24/03/2026
During the proceedings of the Committee on Government Reorganization in Congress last 18 March 2026, the 10th NCIP Commission was duly represented by: Hon. Nancy Catamco, Commissioner for the Central Mindanao Ethnographic Region, who delivered the Opening Message as agreed upon by the Commission; Hon. Atty. Rhodex Valenciano, Commissioner for Region III and the rest of Luzon, who presented the Position Paper of the Commission; and Hon. Datu โAmarilloโ Marcelo Abiao Alejo, Jr., Commissioner for Southern and Eastern Mindanao, who was tasked to respond to the questions and queries of the Committee. Also present were Hon. Simplicia Hagada, Commissioner for Region II, together with the Bureau Directors, Regional Directors, Legal Officers, and the rest of the officials and personnel of the Commission.
Had there been more ample time to fully expound during the hearing, it would have been further emphasized that the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) has remained faithful in adhering to the mechanisms embodied under NCIP-DENR-DAR-LRA Joint Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 2012, particularly on the processes of projection, verification, overlaying, exclusion, and segregation of overlapping claims and titles involving ancestral domains and ancestral lands.
The issue, however, is that while the NCIP continues to observe these safeguards in good faith, titling activities under the DENR and DAR have continued in many instances without the same degree of strict compliance with what had been agreed upon under the Joint Administrative Order. As a result, the very agreement intended to harmonize agency actions has, in actual effect, become part of the continuing struggle of many approved CADTs and CALTs, especially in their delayed registration before the Land Registration Authority (LRA) and the respective Registers of Deeds (ROD).
This is precisely the serious institutional concern: the NCIP has complied with the lawful requirements of projection and segregation through overlaying of different titles, yet the continued issuance or processing of titles by other agencies without full observance of the same inter-agency rules undermines the rights of ICCs/IPs and delays the full legal recognition and enforceability of their ancestral domains and ancestral lands.
Thus, the call is clear and just: there must be strict inter-agency accountability, faithful adherence to the spirit and letter of the Joint Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 2012, and, if necessary, a serious review, amendment, or appropriate policy action where the present arrangement is no longer serving its true purpose of protecting the constitutional and statutory rights of Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples.
The rights of ICCs/IPs under the 1987 Constitution and Republic Act No. 8371 or the Indigenous Peoplesโ Rights Act must never be weakened by administrative inconsistency, procedural delay, or overlapping jurisdiction. Recognition on paper must lead to protection in practice. Approval of CADTs and CALTs must lead to actual registration, enforceability, and justice for the rightful holders thereof.
This statement is respectfully shared in support of the position earlier manifested before Congress, and in continuing fidelity to the mandate of protecting and promoting the rights, welfare, and empowerment of our ICCs/IPs.
