The House Committee on Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples, chaired by Kalinga Representative Allen Jesse Mangaoang, hosted the signing of the memorandum of agreement between the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs (MIPA) aimed at promoting the rights and socio-economic welfare of indigenous peoples (IPs) and non-Moro IPs (NMIPs) living in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The MOA signing is the result of House Resolutions (HRs) 2005, 2205 and 2069.
HR 2005, authored by Mangaoang, called for the conduct of an inquiry on the implementation of Republic Act 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) in BARMM.
The legislator noted that NMIPs, like the Teduray-Lambangian IP, have yet to secure their ancestral domain rights through the issuance of certificates of ancestral domain title (CADT), 27 years after the enactment of RA 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA).
The lawmaker cited incidents of violence against NMIPs, including forcible occupation of their ancestral domains and targeted killings of some NMIP leaders, have been recorded in Maguindanao del Norte and del Sur in 2023 and 2024.
“The MOA is a testament that the country upholds the principles of justice, inclusivity and equality in BARMM as it does throughout the country.”
“Today is a historic event for the indigenous peoples,” NCIP chairperson Jennifer Pia Sibug-Las said, describing the MOA as a testament that the country upholds the principles of justice, inclusivity and equality in BARMM as it does throughout the country.
“This is a commitment for equity, representation and empowerment ensuring that no one is left behind for a peaceful and just Bangsamoro.”
For MIPA Minister Melanio Ulama, the MOA represents “our collective resolve to protect the rights of indigenous peoples, their ancestral domains and ensure their participation in certain policies that affect them. This is a commitment for equity, representation and empowerment ensuring that no one is left behind for a peaceful and just Bangsamoro.”
The MOA is aimed at establishing a framework of partnership and facilitating collaboration, cooperation and communication between the parties, on a non-exclusive basis, in areas of common interest.
Under this framework, the parties shall develop specific activities and deliverables to be implemented in a spirit of cooperation and common commitment to provide protection and promotion of the rights and well-being of all IPs and indigenous cultural communities (ICCs) in the BARMM.
