Baguio Representative Mauricio Domoagn wants to abolish the NCIP.
Domogan filed House Bill No. 5044, Wednesday, October 1, dismantling the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and replace it with a Cabinet-level Department of Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples (DICCP).
Domogan argued that nearly three decades since the enactment of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997 (RA 8371), the full realization of its objectives remains elusive, “The NCIP’s current institutional framework has proven inadequate in terms of reach, resources, and executive influence to comprehensively deliver services and effectively protect the rights of nation’s Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs).”
The HB also aims to elevate the government’s commitment to the nation’s CCs/IPs by granting their primary governing agency stronger executive influence, enhanced operational capacity, and direct access to national policy deliberations.
Under the proposed DICCP, aimed to absorb all powers, functions, assets, and liabilities of the abolished NCIP, will be led by a Secretary who must be a bona fide member of an ICC/IP, assisted by seven Undersecretaries, each tasked to oversee specific ethnographic areas of the country, ensuring focused regional governance.
The DICCP is also envisioned to house specialized bureaus, including the Bureau of Ancestral Domains, which will be responsible for identification, delineation, and protection of ancestral lands, and the Bureau of Legal Affairs, which will conduct preliminary investigations and initiate legal actions to enforce ICC/IP rights.
Domogan said “This proposed measure creating the Department of Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples will strengthen the existing power and reach of the NCIP. The Department will have direct access to national policy deliberations, enhanced operational capacity, and a clear mandate to implement programs nationwide.”
The bill also transfers the quasi-judicial powers currently held by the NCIP to the new Department.
“With the creation of the Department… the State affirms its recognition of ICCs/IPs as equal stakeholders in nation-building and will accelerate the fulfillment of established obligations of the State under RA 8371 and… help instill the rights of ICCs/IPs into the core machinery of the government.”
The bill further mandates that all existing NCIP employees shall be absorbed by the new Department, ensuring security of tenure, provided they possess the necessary qualifications with employees separated due to the abolition of the NCIP will be entitled to separation pay. Existing NCIP offices will be reorganized into specialized bureaus under the new Department, ensuring continuity while enabling reform.
Domogan is urging the earliest passage of the HB to finally provide the country’s indigenous population with a responsive and robust institutional champion within the executive branch.
Domogan is echoing a measure previously filed in the 18th Congress by Representative Manuel Antonio Zubiri of the Third Legislative District of Bukidnon. By Maria Elena Catajan
