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Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
AT A GLANCE:
The Second Week of July of every year is declared as the Cultural Communities Week, pursuant to Proclamation No. 250, series of 1988.
The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides:
“The State shall regulate the relations between workers and employers, recognizing the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production and the right of enterprises to reasonable returns of investments, and to expansion and growth.” (Section 3, Article XIII, 1987 Constitution)
Also, under the 1987 Constitution, employees have the right to security of tenure, among others. The right to security of tenure guarantees the right of employees to continue in their employment absent a just or authorized cause for termination.
On the other hand, employers have management prerogative. The right of an employer to regulate all aspects of employment, aptly called “management prerogative,” gives employers the freedom to regulate, according to their discretion and best judgment, all aspects of employment, including work assignment, working methods, processes to be followed, working regulations, transfer of employees, work supervision, lay-off of workers and the discipline, dismissal and recall of workers. (St. Luke’s Medical Center, Inc. v. Maria Theresa Sanchez, G.R. No. 212054, March 11, 2015)
The Supreme Court ruled in the case of Asian Marine Transport Corporation, v. Allen Caseres, et al. (G.R. No. 212082, November 24, 2021) that:
“Management has a wide latitude to conduct its own affairs, so long as it exercises its management prerogative in good faith for the advancement of
The State recognizes the importance of indigenous tribal Filipinos to national unity and development, recognizes the need to promote and preserve their rich cultural heritage, and endeavors to promote all the rights of indigenous cultural communities.
To this, Proclamation No. 250, series of 1988 provides:
“NOW, THEREFORE, I, CORAZON C. AQUINO, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby declare July 3-9, 1988 and, thereafter, the second week of July of every year as “Cultural Communities Week”, under the auspices of the Office for Southern Cultural Communities and the Office for Northern Cultural Communities.1aшphi1
All government agencies, private organizations and the mass media are enjoined to give the necessary cooperation and support in this undertaking.”
What are indigenous cultural communities?
Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/Ips) refer to a group of people or homogenous societies identified by self-ascription and ascription by other, 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 customs, tradition and other distinctive cultural traits, or who have, through resistance to political, social and cultural inroads of colonization, non-indigenous religions and culture, became historically differentiated from the majority of Filipinos.
ICCs/IPs shall likewise include peoples who are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the populations which inhabited the country, at the time of conquest or colonization, or at the time of inroads of non-indigenous religions and cultures, or the establishment of present state boundaries, who retain some or all of their own social, economic, cultural and political institutions, but who may have been displaced from their traditional domains or who may have resettled outside their ancestral domains. (Section 3, par. h, The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997)
Republic Act No. 8371 or the Indigenous People’s Rights Act echoes the constitutional impetus for preservation. (Diosdado Sama Hinupas, et al. v. People of the Philippines, G.R. No. 224469, January 05, 2021). Its declaration of state policies reads:
“SECTION 2. Declaration of State Policies. — The State shall recognize and promote all the rights of Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) hereunder enumerated within the framework of the Constitution:
- The State shall recognize and promote the rights of ICCs/IPs within the framework of national unity and development;
- The State shall protect the rights of ICCs/IPs to their ancestral domains to ensure their economic, social and cultural well-being and shall recognize the applicability of customary laws governing property rights or relations in determining the ownership and extent of ancestral domain;
- The State shall recognize, respect and protect the rights of ICCs/IPs to preserve and develop their cultures, traditions and institutions. It shall consider these rights in the formulation of national laws and policies;
- The State shall guarantee that members of the ICCs/IPs regardless of sex, shall equally enjoy the full measure of human rights and freedoms without distinction or discrimination;
- The State shall take measures, with the participation of the ICCs/IPs concerned, to protect their rights and guarantee respect for their cultural integrity, and to ensure that members of the ICCs/IPs benefit on an equal footing from the rights and opportunities which national laws and regulations grant to other members of the population; and
- The State recognizes its obligations to respond to the strong expression of the ICCs/IPs for cultural integrity by assuring maximum ICC/IP participation in the direction of education, health, as well as other services of ICCs/IPs, in order to render such services more responsive to the needs and desires of these communities.
Towards these ends, the State shall institute and establish the necessary mechanisms to enforce and guarantee the realization of these rights, taking into consideration their customs, traditions, values, beliefs, interests and institutions, and to adopt and implement measures to protect their rights to their ancestral domains.”
In the case of Arnolfo Daco v. Ruben Cabajar (G.R. No. 222611, November 15, 2021), the Supreme Court ruled that the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples is in the best position to decide disputes related to ancestral domains between members of the same indigenous cultural community, to wit:
“While ordinary courts have concurrent jurisdiction with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples in some matters in the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act, the Commission is in the best position to decide disputes on ancestral domain between members of the same indigenous cultural community, being the “primary government agency responsible … to promote and protect the rights and well-being of the [indigenous cultural communities or indigenous peoples] and the recognition of their ancestral domains as well as their rights thereto.”
Under the law, Indigenous Cultural Communities have the following rights:
- Right to Ancestral Domains;
- Right to Ancestral Lands;
- Right to Self-Governance and Empowerment;
- Right to Social Justice and Human Rights; and
- Right to Cultural Integrity.
Related Article:
Republic Act No. 8371 otherwise known as the Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA)
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