The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) have signed a landmark Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to solidify their collaboration in promoting the creation of economic zones in ancestral domains/lands, and in empowering the Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) to become ecozone developers/operators.

The concept of establishing economic zones in the ancestral domains/lands of the ICCs/IPs is pursuant to Administrative Order No. 18 signed by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on 17 June 2019 entitled “Accelerating Rural Progress through Robust Development of Special Economic Zones in the Countryside”.

The development of ancestral domains as special economic zones will not just give the ICCs/IPs equal access to wealth and would bring significant socio-economic growth but also increase access to basic needs such as sufficient food, education, health, right to environmental protection, justice, and human rights, and good governance. Thus, NCIP gives social justice by bringing the ancestral domains to greater heights and realizing the aspirations and dreams of the ICCs/IPs for a better future.