RA 8371

Question 1

What is the short title for RA 8371?

Answer 1

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as “The Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997”.

Question 2

Who’s duty is it to recognize and promote all the rights of the Indigenous Cultural Communities?

A. The State
B. DENR
C. National Commission on Culture
D. The United States

Answer 2

A. The State

Question 3

These encompass all areas generally belonging to ICCs/IPs comprising lands, inland waters, coastal areas, and natural resources therein, held under a claim of ownership, occupied or possessed by ICCs/IPs, by themselves or through their ancestors, communally or individually since time immemorial, continuously to the present except when interrupted by war, force majeure or displacement by force, deceit, stealth or as a consequence of government projects or any other voluntary dealings entered into by government and private individuals/corporations, and which are necessary to ensure their economic, social and cultural welfare

Answer 3

Ancestral Domains

Question 4

These encompass the land occupied, possessed and utilized by individuals, families and clans who are members of the ICCs/IPs since time immemorial, by themselves or through their predecessors-in-interest, under claims of individual or traditional group ownership, continuously, to the present except when interrupted by war, force majeure or displacement by force, deceit, stealth, or as a consequence of government projects and other voluntary dealings entered into by government and private individuals/corporations, including, but not limited to, residential lots, rice terraces or paddies, private forests, swidden farms and tree lots

Answer 4

Ancestral Lands

Question 5

A title formally recognizing the rights of possession and ownership of ICCs/IPs over their ancestral domains identified and delineated in accordance with this law

Answer 5

Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title

Question 6

A title formally recognizing the rights of ICCs/IPs over their ancestral lands

Answer 6

Certificate of Ancestral Lands Title

Question 7

These refer to claims on land, resources and rights thereon, belonging to the whole community within a defined territory

Answer 7

Communal Claims

Question 8

These refer to a body of written and/or unwritten rules, usages, customs and practices traditionally and continually recognized, accepted and observed by respective ICCs/IPs

Answer 8

Customary Laws

Question 9

This is acquired upon the consensus of all members of the ICCs/IPs to be determined in accordance with their respective customary laws and practices, free from any external manipulation, interference and coercion, and obtained after fully disclosing the intent and scope of the activity, in a language and process understandable to the community.

Answer 9

Free and Prior Informed Consent

Question 10

A group of people or homogenous 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, customs, traditions and other distinctive cultural traits, or who have, through resistance to political, social and cultural inroads of colonization, non-indigenous religions and cultures, became historically differentiated from the majority of Filipinos.

Answer 10

Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples

Question 11

These refer to organizational and cultural leadership systems, institutions, relationships, patterns and processes for decision-making and participation, identified by ICCs/IPs such as, but not limited to, Council of Elders, Council of Timuays, Bodong Holders, or any other tribunal or body of similar nature

Answer 11

Indigenous Political Structures

Question 12

These refer to claims on land and rights thereon which have been devolved to individuals, families and clans including, but not limited to, residential lots, rice terraces or paddies and tree lots

Answer 12

Individual Claims

Question 13

The office created under this Act, which shall be under the Office of the President, and which shall be the primary government agency responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies, plans and programs to recognize, protect and promote the rights of ICCs/IPs

Answer 13

National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)

Question 14

This title refers to pre-conquest rights to lands and domains which, as far back as memory reaches, have been held under a claim of private ownership by ICCs/IPs, have never been public lands and are thus indisputably presumed to have been held that way since before the Spanish Conquest

Answer 14

Native Title

Question 15

These refer to the rights of ICCs/IPs to sustainably use, manage, protect and conserve their resources and culture.

Answer 15

Sustainable Traditional Resource Rights

Question 16

In the concept of ancestral lands/domaiins based on Section 4 of this RA, the territories cover not only the physical environment but the total environment. This includes what type of bond to the areas which the ICCs/IPs possess, occupy and use and to which they have claims of ownership?

A. Mighty
B. Spiritual
C. Traditional
D. Religious

Answer 16

B. Spiritual

Question 17

Yes or no: Can IPs sell their ancestral domains to private entities?

Answer 17

No.

SECTION 5. The indigenous concept of ownership generally holds that ancestral domains are the ICC’s/IP’s private but community property which belongs to all generations and therefore cannot be sold, disposed or destroyed.

Question 18

Yes or no: A mining company, after thorough evaluation in compliance to RA 7942 and gathered the necessary approval from the government, decides to develop an area where IPs have ownership rights. Do the IPs have the right to stay in their land?

Answer 18

Yes.

Section 7 (c) Right to Stay in the Territories. — The right to stay in the territory and not to be removed therefrom. No ICCs/IPs will be relocated without their free and prior informed consent, nor through any means other than eminent domain.

Question 19

Yes or No: An IP community was forced to abandon their ancestral domain due to natural hazards (i.e., constant flooding, mass wasting). Years later, the government decided to develop the area and established the necessary engineering controls to make the area relatively safe. Upon learning that the ancestral domain is now safe to live in again, the IP community decides to return to their land. Can the IPs return to their abandoned land?

