease of
establishing filial bonds between or among parent or parents and child.

SEC. 6. Free Civil Registration for Indigenous Peoples.- Any provision of law
to the contrary notwithstanding, IPs shall be exempted from the payment of all fees in

connection with the recording of their birth, marriage and death at the Local Civil
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Registry Office and such exemption shall extend to any fine or fee for late registration.

They are likewise exempted from the payment of notarial fees and documentary stamp
tax in cases where the recording of the birth, marriage or death requires the execution of
affidavits or swom statements and similar documents.

SEC. 7. Report of birth by the parents or tribal doctor or tribal midwife
conclusive upon the Local Civil Registrar In recording the birth of IPs delivered in
the traditional customs and practices of the indigenous community, the report as to the
circumstances of the birth by any of the parents or by the tribal doctor or tribal midwife
who attended to the delivery shall be conclusive upon the Local Civil Registrar (LCR)
without need for further proof. The procedures and requirements set forth in Section 5
of Act No. 3753, or the Civil Registry Law, shall apply only in cases where the child
was delivered in a hospital or birthing center and was attended to by a physician or
midwife.

SEC. 8. Report of marriage performed in accordance with customary
indigenous laws and practices and dissolution of marriage.- The report of marriage
among and between IPs solemnized in accordance with customary laws, rites, traditions
and practices by the person duly authorized to perform the ritual or ceremony and by the
parties to the marriage shall be conclusive upon the LCR without need for further proof.
For this purpose, the NCIP shall submit to the NSO a list of IPs recognized by each
indigenous community to solemnize marriage according to its customary laws or
practices, The NSO shall issue a Certificate of Registration of Authority to Solemnize
Marriage (CRASM) to such IPs for free.

In the case of indigenous communities whose traditional marriage ceremony
does not require the presence of a solemnizing officer, as determined by the NCIP, the

report by the contracting parties shall be conclusive upon the LCR without need for
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further proof except personal confirmation, orally or in writing, by any of the parents or
by a tribal leader or elder of the indigenous community to which any of the spouses
belongs. For this purpose, the NCIP shall furnish the NSO and the LCRs with a list of
indigenous communities falling under this paragraph: Provided, That pending the
submission of such list, the oral or written confirmation of the tribal leader or elder shall
be conclusive upon the LCR.

The dissolution of marriage of IPs following customary indigenous laws and
practices shall be directly recorded with the LCR without need of court intervention:
Provided, That such facts and information shall be confirmed orally or in writing by a
tribal leader or elder of the indigenous community to which any of the spouses belongs.

SEC. 9. Report of death by any member of the family or by a tribal doctor
The report as to the circumstances of death of IPs by any member of the family of the
deceased or by the tribal doctor in attendance during such death shall likewise be
conclusive on the LCR without need of further proof. Section 6 of Act No. 3753 shall
apply only when the death happened in a hospital and was attended to by a physician

SEC. 10. Exemption from the prescribed period for reporting.- All rules and
regulations, orders and circulars which prescribe a period for reporting to the LCR the
birth, marriage or death of any person shall not apply to the IPs,

SEC. 11. Establishing the membership of a person to an indigenous
community In the absence of any identifying document, the self-ascription or
ascription by any of the parents or tribal leader or elder shall suffice to establish the
identity of IPs when applying with the LCR for recording birth, marriage or death.

SEC. 12. Establishing facts and information about the personal circumstances
of IPs in late registration.- In late registration, the narration of facts and information

made by IPs regarding personal circumstances, such as name, name of parent or parents,
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or date and place of birth, shall be conclusive upon the LCR without need of execution
of an affidavit: Provided, That such facts and information shall be confirmed personally
by any of the parents or by a tribal leader or elder of the indigenous community to
which the applicant belongs. The confirmation may be oral or written.

SEC. 13. Roster of tribal leaders and elders and medicine men and women.-
To facilitate the verification of reports of birth, marriage and death made or filed by IPs,
the LCRs, in coordination with the NCIP, shall keep and continually update a roster of
IPs who are authorized or recognized by the indigenous community concerned to

solemnize marriage in accordance with customary laws or practices, including the tribal

leaders or elders and medicine men or women of the IPs in their respective areas of
jurisdiction. A compilation of such rosters shall be kept in the central office and in the

regional and provincial offices of the NC

SEC. 14. Registration of tribal name as official name.- In the registration of
birth, the LCR shall register the name, regardless of form, such as a single name only
without middle or family name, preferred by IPs or by the parents or parent of the child.
For those whose parent or parents had been Christianized or had converted to Islam or
other religions, the LCR shall also indicate in the birth registration form, if the
applicant, parents or parent so desires, the chosen Christian, Muslim or non-IP name
which shall serve as the “also-known-as" name of the child.

