22 January 2024 | Pursuant to E.O. No. 23 and 26, both series of 2011, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), specifically the Forest Management Bureau (FMB) is tasked to implement the National Greening Program. The said order aims to reduce poverty, promote food security, environmental stability and biodiversity conservation, and enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Relative thereto, DENR led by Undersecretary Carlos Primo David together with the FMB team had a meeting with the NCIP to discuss the implementation of the said program within Ancestral Domains and seek assistance on the process of acquiring proper consent from the Indigenous Cultural Communities.

DENR recognizes and respects the stewardship and ownership of the ICCs/IPs of their ancestral domains. Hence, they consulted the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples for possible collaboration.

Present during the meeting is NCIP Chairperson Jennifer Pia Sibug-Las along with Ancestral Domains Office (ADO) Director Atty. Arthur Herman, Legal Affairs Office (LAO) Director Atty. Brain Masweng, Office on Empowerment and Human Rights (OEHR) Director Atty. Catherine Apaling, and Executive Assistant Atty. Christine Faith Sabella.