Divers Paths to Justice - English - Forest Peoples Programme

Divers Paths to Justice: Legal pluralism and the rights of indigenous peoples inSoutheast AsiaThe Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997Of major significance to the Philippines’ indigenous peoples was the passingof the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) in 1997, itself anchored inseveral legal instruments, including the 1987 Constitution, ILO Convention169, the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples andPhilippine Native Land Titles. Under IPRA, indigenous peoples’ rights wererecognised, including:1) rights to land and resources (ancestral domains and ancestral lands)2) rights to self-governance and empowerment3) rights to social justice and human rights4) rights to cultural integrity (Sections 4 –37 of IPRA)IPRA’s definition of the terms “indigenous peoples”/“indigenous culturalcommunities” is:…a group of people or homogenous societies identified byself-ascription and ascription by others, who havecontinuously lived as organised community on communallybounded and defined territory, and who have, under claims ofownership since time immemorial, occupied, possessed and70