SEC. 15. Registration campaign for IPs.- Within two (2) years upon the
effectivity of this Act, in compliance with the country’s obligations under the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of Children and such other international protocols,
conventions and treaties to which it is a party, LCRs and concerned local government
units shall conduct within their areas of jurisdiction, in coordination with the NCIP,

periodic civil registration campaigns targeting the TPs in far-flung communities. The
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NSO and NCIP shall extend administrative and technical assistance in the conduct of
mobile registration campaigns for the IPs.

SEC. 16. Information and education campaigns. The NSO and NCIP, in
coordination with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), other
agencies of the national government and the civil registry offices of local government
units shall conduct information and education campaigns to encourage IPs to avail of or
participate in the IPCRS.

SEC. 17. Punishable Acts.- The following acts are prohibited and punishable
under this Act:

1. Collection of fees, fines or penalties in cash or in kind by any government
employee or official or by any person in connection with the civil registration of birth,
marriage or death of IPs;

2. Inducing IPs to pay in cash or in kind in order to be able to register a birth,
marriage or death;

3. Misrepresenting oneself as a tribal leader or elder or tribal doctor or midwife
of an indigenous community.

4, Misrepresenting oneself as a member of an indigenous community.

SEC. 18. Penalties.- The prohibited acts enumerated in the preceding paragraph
shall be punished in the following manner:

1. For the prohibited act mentioned in paragraph 1, a fine of Five Thousand
Pesos (5,000.00) and imprisonment of six (6) months;

2. For the prohibited act mentioned in paragraph 2, a fine of Two Thousand
Pesos (P2,000.00) and imprisonment of three (3) months; and

3. For the prohibited acts mentioned in paragraphs 3 and 4, imprisonment of one

year.


SEC. 19, Implementing Rules and Regulations.- Within sixty (60) days after
the effectivity of this Act, the NSO shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations

for the implementation of this Act.

*. 20. Separability Clause. If any portion of this Act is declared as
unconstitutional or invalid, the remaining portions not affected thereby shall continue to
have force and effect.

SEC. 21. Repealing Clause.- Act No. 3753 is hereby amended and modified.
All other laws, orders, issuances, rules and regulations which are inconsistent with this
Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 22. Effectivity Clause.- This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after
its publication in the Official Gazette or in two newspapers of general circulation in the
Philippines.

Approved,


©

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES —)
First Regular Session )

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez and
Representative Maximo B. Rodriguez, Jr.

4701

House Bill No.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

As of 2009, the estimated population of the Philippines is 92,226,600
people, Various’ studies place the number of ethnolinguistic groups in the
Philippines at over 100, making the country one of the most ethnically diverse
in Asia, The 2000 Philippine Census estimates 6.3 million Indigenous Peoples
(IPs) belonging to 85 ethnolinguistic group. The National Commission on
Indigenous People (NCIP) however, has different data sets based on
“unofficial surveys" of population by ethnographic region. An Intemational
Labor Organization publication for instance cites NCIP data estimating the
number of IPs at 13.5 million. This information is also outdated, being based
on the 1996 listings of the defunct Offices of the Southern Cultural
Communities and Northern Cultural Communities. These discrepancies are
not only due to classification limitations, or other factors, but also because
some indigenous peoples have difficulties in registering marriages, births, or
deaths, It therefore becomes apparent that many IPs are not registered.
Without a legal birth record, an individual does not officially exist and therefore
lacks legal access to the privileges and protection of a nation.

Birth registration is not generally known among disadvantaged
Filipinos particularly in Indigenous Peoples and underprivileged families with
children in need of special protection: Among these groups, birth registration
temains insignificant. Many of them understand the implications of non-
registration only when they get to experience problems in transactions

requiring proofs of name, age or nationality.


This lack of birth registration is often caused by the fact that many of
these IPs are indigent and lack the necessary finances to be able to register.
There is thus a need to encourage these IPs into registering in order for the
State to afford them the necessary protection they deserve.

It Is in this light that the immediate passage of this bill is earnestly

sought.

