SC affirms Baguio City exempt from IPRA ancestral land claims

The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed that Baguio City is exempt from ancestral land claims under the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA).

However, the SC clarified that claimants may still pursue their claims if they can present evidence of open, continuous, and actual possession of the land up to the present.

The SC en banc rejected a motion for reconsideration filed by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and the heirs of Joan Gorio and Lauro Carante.

A previous SC decision in July 2023 stated that Section 78 of IPRA exempts Baguio City, meaning its own charter governs land rights within the city.

The legal challenge originated from ancestral claims filed in 1990 by the heirs of Lauro Carante for parcels of land in Baguio City, asserting they belonged to the Ibaloi indigenous cultural community.

These claims were granted by the NCIP in 2008, which issued certificates of ancestral land title, ruling that the heirs' ancestral rights persisted even after the areas were proclaimed as government reservations.