THE IPRA LAW: A LANDMARK LEGISLATION
The IPRA was signed into law on October 29, 1997 by then President Ramos. Hailed as a landmark legislation, the IPRA underwent many years of legislative study and deliberation before it became a law. It is the result of various consultations, consolidated bills related to ancestral domains and lands, and international agreements on the recognition of land/domain rights of the IPs.
In general, the IPRA seeks to recognize, promote and protect the rights of the IPs. These include the Right to Ancestral Domain and Lands; Right to Self-Governance and Empowerment; Social Justice and Human Rights; and the Right to Cultural Integrity.
The advent of the IPRA Law has overshadowed speculations and unfounded doubts that the tribal peoples and communities in the Philippines are abandoned or neglected and that they are only meant to exist outside the periphery of development, much less a part of the national life. Adversely, the IPs who are randomly distributed and have established new pockets of communities from Batanes to Basilan are making a new wave of cultural revolution that is zeroed in on the four-fold areas of their rights and welfare as stated earlier.
A heavy focus on empowerment and upland development by the GMA administration has made the IPs as major players and partners in national building with the government and international funding institutions promising to provide basic services on a need-driven basis. Locally available indigenous resources have been tapped as the IPs' counterpart to facilitate the implementation of key programs and projects while the local government units (LGUs) assisted by giving out corresponding resources.
Source: 2001 Accomplishment Report |