RUFBS B. RODRIGUEZ

Yj

MAXIMO’B, RODRIGUEZ, JR.



FIFTEENTH CONGRESS )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES —_)
First Regular Session )

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez and
| Representative Maximo 8. Rodriguez, Jr.

House Bill No. _ 47 01

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR THE FREE BIRTH REGISTRATION OF INDIGENOUS

PEOPLES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the
Philippines in Congress Assembled:

SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy — It is the policy of the State to recognize
and promote all the rights of Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous
Peoples (ICCs/IPs) within the framework of the Constitution. Towards this
end, the State shall institute and establish the necessary mechanisms to
enforce and guarantee the realization of these rights, taking into consideration
their customs, traditions, values, beliefs, their rights to their ancestral

domains,

SEC, 2. It is hereby mandated that all the fees arising from or related to the
birth registration of all members of ICCs/IPs, timely or otherwise shall be

waived.

SEC. 3. All Civil Registrars are hereby enjoined to accept both timely and
delayed birth registration of members of ICCs/IPs.

SEC. 4. Any person caught charging any form of fee or payment for the
registration of birth in contravention of the provisions of this Act shall be held
liable for imprisonment of not more than six (6) months or a fine of not more

than Five Thousand Pesos (P5,000) or both. -


SEC. 5. Implementing Rules - The Department of Interior and Local
Government, the National Statistics Office and the National Commission on
Indigenous Peoples shall issue such orders, rules and regulations and other
issuances as may be necessary to ensure the effective implementation of this

Act.

SEC. 6. Separability Clause — If for any reason, any part of or provision of this
Act is declared unconstitutional or invalid, such parts not affected thereby

shall remain in full force and effect.

SEC. 7. Repealing Clause — Any law, executive order, letter of instruction,
rules and regulations, circulars, issuances or any part thereof inconsistent
with any of the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified or amended

accordingly.

SEC, 8. Effectivity - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,



ye Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

# P Je 16, F¥ Ds ef. Pe Quezon City, Metro Manila

we FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
(feos Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 5184

Introduced by:

Gabriela Women's Partylist Reps. LUZVIMINDA C. ILAGAN and EMMI A. DE JESUS,
TEDDY BRAWNER BAGUILAT, JR (LP) and MEL SENEN S. SARMIENTO (LP)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

According to the Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (KAMP), there are
about 8 million indigenous peoples divided into more or less 100 ethnic groups in the country.
Of this number, however, more than a majority can be considered as “undocumented” as their
vital events (birth, marriage and death) have been largely unrecorded in the local civil registry."
This is affirmed by various studies which reported that “levels of birth registration among the
marginalized sectors [including IPs] have been very low’?

Given the legal effects of non-registration, official attempts were made in the past to encourage
IPs to report their vital events. On the assumption that the payment of fees had posed some
problems for indigent IPs to comply with civil registration, some reforms were instituted to the
effect that government waived its collection of fees if the IPs reported their vital events early. But
the problem of low registration compliance among IPs has remained.

* This is exacerbated by the fact that the government's periodic national census surveys do not include ethnicity
such that even the National Statistics Office does not have statistics as to the total IP population of the country.
This has given way to estimates that go as high as 18 milion (based on 171 ethnolinguistic groupings) to as low as 5
million. The NCIP estimate is 13.5 million which even some IP advocates consider as too high.

2 please see for instance, the PPT presentation of Hufana, Lourdes, Birth Registration System of the Philippines (A
Situation Report), National Statistics Office (undated). The study mentioned only “low levels of birth registration’.
It does not mention of the level of registration among IPs as to their marriage and death. Further, the study does
not give figures on the number of “undocumented” IPs but supplies a figure, 23 %, for Moslem (ARMM)
compliance in birth civil registration, Assuming that the IPs are more or less similarly situated with the Moslems
and using the Moslem level of birth civil registration compliance as watermark, the number of “undocumented”

IPs can be safely reckoned to be as high as 75 %.

Page |1


a

This goes to show that the problem is not mes
rely a question of inability of the IPs to
requisite registration fees. According to KAMP, its causes as
its causes go beyond the
fees and have deeper roots. ce ee en

The extant civil registration system in the country was instituted, via the passage of Act No.
3753 in 1930, when the Philippine govemment was still under American colonial tutelage.
Although this system had undergone several administrative revisions to fit into changing times
and conditions, it has retained much of its basically colonial framework. Above the purpose of
keeping a record of the inhabitants of the country, it was also geared as a mechanism for “the
integration of national cultural communities” into the predominantly Christianized Philippine
society. This had unfortunately produced a civil registration system that is not “user-friendly” (to
borrow the language of the present electronic age) to IPs.

