"Philippines: Revised Guidelines Threaten Indigenous Rights", 4 August 2026

(Manila) – The Philippine government’s revised national guidelines on free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) threaten the rights of Indigenous communities, Human Rights Watch said today. Philippine authorities should align these guidelines with international human rights standards.

On May 1, 2026, the Philippine National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), which issues rules and regulations related to the 1997 Indigenous Peoples Rights Act, announced that it had approved revised guidelines for projects affecting Indigenous communities. [...].

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After the commission’s May 1 announcement, Indigenous groups and members of Congress urged the Commission to make publicly available its proposed revisions to the guidelines. Human Rights Watch has a copy on file.

The 2026 revised guidelines focus on the requirements of Indigenous communities to consider whether they will provide free, prior, and informed consent for private businesses activities. They impose shortened periods for Indigenous communities to build consensus for decisions, contrary to the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act, which puts primacy on customary traditions for reaching such decisions.

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The 2026 revised guidelines would require them to hold the assembly within 10 days after notification and 30 days to build consensus for large-scale projects. They provide only 4 days to hold a community assembly, and 7 for consensus building for small-scale projects. In some cases, the 2026 guidelines specify the format for decision-making, putting pressure on Indigenous communities and disregarding customary processes that may reasonably require more time.

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Under the revised guidelines, the Commission will consider property rights that existed prior to the enactment of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act and may issue a Certificate of Non-Overlap without carrying out a field-based investigation to verify possible impacts on ancestral domain. These changes mean that the Commission can issue a certificate on the basis of documents showing vested property rights, without visiting the community and even if the project overlaps with an ancestral domain, Human Rights Watch said.

The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center, a Philippine nongovernmental organization, stated that under the revised guidelines, “[a] mining permit holder may assert that the land is privately owned, obtain a [certificate] on the basis of that claim, and proceed with operations. By the time the affected community is able to establish that the area falls within their ancestral domain, mining activities may already be under way.”

The 2026 revised guidelines also remove avenues for redress for Indigenous communities who want to dispute permits and certificates for activities and projects that affect them.

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Indigenous activists said that their communities were deeply concerned by the proposed changes and do not feel they were meaningfully consulted about the content or timeline for the adoption of these revisions.

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“The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples should go back to the drawing board and ensure the participation of Indigenous peoples in the revision process,” Buan said. “The government needs to amend the rules so that Indigenous peoples have a genuine voice in decision-making.”