National Commission on Indigenous People

MANDATE

The NCIP shall protect and promote the interest and well-being of the ICCs/IPs with due regard to their
beliefs, customs, traditions and institutions.

VISION

As enabling partner and lead advocate, the NCIP envisions genuinely empowered ICCs/IPs whose rights
and multi-dimensional well- being are fully recognized, respected and promoted towards the attainment
of national unity and development.

Power and Functions

To accomplish its mandate, the NCIP shall have the following powers, jurisdiction and function:

a. To serve as the primary government agency through which ICCs/IPs can seek government assistance
and as the medium, through which such assistance may be extended;

b. To review and assess the condition of ICCs/IPs including existing laws and policies pertinent thereto
and to propose relevant laws and policies to address role in national development;

c. To formulate and implement policies, plans, programs and projects for the economic, social and
cultural development of the ICCs/IPs and to monitor the implementation thereof;

d. To request and engage the services and support of experts from other agencies of government
employ private experts and consultants as may be required in the pursuit of its objectives;

e. To issue certificate of ancestral land/domain title;

f. Subject to existing laws, to enter into contracts, agreements, or arrangement, with government or
private agencies or entities as may be necessary to attain the objectives of this Act, and subject to the
approval of the President, to obtain loans from government lending institutions and other lending
institutions to finance its programs.

CHAPTER VII

National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)

SECTION 38. National Commission on Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). —

To carry out the policies herein set forth, there shall be created the National Commission on ICCs/IPs
(NCIP), which shall be the primary government agency responsible for the formulation and
implementation of policies, plans and programs to promote and protect the rights and well-being of the
ICCs/IPs and the recognition of their ancestral domains as well as the rights thereto.
SECTION 39. Mandate. — The NCIP shall protect and promote the interest and wellbeing of the ICCs/IPs
with due regard to their beliefs, customs, traditions and institutions.

SECTION 40. Composition. — The NCIP shall be an independent agency under the Office of the President
and shall be composed of seven (7) Commissioners belonging to ICCs/IPs, one (1) of whom shall be the
Chairperson. The Commissioners shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines from a list of
recommendees submitted by authentic ICCs/IPs: Provided, That the seven (7) Commissioners shall be
appointed specifically from each of the following ethnographic areas: Region I and the Cordilleras;
Region II; the rest of Luzon; Island Groups including Mindoro, Palawan, Romblon, Panay and the rest of
the Visayas; Northern and Western Mindanao; Southern and Eastern Mindanao; and Central Mindanao:
Provided, That at least two (2) of the seven (7) Commissioners shall be women.

SECTION 41. Qualifications, Tenure, Compensation. — The Chairperson and the six (6) Commissioners
must be natural born Filipino citizens, bona fide members of the ICCs/IPs as certified by his/her tribe,
experienced in ethnic affairs and who have worked for at least ten (10) years with an ICC/IP community
and/or any government agency involved in ICC/IP, at least 35 years of age at the time of appointment,
and must be of proven honesty and integrity: Provided, That at least two (2) of the seven (7)
Commissioners shall be members of the Philippine Bar: Provided, further, That the members of the NCIP
shall hold office for a period of three (3) years, and may be subject to re-appointment for another term:
Provided, furthermore, That no person shall serve for more than two (2) terms. Appointment to any
vacancy shall only be for the unexpired term of the predecessor and in no case shall a member be
appointed or designated in a temporary or acting capacity: Provided, finally, That the Chairperson and
the Commissioners shall be entitled to compensation in accordance with the Salary Standardization Law.

SECTION 44. Powers and Functions. — To accomplish its mandate, the NCIP shall have the following
powers, jurisdiction and function:

a) To serve as the primary government agency through which ICCs/IPs can seek government assistance
and as the medium, through which such assistance may be extended;

b) To review and assess the conditions of ICCs/IPs including existing laws and policies pertinent thereto
and to propose relevant laws and policies to address their role in national development;

c) To formulate and implement policies, plans, programs and projects for the economic, social and
cultural development of the ICCs/IPs and to monitor the implementation thereof;

d) To request and engage the services and support of experts from other agencies of government or
employ private experts and consultants as may be required in the pursuit of its objectives;

e) To issue certificate of ancestral land/domain title;

f) Subject to existing laws, to enter into contracts, agreements, or arrangement, with government or
private agencies or entities as may be necessary to attain the objectives of this Act, and subject to the
approval of the President, to obtain loans from government lending institutions and other lending
institutions to finance its programs;
g) To negotiate for funds and to accept grants, donations, gifts and/or properties in whatever form and
from whatever source, local and international, subject to the approval of the President of the
Philippines, for the benefit of ICCs/IPs and administer the same in accordance with the terms thereof; or
in the absence of any condition, in such manner consistent with the interest of ICCs/IPs as well as
existing laws;

h) To coordinate development programs and projects for the advancement of the ICCs/IPs and to
oversee the proper implementation thereof;

i) To convene periodic conventions or assemblies of IPs to review, assess as well as propose policies or
plans;

j) To advise the President of the Philippines on all matters relating to the ICCs/IPs and to submit within
sixty (60) days after the close of each calendar year, a report of its operations and achievements;

k) To submit to Congress appropriate legislative proposals intended to carry out the policies under this
Act;

l) To prepare and submit the appropriate budget to the Office of the President;

m) To issue appropriate certification as a pre-condition to the grant of permit, lease, grant, or any other
similar authority for the disposition, utilization, management and appropriation by any private
individual, corporate entity or any government agency, corporation or subdivision thereof on any part or
portion of the ancestral domain taking into consideration the consensus approval of the ICCs/IPs
concerned;

n) To decide all appeals from the decisions and acts of all the various offices within the Commission;

o) To promulgate the necessary rules and regulations for the implementation of this Act;

p) To exercise such other powers and functions as may be directed by the President of the Republic of
the Philippines; and

q) To represent the Philippine ICCs/IPs in all international conferences and conventions dealing with
indigenous peoples and other related concerns.