To state it in sociological terms, the extant civil registration system in the country is not
“sensitive” to the distinct cultural practices, beliefs and traditions of IPs, including their unique

identification system.

To illustrate, most IPs do not use clocks. They also do not use the calendar and their territorial
boundaries are largely un-delineated. Many of them still reckon time and space in accordance
with an oral tradition based on the geologic motions and landmarks of nature. But the civil
registration form uses the Western method of reckoning time and dates which causes for the
IPs no-small difficulties, if not confusion, in narrating the factual background of their birth,
marriage or death. To illustrate further, a number of IPs, such as the Tasadays of Southern
Mindanao’, still go around on a “one-name* basis. But the civil registration form, on its face, is
patently culturally-biased to a population with Christianized nomenclature, replete with first
name, sumame and middie name. Moreover, while the form has a space for “Religion” which
only admits for answer the mainstream denominations of faith, it has no space for “Ethnicity”.

The hidden evil of such bias is that it somehow operates as a pressure on IPs to submit to
proselytization. But where cultural affiliation is strong and the IPs refuse to be proselytized, it
acts as a cultural fetter to register the vital events and statistics of their lives. As is often the
case, they will just move on believing that they can live without having their biographic
milestones officially recorded until they run smack into legal comers that demand documented

proofs of their existence and status.

The end result of all this is that discrimination is multiplied several times over as 10 the IPs.
Since they do not exist in the contemplation of both domestic and intemational laws, they
cannot access the privileges and protection reserved only to registered citizens of the land or
exercise the rights accorded to nationals of a country.‘ It must be noted that such discrimination

2 The Tasadays, a branch of the Manobo tribe in Southern Mindanao, is a real tribal grouping. They truly exist as a
cultural community. What is false, a hoax, was the claim that they still lived in isolation as Stone Age-cave

dwellers.

* Under international law, the “undocumented” IPs of the country can fall into the category of “stateless persons".

Page | 2


has its worst effects on the children of IPs: without civil registration documents, they are denied
admission to, among others, primary education and child health care programs.*

Not all of the problems attending the low civil registration compliance among IPs can be
resolved in their favor since the extant civil registration system has to observe certain
international standards, such as the international standards on time and dates. Besides, as
many of those problems involve a cultural dimension, it will take more than legislative action to
address them. But legisiation must do its part in doing something to remove those cultural
curtains that have caused the IPs to shy away from reporting their birth, marriage and death, It
is to this that this bill seeks to address the low civil registration compliance of IPs.

Thus, this bill will not only provide for free civil registration for the IPs. It also seeks to make the
civil registration system of the country culfure-sensitive to IPs in order to open its doors wider

for the most marginalized sector of Philippine society. Apart from these, it serves as the
country's compliance (please see Section 16 of the bill) to its intemational obligations and

commitments under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child.

In view of the foregoing, the authors of this bill eamestly seek for its urgent and early approval

te C. of Hoot
LUZVMMINDA C. EMMI A. DE JESUS
Gabriela Wor Gabriela Women’s Party

\WNER BAGUILAT JR. MEL on $ SARMIENTO.

1* District, Western Samar, Liberal Party

Gtrict-Ifugao, Liberal Party

* Article 7 of the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child states that “The child shall be registered immediately after
birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire nationality and as far as possible, the

right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.”

Page | 3


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

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
‘Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL'NO. 5184

Introduced by.

Gabriela Women's Partylist Reps. LUZVIMINDA C. ILAGAN and EMMI A. DE JESUS,
TEDDY BRAWNER BAGUILAT, JR. (LP) and MEL SENEN S. SARMIENTO (LP)

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR A FREE AND CULTURE-SENSITIVE
CIVIL REGISTRATION SYSTEM FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress of the Philippines
assembled, that:

Section 1. This Act shall be known as the Free Civil Registration for Indigenous Peoples Act.

