IP body back under Palace supervision

MANILA, Philippines — Control over the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) has returned to Malacañang from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through President Marcos’ Executive Order (EO) No. 71.

Signed on Tuesday, EO 71 placed the NCIP anew under the administrative supervision of the Office of the President “in order to achieve simplicity, economy and efficiency.

READ: Marcos honors indigenous peoples as ‘invaluable guardians’ of heritage

“Consistent with the State policy to further promote and recognize the rights of indigenous cultural communities/indigenous peoples within the framework of national unity and development, the NCIP may be transferred to OP,” it said.

Created in 1997 through Republic Act No. 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act, the NCIP is tasked to create and implement policies, plans and programs to promote and protect the rights and well-being of indigenous cultural communities and indigenous peoples.

RA 8371 initially placed the NCIP under the OP as an independent agency, but EO 67 issued in 2018 by then President Rodrigo Duterte placed it under the DSWD’s supervision.

In 2023, Marcos appointed Jennifer “Limpayen” Sibug-Las, the NCIP ethnographic commissioner for Central Mindanao, as the new chair of the five-member commission. —Julie M. Aurelio