Answer 19

Yes.

d) Right in Case of Displacement. Provided, That the displaced ICCs/IPs shall have the right to return to their abandoned lands until such time that the normalcy and safety of such lands shall be determined:

Question 20

In 2023, do IPs still need to secure titles to their ancestral lands if they have been in continuous possession and occupation of the same in the concept of owner since time immemorial or for a period of not less than thirty (30) years?

A. Yes
B. No
C. Optional

Answer 20

A. Yes

SECTION 12. Option to Secure Certificate of Title Under Commonwealth Act 141, as amended, or the Land Registration Act 496. The option granted under this section shall be exercised within twenty (20) years from the approval of this Act.

Question 21

Individually-owned ancestral lands, which are agricultural in character and actually used for agricultural, residential, pasture, and tree farming purposes, including those with a slope of eighteen percent (18%) or more, are classified as?

A. Alienable
B. Residential
C. Commercial
D. Private

Answer 21

A. Alienable

alienable and disposable agricultural lands

Question 22

Can archaeologists explore, excavate or make diggings on archeological sites of the ICCs/IPs for the purpose of obtaining materials of cultural values?

A. Yes
B. No
C. Depende sa sabot

Answer 22

C. Depende sa sabot

SECTION 33. Rights to Religious, Cultural Sites and Ceremonies. To achieve this purpose, it shall be unlawful to:

a) Explore, excavate or make diggings on archeological sites of the ICCs/IPs for the purpose of obtaining materials of cultural values without the free and prior informed consent of the community concerned; and

b) Deface, remove or otherwise destroy artifacts which are of great importance to the ICCs/IPs for the preservation of their cultural heritage.

Question 23

The NCIP is an independent agency under what office?

A. Office of the President
B. Office of the Vice President
C. Office of the Council of Clubs and Organizations

Answer 23

A. Office of the President

Question 24

In the delineation process of ancestral domains, provide one authentic document that validates an ICC’s claims.

Answer 24

1) Written accounts of the ICCs/IPs customs and traditions;
2) Written accounts of the ICCs/IPs political structure and institution;
3) Pictures showing long term occupation such as those of old improvements, burial grounds, sacred places and old villages;
4) Historical accounts, including pacts and agreements concerning boundaries entered into by the ICCs/IPs concerned with other ICCs/IPs;
5) Survey plans and sketch maps;
6) Anthropological data;
7) Genealogical surveys;
8) Pictures and descriptive histories of traditional communal forests and hunting grounds;
9) Pictures and descriptive histories of traditional landmarks such as mountains, rivers, creeks, ridges, hills, terraces and the like; and
10) Write-ups of names and places derived from the native dialect of the community.

Question 25

Which office under the NCIP has the power to reject any claim of ancestral lands/domains that is deemed patently false or fraudulent after inspection and verification?

A. Office on Socio-Economic Services and Special Concerns
B. Legal Affairs Office
C. Ancestral Domains Office

Answer 25

C. Ancestral Domains Office

Question 26

Yes or No: ICCs have to pay real property tax for their ancestral domains.

Answer 26

No.

SECTION 60. Exemption from Taxes. — All lands certified to be ancestral domains shall be exempt from real property taxes, special levies, and other forms of exaction except such portion of the ancestral domains as are actually used for large-scale agriculture, commercial forest plantation and residential purposes or upon titling by private persons: Provided, That all exactions shall be used to facilitate the development and improvement of the ancestral domains.

Question 27

What shall be the consequence for a public official who is found guilty as an offender of this RA?

A. Imprisonment of One (1) year and Fifteen (15) days
B. Perpetual disqualification to hold public office
C. Pay a fine of not less that One thousand pesos (P1,000) nor more than One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000).

Answer 27

B. Perpetual disqualification to hold public office

SECTION 73. Persons Subject to Punishment. — If the offender is a juridical person, all officers such as, but not limited to, its president, manager, or head of office responsible for their unlawful act shall be criminally liable therefor, in addition to the cancellation of certificates of their registration and/or license: Provided, That if the offender is a public official, the penalty shall include perpetual disqualification to hold public office.

Question 28

Yes or No: Are the customary laws of ICCs applicable in the punishment of any violator of this RA?

Answer 28

Yes.
SECTION 72. Any person who commits violation of any of the provisions of this Act, such as, but not limited to, unauthorized and/or unlawful intrusion upon any ancestral lands or domains as stated in Sec. 10, Chapter III, or shall commit any of the prohibited acts mentioned in Sections 21 and 24, Chapter V, Section 33, Chapter VI hereof, shall be punished in accordance with the customary laws of the ICCs/IPs concerned

Question 29

Yes or No: Can ICCs impose forms of micro-torture or amputation to any person violating this Act if it is part of their customary laws?

Answer 29

No.
SECTION 72. Provided, That no such penalty shall be cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment: Provided, further, That neither shall the death penalty or excessive fines be imposed.

Question 30

Punishment for the violation of any provision of this RA

Answer 30

Imprisonment of not less than nine (9) months but not more than twelve (12) years or a fine of not less than One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000) nor more than Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000) or both such fine and imprisonment upon the discretion of the court.

Question 31

When was this RA ratified?

A. October 29, 1997
B. October 30, 1997
C. October 31, 1997

Answer 31

A. October 29, 1997