Section 2. Definition of indigenous peoples - This Act adopts the definition of “indigenous
peoples” used in Republic Act 8371, also known as the indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act, and

reproduces hereirt its paragraph h, Section 3

“indigenous Cultural Communities/indigenous Peoples - refer to a group of people or
homogenous societies identified by self-ascription and ascription by other, who have
Continuously iived as organized community on communally bounded and defined territory, and
who have, under claims of ownership since time immemorial, occupied, possessed customs,
tradition and other distinctive cultural traits, or who have, through resistance to political, social
and cultural inroads of colonization, non-indigenous religions and culture, became historically
differentiated from the majority of Filipinos. ICCs/IPs shall likewise include peoples who are
regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the populations which inhabited the
country, at the time of conquest or colonization, or at the time of inroads of nor-indigenous
religions and cultures, or the establishment of present state boundaries, who retain some or all
of their own social, economic, cultural and political institutions, but who may have been
displaced from their traditional domains or who may have resettled outside their ancestral

domains."

Page | 4


Section 3. Cuiturally-sensitive civil registratic =
tke Ae the Nelioral Statics ormcal by covstiraion wan sis temnesal corer eat
indigenous Peoples and in consultation with distinguished anthropologists and selected
elders/leaders of indigenous peoples, shall develop a civil registration system that should be
sensitive and appropriate to the unique cultural practices and identification system of indigenous
peoples; provided, that such a civil registration system for indigenous peoples shall be

harmonized with existing laws and systems on civil registry.

Section 4. Ethnicity— The system as mentioned in the immediately preceding Sacton, including
the necessary forms, shall take into account the various ethnic affiliation of indigenous Filipinos.

Section 5. Preparation and printing of necessary forms ~ The Administrator of National Statistics
Office, in higher capacity as the Civil Registrar-General, shall cause the preparation and
printing of the forms necessary for the implementation of the civil registration system for
indigenous peoples as mentioned in the preceding paragraph.

Section 6. Free civil registration for indigenous peoples — Indigenous peoples shall be exempted
from the payment of all fees connected with recording their birth, marriage, and death in the
Local Civil Registrar. Such exemption extends to late registration and no member of indigenous
peoples shall be charged with fines or any fees that correspond to fines for late registration.

Section 7. In the same manner, indigenous peoples shall be exempted from the payment of
notarial and documentary fees in cases where recording the birth and marriage of a member of
indigenous peoples requires the execution of affidavits or swom statements and such similar 4
documents.

Section 8. Report of birth by parents or tribal doctor/midwite conclusive upon the Local Civil

Registrar - in recording the birth of an indigenous child delivered in the tagitional ways of
indigenous peoples, the report as to the circumstances of the birth by any of the parents or by

Registrar without need of further proof. Section 5 of Republic Act 3753, or the Civil Registry
Law, shall apply only in cases where the indigenous child was delivered in a hospital and

the tribal doctor/midwife who attended to the delivery shall be conclusive upon the Local Civil [oe
‘ >

attended to by a physician or midwife.

Section 9. Report of marriages performed in accordance with customary indigenous laws and
practices - The report of marriage among and between indigenous peoples performed in
aceardance with customary indigenous laws and practices by the person authorized to
solemnize marriage or by the parties to the marriage shall be conclusive upon the Local Civil
Registrar without need of further proof. Also, the dissolution of marriage among indigenous
peoples made pursuant to customary indigenous laws and practices can be directly recorded

with the Local Civil Registrar without need of court intervention

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Section 10, Report of death by any member of the family or inal dector— The report as to the
circumstances of death by any member of the family of the deceased member of indigenous
peoples or by the tribal doctor in attendance during his/her death shall likewise be conclusive on
the Local Civil Registrar without need of further proof. Section 6 of Republic Act 3753, or ths
Civil Registry Law, shall apply only where the deceased member of indigenous peoples died in

2 hospital and was attended by a physician.

Section 11. Exemption from prescribed period for reporting - All ruies and regulations, orders
and circulars issued with the effect of prescribing a period for reporting the birth, marriage and
death of any parson to the Local Civil Registrar shall not apply to indigenous peoples

“Section 12, Establishing the membership of @ person in an indigenous community — in tne
absence of any identifying documents, the self-ascription by a member of indigenous peoples or
by his/ner parents and by his/her tribal leader/elder shall be enough for establishing the identity
of an indigenous person when applying for recording the birth, marriage or death in the Local

Civil Regisuy.

V6ection 13, Establishing facts and information about the personal circumstances of members of
indigenous peoples in late registration - The narration of facts and information made by 2
member of indigenous peoples regarding his/her personal circumstances, such as, in particular,
his/her name, the names of hiser father and mother, date of birth, and place of birth, shall be
conclusive upon the Local Civil Registrar without need of execution of an affidavit; provided, that
such narration of facts and information have been confirmed by any of his/her parents or tribal

leader/elder. The confirmation may be oral or written.

