Prohibition Against Entry into Unexplored Tribal Grounds

September 22, 1976

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1017

PROHIBITING PERSONS FROM ENTERING INTO UNEXPLORED TRIBAL GROUNDS AND PROVIDING PENALTY THEREFOR

WHEREAS, it is the policy of the government to extend to national minorities equality in status, dignity and opportunity with all other citizens;

WHEREAS, it is the policy of the State to protect the cultural minorities, particularly those undiscovered groups in unexplored areas, from disturbance in order that their customs, traditions, beliefs, practices and lifeways can be recorded for posterity in an orderly and organized manner; cd

WHEREAS, there exist certain unexplored tribal grounds and other areas which still need to be thoroughly explored and investigated by authorized government experts in the field to provide certain sociological information on the customs, traditions, beliefs, and interests as basis for national policy-making;

WHEREAS, the unauthorized entry, especially by social scientists and life groups, into these unexplored tribal grounds upset cultural values, create ecological imbalance and distort the lives of these national minorities; and

WHEREAS, it has become necessary to prevent these unauthorized incursions;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order and decree:

SECTION 1. It shall be unlawful for any person without prior authority from the Office of the President upon recommendation of the Presidential Assistant on National Minorities: (a) to enter unexplored tribal grounds or other such areas which have not been thoroughly explored and investigated by duly authorized experts of the government; and (b) to establish contacts with the National Minorities for the purpose of conducting studies into their customs, traditions, practices and beliefs: Provided, that if the offender is a corporation, firm, partnership or association, the penalty shall be imposed upon the guilty officer or officers (as the case may be, of the corporation, firm, partnership or association) and if such guilty officer or officers are aliens, in addition to the penalties hereinafter prescribed, he or they shall be deported without further proceedings by the Commission on Immigration and Deportation.

SECTION 2. For the purposes of this Decree, the following are considered unexplored tribal grounds:

a. The habitat of isolated tribes in the interior of T'boli municipality, South Cotabato from the forested area of Mount Malibato, through Mt. Parker and the entire mountain range from Mt. Parker through Mt. Busa to the Manubo Blit — Tasaday Reservation;

b. The habitat of isolated tribes in the Daguma mountain range and the forested area of Kulaman Valley;

c. The forested area between Ransang and Candawaga, Quezon, Palawan and the municipality of Bataraza, Palawan, inhabited by isolated tribesmen under Ambilan Antal; and

d. Such other areas inhabited by isolated tribes as the President may declare to be covered by this Decree upon recommendation of the Presidential Assistant on National Minorities. cdt

SECTION 3. The penalty for such unauthorized entry into such territory or contact with such tribes shall be prision correccional and a fine ranging from P10,000 to P100,000; books, written materials, pictures, photographic films, video tapes, artifacts, drawings, painting and any other material which may have been derived from such illegal trespass or contact shall be confiscated.

SECTION 4. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 22nd day of September, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Six.