About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

21 Ariz. J. Int'l & Comp. L. 269 (2004)
The Philippine Indigenous Peoples' Struggle for Land and Life: Challenging Legal Texts

handle is hein.journals/ajicl21 and id is 287 raw text is: THE PHILIPPINE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' STRUGGLE FOR LAND AND LIFE: CHALLENGING LEGAL TEXTS Jose Mencio Molintas I. INTRODUCTION Numerous issues and concerns of indigenous peoples have witnessed significant breakthroughs both locally and internationally in recent decades. Various means of struggle both within and without the formal legal system have been employed. Defending ancestral lands and their resources remains the major issue. Implicit in this battle to protect land and resources is the struggle to preserve indigenous culture and traditions that are so often inextricably linked to the land itself. It is against this background that this article documents and reviews customary practices and land concepts in the Philippines and examines the interface between state laws and custom laws on land within the context of the conflicts over indigenous peoples' lands. The article employs case studies to discuss the application of state laws to indigenous peoples' communities and the interaction of the formal legal system the state laws represent with the customs and traditions the indigenous peoples have historically relied upon to dictate the rules regulating the use and alienability of land. Particular attention will be devoted to the Cordillera experience in order to illustrate how community-level efforts to defend indigenous territories can operate either as a mechanism for reform within the state's existing formal legal framework or as a means of challenging current legal texts and principles at their foundation. This approach is very much in line with the country's efforts at reforming the judiciary as expressed in the Philippine Judiciary's Blueprint of Action, where it called for a review of existing laws.' II. OVERVIEW OF PHILIPPINE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES This section presents a brief and updated overview of indigenous peoples in the Philippines with a focus on the issues and trends affecting them. There is no unanimity regarding the standards to be used in defining indigenous peoples. Some authorities are in favor of a linguistic criterion and others of a cultural definition; others prefer that of a group consciousness; still others suggest a functional criterion; and some a combination of two or more of the above, together with one based on physical characteristics. 1. SUPREME COURT OF THE PHILIPPINES. THE BLUEPRINT OF ACTION: ITS PARAMETERS AND STRATEGIC COURSES OF ACTION (1999) (Blueprint of Action for the Judiciary).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most