MANILA, Philippines – The revised guidelines on the free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) that indigenous peoples give to projects in their ancestral domains “raise serious concerns” and threaten their rights over land, according to human rights advocates.
The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) updated the previous 2012 guidelines last September.
Among the criticisms is the stricter time frame for community assemblies. The revised guidelines require the assembly to be completed within 10 days for large-scale projects with potential irreversible impacts and within five days for projects with more limited impacts.
This categorization of projects is another source of criticism as it appears to “undervalue” impacts on people and land. Proposed projects have been categorized based on the degree of impact they are expected to inflict on the land. The approval process varies with each category.
According to human rights lawyer Raymond Baguilat, the revised guidelines risk simplifying the process to facilitate business faster “rather than ensuring that indigenous peoples’ rights are fully respected.”
“At its core, FPIC is a safeguard of indigenous peoples’ collective rights, particularly their right to self-determination, self-governance, and ownership of their ancestral domains and resources,” said Baguilat in his statement that was read during a House hearing on Tuesday, November 10.