“Section 14. Roster of tribal leaders/elders and medicine men and women - To facilitate the
verification of reports of birth, marriage and death made or filed by indigenous peoples, the
Local Civil Registrar shall keep a roster of tribal leaders, eiders and medicine men or women of

the indigenous peoples in their area of jurisdiction.

/. Section 15. Prohibition of compulsion to register under Christianized names - I@-member of
indigenous peoples is Christianized but decides to record in the Local Civil Register his/her birth
in histher tribal name, the Local Civil Registrar shall record his/her tribal name. The recorded
tribal name shall serve as his/her official name; provided, that the LCR shall indicate in the
Official registration form his/her Christian name which shall serve as the “also-known-as” name

of the indigenous person concemed

Section 16. Registration campaign for IP children — Within two years upon the effectivity of this

Act, in compliance with our obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
Children and such other intemational protocols, convention and treaties to which the country is
a party, Local Civil Registrars in collaboration with their local government units shall conduct
within their areas of jurisdiction periodic out-reach civil registration campaigns that will specially
have the children of indigenous peoples as target beneficiaries,

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Section 17. Information campaign - Local govemment units shall conduct periodic intormatian
campaigns to encourage indigenaus peaples to avail of the government program of tue civil
registration panicularly designed to be sensitive to thelr cultural practices and :dentification

system

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Section 18. Punisnable Acts — The following acts and omissions are prohibited snd punisnat
under this Act

1. The collection by any government employee or official or by any person of tees or any
payment, in cash or in kind, connected with the civil registration of bin, marriage or

death of indigenous peoples,
Inducing indigenous peoples to pay in cash or in kind in order to be abie to register a

birth, marriage or death;
3. Misrepresentation by any person that he/she is a tribal leader, elaer, or mbal

i

doctor/midwife,
4, Misrepresentation by any person that he is a member of indigenous peoples

Section 19. Penalties — The acts and omissions mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be
punished in the following manner

1. For the prohibited act mentioned in par. 1, a fine of five thousand pesos and an

imprisonment of six months,
2. For the prohibited act mentioned in par. 2, @ fine of two thousand pesos and an

imprisonment of three months.
3. For the prohibited acts mentioned in pars. 3 and 4, an imprisonment of one year.

Section 20. Repealing clause ~ All laws, orders, issuances, rules and regulations which are
inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 21, Separability clause — If any portion of this Act would be declared unconstitutional,
the remaining portion shail continue to have force and effect.

Section 22. Etfectivity clause ~ This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after publication in the
Official Gazene or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation

Approved,


Republic of the Phitppnes
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
‘Quezon city

MEMORANDUM.

FOR : The Honorable SPEAKER

THRU: The DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL Ga pees
Committee Affairs Department

Date 4 iune 2012

Re SPOT REPORT ON THE EXECUTIVE MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL
CULTURAL COMMUNITIES HELD ON 4 JUNE 2012 AT RVM CONFERENCE ROOM 6,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

The Committee spproved the motion to report out the draft committee report, with the members

present ax co-authors taereof, on the following measures on civil registration for Indigenous Peoples

© HOUSE BILL_NO. 4701, "AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE FREE BIRTH REGISTRATION OF
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES,” introduced by Representatives Rufus 8. Rodriguez, Maximo B.
Rodriguez, Jr., Catalina C. Bagasina, Lani Mercado-Revilla, Bernardo M. Vergara, Nancy A
Catameco and Maria Isabelle ‘Beng’ G. Climaco, and

+ House Bill No. 5183, “AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A FREE AND CULTURE-SENSITIVE CIVIL
REGISTRATION SYSTEM FOR iNDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES,”
Introduced by Re zviminda C. llagan, Emmi A. de Jesus, Teodoro Brawner
Baguilot, J, vie Sarmiento, Maria Carmen Zamora-Apsay, Reynaldo V. Umali, Teddy
A Casio, Raynivid V. Paiatino and Bernardo M. Vergara

presentatives

Prepares by

Noted by:
on
Lecueiean,
MARLON T. VALENCIA. al RAS, MARCOS,
Acting Committee Secretary Seffice Pirector, Cluster VI, CAD

cu. The Deputy Speakers: The Ch
Ihe Exocutwe Director CAD.